Restaurants adding tea sommeliers to bolster tea offer
As specialty tea is embraced by a wider audience, top restaurants are adding tea sommeliers to their teams to oversee tea menus and add excitement to food pairings. Similarly to wine, the tea sommeliers' aim is to unlock new flavor dimensions by recommending teas that go well together with certain dishes or at specific times of the day. According to Le Palais des Thés, a French specialty tea company specializing in sommelier courses, both tea and food should complement each other by forming interesting layers of taste. Some high-end restaurants in New York City, such as Eleven Madison Park and Atera, have already hired tea sommeliers to source specialty teas, improve tea service and explore new food pairings.