Thē Soirēe, a tea and cocktail lounge inspired by French and Japanese flavors, is the innovative idea of friends and business partners Nicholas Schafer and Tian Wu. It opens tomorrow (Saturday, March 30) at 796 9th Avenue (bw W52/53rd St).
The name “Thē Soireē”, meaning “tea party” in French, expresses their intent to create a space to unwind, relax and have a good time.
The menu features an assortment of specialty drinks, such as an Uji Vetiver Latte or a Saint-Tropez Latte featuring Earl Grey tea, lavender and espresso. All lattes are served with oat milk as default, and the teas, nearly all of which are imported from Kyoto, Japan, are brewed in-house. The drinks tend to be unsweetened and have a natural, earthy quality, which Nick and Tian say allows the flavors to ring through. Cocktails, such as a yuzu prosecco, will be available starting in the summer, once they receive their liquor license, the partners said.
The narrow apricot-orange interior is reminiscent of buildings in the south of France. Artwork on the walls was created by Tian’s husband.
There’s a laid-back vibe, with low jazz music playing in the background to allow for conversation into the wee hours of the night. Right now they plan to be open from 8am to 6pm, and later expand to 10pm on the weeknights and 1am or later on Friday and Saturday.
“We noticed that in Asia it is a very common trend to combine daytime coffee and nighttime cocktails,” Tian said. “This is a very cute idea because [it] creates a cozy vibe for people to enjoy quiet time or coffee time during the day and also chat [with friends] at night” in Hell’s Kitchen, without going to a louder bar or club.
Hell’s Kitchen was the perfect neighborhood to set up shop, Tian said, because of its vibrancy and community. “I live in Hell’s Kitchen, so it’s very close to my home and the foot traffic is great, people like to go out on 9th Avenue.” Nick added, “We are a proud LGBT-owned business so we wanted to provide something nice to Hell’s Kitchen.”
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Nick and Tian, neither of whom is French or Japanese, took inspiration from their travels. In Grasse, France, the ‘perfume capital’ of the world, they were introduced to the fragrance of vetiver. In search of the best brew of tea and best cup of coffee, the two visited Porto, Portugal; London; Monaco; Japan; Shanghai, where Tian is originally from; and of course the streets of New York.
This is Tian and Nick’s first time opening a business, and it’s been a stark transition from their former corporate jobs which they quit more than a year ago.
Nick, an avid coffee drinker, used to work for Bloomingdales and Christian Louboutin as a planner, but as the luxury retail industry struggled to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, he realized it was time for a change.
“I thought I was going to get laid off pretty soon,” he said, deciding he, “might as well you know, do something, have something going for myself, so that’s why I decided to start my own business.”
Tian studied data analytics at the University of Rochester. “I always just assumed I enjoyed it because this is what I went to school for,” he said. But after years, “I just realized I didn’t really see myself in the longer term doing this. So I wanted to make a big change.”
As all small business owners in New York do, they had to learn how to problem solve on their feet. “You have corporate jobs where someone tells you no, and you just tell your manager, and I’m just the middleman,” Nick said. “But when you’re doing your own business, when someone tells you no, we have to figure it out.” That goes, for example, for the 250-pound espresso machine that couldn’t fit through the door without being disassembled on the street.
“Doing business in New York, you expect everyone to say no to you,” Tian joked, “and then you have to figure out the answer.”
We need business with new ideas like this in Hell’s Kitchen. Kick out those illegal cannabis shops, let’s welcome more business have good tastes and souls.
Wonderful, a classy venue to enjoy conversation and friends. It will add to the quality of life in HK.
Great to see new businesses taking their shot right here in the neighborhood. How about we all give them our business?
Very affordable for such high quality. Opening day was the most fun I ever had without alcohol. Atmosphere is energetic, but never frenzied. You can chill.