S.F. seeks cultural authenticity for Tea Garden Commission tells bidders for lease to focus on authenticity

Vivian Chen, who works at the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif., serves tea, cookies and crackers to guests visiting the garden on Wednesday Oct. 15, 2008. Vivian Chen, who works at the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif., serves tea, cookies and crackers to guests visiting the garden on Wednesday Oct. 15, 2008. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close S.F. seeks cultural authenticity for Tea Garden 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

It's the oldest public Japanese tea garden in the United States and one of the best-known attractions in San Francisco's most famous park. But alongside the geisha dolls and books about Zen gardens in its gift shop are decidedly un-Japanese snow globes, magnets and T-shirts that could be found at any city tourist trap.

And that doesn't sit well with many of the city's Japanese American leaders.

Two years after a public fight over the future of Golden Gate Park's Japanese Tea Garden, the city's Recreation and Park Department is seeking proposals from companies interested in leasing and managing the garden's tea house and gift shop. Unlike the practice in years past, however, applicants will be judged on their ability to bring an authentic, culturally sensitive experience to the more than 400,000 people who visit every year. The Recreation and Park Commission will vote today on whether to move forward with a request for bids that outlines those requirements.

"I'd like to see more accuracy. People serving the tea should be dressed appropriately ... and the selection of goods in the gift shop should be more culturally relevant," said Douglas Dawkins, the great-great-grandson of landscape designer Makoto Hagiwara, who created the garden for the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894.

Besides objections about what some Japanese Americans consider tourist schlock, Dawkins and other would like to see more high-quality, traditional types of green tea offered, plus servers who are dressed appropriately and trained in traditional Japanese tea service. City officials and Japanese American leaders agree that the garden cannot offer a formal, traditional tea ceremony to every visitor, but they want the tea house to evoke that experience.

Two years ago, when the department went looking for a new concessionaire, the issue erupted in controversy.

The Lo family, which has leased the concession from the city for 15 years, is Chinese American, and Japantown leaders lined up behind a bid from a Japanese American cafe owner. Some of them argued that the concession should be held by a Japanese American. The Recreation and Park Commission rejected both bids, leaving the Los with a month-to-month lease and the tea garden in the same state as before the vote.

This time around, members of the department took their time, visiting other tea gardens, talking to experts and sitting down with Japantown leaders before crafting the request for bids. Everyone now seems to agree that it doesn't matter who wins the concession as long as they know what they're doing.

"The community is most interested in seeing an authentic experience at the tea garden," said Bob Hamaguchi, executive director of the Japantown Task Force, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Japanese heritage in San Francisco. "It doesn't matter if it's a Japanese operator. The No. 1 concern is the proper display of Japanese culture and traditions."

The winning bidder will, of course, have to make money for the city. In recent years, the tea house has earned the city about $200,000 a year through rent payments and a percentage of revenues made at the tea house, gift shop and nearby bus parking lot. The city also collected about $1.6 million last year in entrance fees.

The new operator will have to pay at least $180,00o a year in rent, plus an undetermined percentage of concession revenues. The owner also will have to pay into a fund that will be used for maintenance of the garden.

Margot Shaub, the park department's director of partnerships, said the new request for bids "throws a wide net" - the agency is asking for ideas on what products the new managers should offer and how they plan to bring traditional activities or programs to the garden. The department is requiring applicants to be specific about their plans.

"We want to know, 'What's the business opportunity?' How they will drive more revenue so the concessionaire can make a living, and so can we," she said.

One of the challenges for the current operator has been balancing what's traditional with what sells, said Vince Lo, whose family also holds the concession at Coit Tower.

"We now dedicate a whole section of the gift shop to selling books about Japanese gardens and origami, even though they don't really make money," he said.

Lo said his family will look at the new request for bids and is likely to apply to stay at the tea garden.

If the commission votes today to allow the request for bids, applications will be due by Jan. 8, and a decision will be made by March. The five-year lease probably will begin on April 1.