It’s hard not to fall in love with Taiwan. Spend any time here and you quickly come to feel like you’re in on the world’s best kept secret. It’s difficult to overstate how dumb in luck I feel to have landed here, especially considering the extent to which I didn’t understand beforehand just how exquisitely pleasant the Taiwanese lifestyle can be. It is, frankly, almost painful—the excruciating charm of its fugue, every moment of every day revealing a new layer of experience that fits so snug, perfectly aligned with the last.
The cafe at To Dear Alternative Art Gallery in Da’an is everything of a metaphor for Taiwan itself: unassuming, almost anonymous from the outside, to the point that you would completely miss it if you didn’t know where to look. But once you’re there, you wonder where it’s been all your life.
Stay long enough to order a few small bites, and come back for the art exhibits upstairs that cycle by season to season. You’ll want to share with everyone you know, but don’t spill the beans. Let’s keep this one between you and me.
An oasis of calm and serenity, but simultaneously piqued by the quirky adornments that characterize so much of Taiwan’s inside space. A carnival of trinkets and dolls invoke the whimsy of childhood daydreams, the quiet contemplative vibe invites a sense of depth, the waters just right for a free-dive into your imagination.
An assortment of teas and coffee supplement the invitation to stay awhile, which truly is the offer here: the opportunity to sit still for a bit. To linger. To take a seat in the garden, or find a nook and settle in to rest your busy mind, and your bones.
The service, as you will usually find throughout the island, is kind and helpful, but never awkwardly so. Here you will find your comfort and needs are met as a matter of course, with no fuss, your hosts subtly and gently exuding the warmth of customer service that so many Taiwanese proprietors have mastered.
Stay long enough to order a few small bites, and come back for the art exhibits upstairs that cycle by season to season. You’ll want to share with everyone you know, but don’t spill the beans. Let’s keep this one between you and me.
