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A new Peninsula brunch and tea party spot isn’t located downtown or in a strip mall – it’s inside owner Christina Wu’s home in the San Mateo Highlands.
Table for 6 is currently open on weekends and by reservation only, with the address revealed a week prior to a guest’s confirmed booking. Guests can choose between the tea party or brunch menus, both priced at $85 per person, with offerings changing to honor the season and local ingredients. As far as food offerings, Wu makes nearly everything from scratch with high-quality ingredients and flexes her creative muscles when drawing up the menu.
“The tea party menu is based on English afternoon tea parties; however, I wanted to make it unctuous and really over the top with the selection,” Wu said.
For the current winter tea party menu, guests can look forward to freshly baked breads such as focaccia, sourdough and croissants to start. This is followed by a tray of tea cookies and a homemade quiche before moving on to a platter of tea sandwiches, such as a Japanese-inspired egg salad sandwich and a classic Monte Cristo served with a side of raspberry jam. A dessert platter of cupcakes, bread pudding and Basque cheesecake rounds out the tea service.
The brunch menu currently offers hearty dishes such as Korean fried chicken and pecan waffles with hot honey or New York-style corned beef hash, plus a charcuterie board featuring Bay Area brands like Marin French Cheese Co. and Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co.
Wu also crafts tea-based beverages and mocktails to pair with food items, such as The Bees Knees (chamomile tea and honey syrup), Dirty Little Chai (spiced chai, espresso and cream) or the Peppermint Tea Latte (black tea, milk and whipped cream). Tea selections include black, herbal, chai and blended varieties.
Wu works closely with guests to customize items based on their party’s dietary needs to ensure an inclusive experience. A vegan tea party menu is available, along with vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free options. In addition to tailoring the menu for each party, Wu also carefully curates the table setting and seasonal decor. With weather warming up, she recently incorporated colorful vines and greenery hanging from the pergola to the outdoor space. Parties can reserve either the outdoor table for six in the garden patio area or a table for 10 in the indoor dining room. There is no minimum for seating, so smaller groups are also welcome.
While Table for 6 is just in its fourth month of operations, Wu’s connection to cooking spans a lifetime. In fact, a career shift in the food industry spurred the idea of Table for 6 to begin with.
“If I couldn’t cook for a living, my second dream was to work in corporate for a food company,” said Wu, who originally hails from the East Coast.
That dream came to fruition when a job offer brought her and her family to the Bay Area from northern Virginia. But when Wu was laid off last summer, she turned to cooking while balancing her job search. She began by selling breads before soft launching Table for 6 last fall.
“I decided to do what I knew best – cook! So here I am, cooking for those who will come over for a cup of tea,” Wu said. Sourdough and focaccia breads continue to be available to order from her bakery.
Before being at the helm of her own microkitchen, Wu’s culinary experience included working as a chef’s assistant at a cooking school in Bethesda, Maryland, and as a part-time cake decorator at bakery CakeLove in Washington, D.C. Wu also built up her skills by catering for socialites and philanthropists and selling custom cakes to families. Her exposure to cooking within her family also deepened her appreciation for making goods from scratch.
“I kind of have cooking in my blood,” Wu said.
Wu’s grandfather had a flourishing restaurant and bakery in China, but sold the business to immigrate to the United States in 1974 before she was born. Wu was raised in Washington, D.C., by her grandmother and great-uncle, who worked as a chef at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Growing up, meals were so important to her grandmother that she’d begin planning for dinner in the morning.
“Dinner was always multiple dishes and multiple courses,” Wu said. “My grandmother would make steamed mantou, sticky rice with fatty slices of pork belly wrapped in fragrant bamboo leaves, and a stir-fried tofu, pork and bell pepper dish. We didn’t have much money, but we were rich when it came to having delicious meals.”
Today, food continues to be a family affair for Wu. While a microkitchen only allows for one full-time employee, friends and family can assist in decorating, bringing out dishes and cleaning up. From time to time, Wu’s daughter can be seen helping out with tea parties and prepping items in the kitchen.
Wu begins baking for each booking the night before and spends the morning prepping ingredients. Whenever possible, bookings are spaced out by morning and afternoon sessions to leave enough buffer time between guests. By design, Wu is intentional about elevating the guest experience from start to finish.
“Everything you eat should be meaningful, purposeful and delicious,” Wu said.
Looking ahead, Table for 6 will hone in on its brunch and tea party service. A preview of the spring menu is posted on the microkitchen’s website, and a summer menu is already being hatched, including a strawberry-focused dessert platter. So far, Wu has found that many of her guests come to Table for 6 for celebrations. She has relished being able to celebrate with her guests through food and is excited to continue crafting one-of-a-kind dining experiences for more to come.
Table for 6, San Mateo. Instagram: @tablefor6sm. Open Saturday and Sunday by reservation only. Address provided after making a reservation.
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Editor’s note: Table for 6’s listed Instagram has been updated from a previous version.
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