Thursday, May 27, 2010
Saint's Alp Teahouse reopens on June 26
Saint's Alp Teahouse on Third Avenue at NYU closed on April 5 for renovations... as the sign out front shows, the joint reopens on June 26... and will now serve things like fish cakes, spicy noodles and peppery squid... because you can't really find food like this for at least one block...
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7 comments:
The name of that place has always confused and irritated me. I want it to be Saint Alp's Teahouse, which makes more sense to me.
What or who is a Saint's Alp?
Damn, I miss the coconut tea, the spiced eggs and that fabulous toast with condensed milk spread! 2 1/2 months seems like an awfully long time to renovate that little space.
Haha, VHM, I feel the same way! Drives me nuts, that " 's " after "Saint" and not "Alp".
Mm, fish cake. I like that it's not pluralized on their sign, so it's like a type of cake, like chocolate cake or carrot cake, but fish.
I miss this place. I've always been bothered too by the "Saint's Alp" and wondered if I just wasn't getting it. Like maybe a "saint's alp" is the English name for some sort of Taiwanese plant or something. Or maybe a particular mountain is "the saint's Alp."
But as far as I can tell (via Google), they just made it up. I hope I find out some day...
Their website explains the origin of the name:
The name “Saint’s Alp” originated from a famous resort “Xian Ji Yan” in Taipei where the legendary Lu Dong Bin, one of the eight immortals of Chinese mythology, once visited the place and left a footprint on a piece of rock there. This was how the Saint’s Alp’s “Big Foot” logo was formed. This also symbolizes that Saint’s Alp has brought in the Taiwanese tea culture and trend to Hong Kong and targeted to spread all over the world which becomes an ideal meeting place for its clienteles.
Hmm, thanks anon, that sort of explains it. I'm still curious how you get "Saint's Alp" from "Xian Ji Yan." When they say it originated from the resort, does that mean it is a translation, etc.?
Saint's Alp Teahouse in Hong Kong is 仙跡岩 which broken down character-by-character is "divine footprint mountain". Maybe the owners (who are from Taiwan I think?) erroneously thought "alp" in English is used for any generic mountain, forgetting (or not knowing) the fact that The Alps are a specific range of mountains in Europe? Like you, I also don't see the phonetic connection; that's why the character-by-character analysis makes more sense - to me, at least.
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