Gen Sou En Expands Dinner Experience

After closing briefly for renovations, Gen Sou En teahouse in Coolidge Corner has reopened with a new vision for local dining. By day the chic space continues to serve their wide range of teas, pastries and lunch offerings in a casual café setting. But by night they transform into a full-service restaurant and bar offering unique Japanese tea flavors in innovative dishes and cocktails.

Chef Gerson Felix has designed the menu with Gen Sou En’s first love in mind: tea. He uses the unique blends from parent company Harada Tea to bring an unexpected element to classic Japanese cuisine. Quality is paramount in Harada Tea, and Chef Gerson’s creations easily match those high standards. Sometimes the flavors take center stage, like in the matcha-dusted salmon with ginger sweet potato puree, yuzu mango slaw, and Satsuma glaze. In other dishes, like the black tea udon, the herbal tang comes through in the smooth and subtle broth.

The new dinner menu isn’t the only reason to stop by. Gen Sou En now hosts live music on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The mix of local and touring groups provides a soothing ambiance with jazz beats. The bar team has also introduced sake flights as a way to familiarize Brookline with the Japanese liquor. For $18 guests can try three different styles of sake to see what suits their palate, from the fresh, citrusy Tozai Living Jewel to the smokyKiku Masamune Taru. Soon the restaurant will be launching a sake dinner pairing which includes five courses curated by Chef Gerson each paired with a corresponding glass of sake.

If straight sake isn’t your game, the cocktail menu offers a wide variety of tea-infused drinks. Sample the Bittersweet for a sharp mix of grapefruit juice, sake, and elderflower syrup, or go more classic with a Kyoto Mule, a variation on the Moscow Mule, featuring ginger beer, lime, and sake. End the evening with a dessert crafted by the in house pastry chef.

The full-service menu and new dual concept of Gen Sou En do more than serve up delicious culinary creations. They bring together the Brookline community under one roof. When BrooklineHub.com visited, a toddler patron danced to the live piano performance by local musician Jonathan Fagan while two friends caught up nearby over sake and sushi. A businessman answered e-mails over a cup of matcha and a group celebrated a birthday in the private tea room. Brookline is home to so many communities, and Gen Sou En provides a place where everyone can enjoy themselves in their own way together.

By Celina Colby

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