SĪTÚ is a café, tea room and shop in Vršovice. Everything it serves is plant-based and alcohol-free, and made without the five pungent spices: onion, garlic, leek, shallot and asafoetida. A married couple who met in China and moved to the Czech Republic in 2009 founded it in 2019. The name joins two Chinese characters, 思 for thinking and becoming aware and 途 for a path or journey, and the café’s line is “Change your thinking patterns to be more and more joyful”.
The coffee comes from a local roastery. The bar pours espresso, lungo, americano and V60, and the macchiato, cappuccino, flat white and latte are all made with plant milk. Matcha, chai, turmeric and beetroot lattes and a 71% hot chocolate sit beside them.
The tea list runs from WuYi Hong Cha and FengQing Gushu black teas and pu-erhs from 2014 and 2015 to Long Jing and Tai Ping Hou Kui green teas, with gongfu preparation on request, and mint, ginger, fruit and rooibos teas. The shelves sell teaware, coffee accessories and plant-based products.
The café runs a weekly filter coffee workshop, with a V60 tasting, an introduction to coffee types and history, brewing your own cup and a vegan dessert, and an hour-long Chinese tea ceremony in English for up to two people.
Photograph: SĪTÚ Coffee & Tea