Tea in Lyon, France

Tomé

3 rue Romarin • 69001 Lyon
tome-cafe.com • +33 4 78 72 86 61

Tomé is a trendy coffee shop/tearoom with cozy, zen décor where you can also have a quick lunch, but this is not fast food. Marianne, who formerly worked in restaurants, and Sylvain, trained as a cook, met in Canada, and traveled to Australia and then to southeast Asia. Back in Lyon, they opened Tomé, and soon it was a success.

Every day, a different Asian-inspired menu is devised, featuring two different savory dishes. Salmon tataki, katsu sando (a Japanese sandwich), five spices chicken, hiyashi chuka (ramen noodles with poached chicken fillet and shoyu egg), bó bun, or tsukune (chicken meatballs in yakitori sauce) are favorites. Everything is cooked on the premises from fresh, raw ingredients. Desserts are more classic: lemon cheesecake, pecan brownie, banoffee pie, as well as pies that vary depending on the fruit season. Their raspberry cake that is made with Earl Grey tea is only available in the summer when raspberries are in season, but in fall and winter, the pastry chef will use matcha or chai in other desserts.

At Tomé, tea is served with an hourglass timer to ensure the proper infusion. The brand is Sinensem, which originally launched in Lyon but is now headquartered a little further south. The name is a Latin word derived from the botanical name of the tea plant, Camelia sinensis, from which the delicate leaves are harvested for your pleasure. Aline and Olivier, the founders of Sinensem, select only tea from fields cultivated without any pesticide or fertilizer.