I went here a few months ago and fell in love with this place and its staff. The first thing I did when I went in was order a pot of tea and grab a seat. I overheard a manager training a new employee at the table over (I wasn’t eavesdropping, I swear! The table was so close that I couldn’t help but overhear!) and the friendliness shown made me want to apply there. At the end of their session, the manager even gave the new employee a kind of “Welcome to the family” hug, which made me smile because, seriously, I’d love to work somewhere that had that kind of atmosphere.
Anyway, after I had my pot of tea, I went up to the bar to buy some teas. When the SA was helping me with my list (I came pretty prepared, ha), he said I had made a good choice on the Vanilla Orchid oolong and then said I had to sample it. So he grabbed a gongfu set and prepared a pot for us right there! His manager even came over and said that she wanted a cup. He made sure I had at least three steepings so I could get an idea of what the tea was like. And he didn’t pressure me to buy the gongfu set at all which really surprised me, he just told me about the product – the whole thing was very laidback.
I can’t express how much I enjoyed the experience. The staff was pleasant, patient and really efficient. I can’t wait until I go to in NYC so I can visit again and pick up the gongfu teapot! (Seriously, I wish they sold them on their site. I feel like people are missing out.)