The Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse

In order to take advantage of one of the last days of Christmas Break, my friend Kirsten and her adorable kiddos Kaia, Kjell, and Marit met us at the Dushanbe tea house in Boulder for lunch and tea.  The teahouse was given to Boulder from Dushambe, Tajikistan (a small country in Central Asia).  Over 40 artisans created the hand carved and hand painted ceiling, the plaster carved walls, and carved columns that offer a glimpse into the lavish Persian Empire.  After being constructed in Tajikistan, the teahouse was taken apart, crated, and shipped to Boulder where it was reassembled. Pretty impressive story!

The teahouse menu offered ethnic cuisine that literally spanned the globe and the selection of teas was amazing.  It was hard for everyone to choose both what they wanted to eat and drink.  I think you could have tea there every day for one year and never drink the same kind twice!

Even though I just left the restaurant a couple of hours ago, I cannot for the life of me remember the names of our dishes! This was a delicious chicken dish with rice, sauteed spinach and dried fruit. 

Rian was happy they had a Korean bulgogi dish.

Kaia with a Thai peanut noodle dish.

Rian and Marit had fun hanging out at their end of the table. Marit really took good care of Rian- she summoned the waiter over to our table to let him know he forgot to bring Rian her cranberry juice!

Standing outside in front of one of the teahouse's mosaics. It was such a fun afternoon full of lighthearted conversation.  Definitely one of the highlights of our school break.  The only downside was that both Kirsten and I got parking tickets within two minutes of arriving!  I didn't even have time to pay the meter down the street before a ticket appeared on my windshield, and poor Kirsten got a ticket for not having a front license plate in Boulder County!