Congratulations to PARU Tea Bar, who recently announced that the opening of their second brick-and-mortar location in La Jolla on Tuesday, November 16.
Specialty purveyors of garden-direct loose leaf teas from East Asia and Southeast Asia, PARU has already made a name for themselves both nationally and in the San Diego area, operating out of their first location in Point Loma since 2019.
Amy and Lani
BIPOC and women-owned, married duo Amy Truong and Lani Gobaleza first met during a college study abroad trip to Japan, where they quickly bonded over their love and appreciation for history and tea. Today, just over 10 years later, Amy and Lani are thrilled to see a dream they have had for a long time come to fruition and even exceed many of their original expectations.
When PARU began as small, local cold-brew tea popups in 2017, neither Amy or Lani could have imagined PARU would grow to not only one storefront location, but now a second.
The design
Double the size of PARU’s Point Loma location and designed by Sunset Projects’ designers Miki Iwasaki and Jessica Falstad, the new La Jolla location on Girard street is 1,200-square-feet and highlights separate areas for tea, teaware, merchandise and tea experiences, in addition to a 160-square-foot multifunctional art gallery that showcases works by up-and-coming artists.
Mirroring the first location, the design of the new store is light and airy, yet grounded with natural materials, aligning with the sensory and educational experience that is central to PARU’s welcoming hospitality. The art gallery, “Bow Hall,” is minimalistic in design, and will continue to evolve and feature different underrepresented artists, with the first exhibit highlighting the work of La Jolla High School alum Kristi Lin, in her work “Blend,” which uses dried tea leaves from PARU, sourced from different places that are meaningful to her, on a canvas to capture the multicultural world we live in.
Everything Matcha
Unlike most matcha found in the San Diego area, PARU provides house-milled matcha, with the new location highlighting a custom matcha mill from Kyoto – the only one of its kind in California, and one of very few in the United States.
Beginning on opening day, locals and visitors alike will have the opportunity to shop specialty loose leaf teas from East Asia and Southeast Asia, tisanes (herbal teas), and teaware and pick up some carryout drinks. The tasting bar will include the matcha in addition to favorites like the “Blue Chamomile” blend and a brand new “La Jolla” blend.
Next year, PARU is launching a monthly matcha refill program, where customers can bring back their matcha canisters to grind and refill their matcha in the shop.
A part of the community
PARU’s founders want to work closely with and in support of other businesses in our community. The La Jolla shop will feature many new local items from their ongoing partnerships such as California Wildflower Honey from the Mikolich family’s local apiaries in San Diego and Temecula, tea light candles from 1502 Candle Co., handcrafted tea-infused chocolates from Deux Cranes, and Maek Ceramic Cups.
Walking into PARU La Jolla will evoke the same warm, inviting, and nostalgic feelings as holding a cup of your favorite tea. Come feel it for yourself Wednesday through Sunday, from 11AM to 5PM.
For the tea tastings and events schedule or to book a private tasting, see here.
See you there, San Diego!
