Chado Tea Room, Los Angeles

With a name that means "the way of tea," Chado Tea Room is a Japanese tea shop that serves its wares behind a wall stacked with hundreds of varieties of tea. The tea menu is longer than the wine list and quite informative. Pastels and Asian influences meld seamlessly in the expanded space, making this a great place for a late-afternoon gossip session. The crowd is mostly D-girls (studio development executives) and young mothers. One sees the occasional movie star or two, no doubt attracted by the low-key, Zen atmosphere. Tea sandwiches, scones, pastries and salads are available. The full afternoon tea session including sandwiches, scones, assorted cookies and a pot of tea are both filling and reasonably priced. The food menu, however, is quite limited compared to the extensive varieties of tea on the menu.