smith&hsu is a beautiful marriage of eastern and western tea traditions, a contemporary interpretation of British afternoon tea and Asian tea cultures. By name, they brought together two common surnames, one British and one Taiwanese. In format, it captures the allure of western afternoon tea experiences, complete with fluffy scones, sandwiches and biscuits, clotted cream and seasonal jams. But in practice, it incorporates local palates and still feels like a modern Taiwanese afternoon tea cafe, a place where people gather between lunch and dinner to indulge on a meal and caffeinated beverage.

While smith&hsu’s brick and mortar shops are tailored for dine-in guests, it is more of a tea brand than it is a restaurant. They source teas from around the world, with over 100 variations that span black teas and fruit teas to pu’er and oolong. As a part of the tasting experience, servers bring out palettes so guests can smell the wide variety of teas before choosing. The dish ware is also custom designed, rather simple and minimal to let the tea and food shine. All of this is a part of the dine in experience as well as available in retail, in store and online.