The follow-up to a Berkeley brunch hit goes in an entirely different direction
High tea service at Nudi Blue, opening April 9 in Berkeley. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle)
When Jezreel Rojas was dreaming of what came next after his and partner Krissana "Tanz" Tussanaprasit's Northern Thai brunch sensation, Tanzie's in Berkeley, he wanted to branch out. A raw seafood bar was one idea that came to mind.
Then, an unusual space became available. A former coffee shop, it had no hood, which meant no fryer, grill or range. So focusing on raw seafood made a lot of sense for dinner service. As for the daytime, Rojas wanted to stand out from the many nearby coffee shops, and he and Tussanaprasit were establishing an import tea business, so he decided to serve high tea.
The distinctive result is Rojas' new restaurant, Nudi Blue, opening Thursday at 2049 San Pablo Ave. in Berkeley. It's named after the nudibranch, a vibrantly colorful sea slug, in keeping with the seafood theme. To start, it will only open during the day for high tea. Rojas plans to roll out the nighttime raw bar and seafood menu in a few months.
Rojas researched high tea around the world when planning the restaurant. With some outliers, such as a creative tea and pastry scene in Dubai, he noticed that most pay homage to the traditional English style, serving standard scones and sandwiches on towers. That's also been largely true in the Bay Area, though a wave of Asian-inspired tea popups have brought new energy to the genre. "We can have way more fun with this," Rojas said.
Nudi Blue displays a selection of tea cups from Doi Din Dang, a Chiang Mai ceramic studio. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle)
Instead of towers, tea sets arrive on glass box terrariums holding miniature plant landscapes designed to look like the Chiang Mai mountaintops in Thailand, where the tea was grown. Rojas transforms a standard tea sandwich into an ornate purple and pink stack of duck and blueberry elements, with alternating layers of duck bacon, mousse and breast, along with blueberries folded into cream cheese and a mint gelée. Chunks of candied Wagyu beef and its rendered fat enrich a savory scone that features soft-ripened Quinta cheese melted on top like a glaze. Earl Grey pastry cream and candied tea leaves garnish a golden and blue-gray pinwheel pastry.
Tanzie's was listed last year on both the Chronicle's Top 100 restaurants list and the Los Angeles Times' best California restaurants, as well as a New York Times' 2025 selection of best dishes in the country. Both restaurants honor Tussanaprasit's hometown of Chiang Mai - Tanzie's with its Northern Thai cuisine and Nudi Blue with 12 varieties of tea they import from the region, along with pottery from Doi Din Dang, a Chiang Mai ceramic studio.
For now, Nudi Blue will be open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday to Monday, for tea sets and slightly larger a la carte versions of some of the pastries and sandwiches, along with crepes and salads. High tea service includes 12 to 13 pastries, sandwiches or other small bites, and up to two types of their imported tea, for $65 per person.
Nudi Blue's decor features plants and warm wood tones. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle)
Many dishes showcase Rojas' penchant for using a single ingredient multiple ways, such as a salad featuring kohlrabi pureed, pickled, poached, and made into chips. Deviled quail eggs stand in for the typical high-tea tradition of egg sandwiches, while a croissant stuffed with smoked sturgeon is garnished with whipped cream cheese and cucumber two ways (a coulis and ribbons). Rojas' take on a classic cucumber sandwich dresses up slices of the fruit with rau ram and cucumber whipped cheese, lightly pickled cucumbers and chips made from their dehydrated pulp.
Tea flavors also show up throughout the menu, such as in a tart with white tea cream and candied citrus, topped with segments of fresh pomelo, grapefruit and blood orange.
The smoked sturgeon with cucumber and dill bite served at Nudi Blue, a new Thai brunch spot in Berkeley, Calilf., on Monday, March 30, 2026. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle)
All of Nudi Blue's tea varieties are mountain-grown in the Chiang Mai area, near where Tussanaprasit's parents grew up - which makes the selection unusual in the Bay Area, where most specialty tea companies focus on China, Taiwan or Japan. All the tea is organic and harvested by hand, including some from a revered, thousand-year-old tree. Rojas and Tussanaprasit plan to launch a separate business to sell tea by the pound at both restaurants as well as online.
Rojas plans to keep pushing the concept of high tea. "I just want it to be an explosion of creativity," he said.
