--- description: Find out why Yum Cha is on TIME’s list of the World’s Greatest Places 2024. title: Yum Cha: World's Greatest Places 2024 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0324abf9035f3ad/698a5913929fad5583bfcc67/worlds-greatest-places-yum-cha-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Jul 25, 2024 # Yum Cha Santiago, Chile by [Nicholas Gill](/author/nicholas-gill/) ## Nicholas Gill Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Tea preparation at Yum Cha Tea preparation at Yum ChaCourtesy Yum Cha A minimalist tea house paired with an adventurous 20-seat restaurant might seem like an odd fit for Santiago until you realize that Chile is a country with a history of high tea consumption. It is a trend that began with yerba mate and was gradually popularized in the 19th century after Britain helped the country in its 1810 war for independence, but [Yum Cha](https://yumcha.cl/ "undefined"), which began as a pop-up in an apartment before moving into a renovated Providencia home in mid-2023, is taking the concept in an entirely new direction. Local chef Nicolás Tapia’s [10-course tasting menus](https://brguide.com/restaurants/yum-cha "undefined") use teas from different parts of the world, including oolong from Nantou, Taiwan, and red tea from Hadong, South Korea, as a guideline to pair with local produce and seafood from Chile’s cold Pacific waters. The combinations are spectacular: think abalone-like locos with peas and a touch of grapefruit foam paired with a green tea from Sichuan, China. Even still, you can always opt for a mixed or full pairing of Chilean wines, so you don’t miss out on those either. _Buy your copy of the World's Greatest Places issue_ [_here_](https://magazineshop.us/TIMEWGP24 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2024/6992385/yum-cha/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2024/6992385/yum-cha/"},"headline":"Yum Cha","datePublished":"2024-07-25T10:55:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:33:05.848Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2024/6992385/yum-cha/","keywords":["World's Greatest Places","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0324abf9035f3ad/698a5913929fad5583bfcc67/worlds-greatest-places-yum-cha-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nicholas Gill","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nicholas-gill/"}],"creator":"Nicholas Gill","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0324abf9035f3ad/698a5913929fad5583bfcc67/worlds-greatest-places-yum-cha-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/worlds-greatest-places/","name":"World's Greatest Places"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/worlds-greatest-places-2024/6992385/yum-cha/","name":"Yum Cha"}}]}] ```