On Food: Chefs read their leaves and see more tea in the future as premium blends gain steam

Tea service, like most other aspects of dining, including cocktails, bread, butter, coffee, even salt and sugar, has improved and been fine-tuned.

Indeed, some restaurants offer their customers tea service that is almost as elaborate as the service typical of afternoon tea in a hotel lounge. In the 2 West Restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton Battery Park City in New York, there is a choice of teas in tea bags but also an option to order brewed whole-leaf tea served in a china pot on a