By CGN Staff

Entrepreneur Heiji Choy Black and artist Theaster Gates are launching a new hospitality experience at Chicago’s Stony Island Arts Bank with the debut of Han Cha, a Korean-inspired high tea salon, and Yunomi, a companion cocktail bar rooted in Japanese ceramic traditions.

Opening June 5, the concepts transform the South Side cultural landmark into an immersive destination where tea culture, art, craft, and hospitality intersect. Han Cha will offer a prix fixe tea service inspired by East Asian tea traditions and British high tea, while Yunomi will serve cocktails and spirits in handcrafted ceramic vessels created by Gates’s studio.

The project marks a new chapter for the Stony Island Arts Bank, one of Gates’s most celebrated civic and cultural spaces, known for exhibitions, artist residencies, and preservation of major Black cultural archives including the Johnson Publishing Company collection and Frankie Knuckles archive.

“Heiji Choy Black is one of Chicago’s great culture-makers,” Gates said. “Han Cha and Yunomi are reflections on hospitality, beauty, and ceremony. We hope people come to the South Side, spend time together, and experience one of the most compelling cultural spaces Chicago has to offer.”

Former Momotaro pastry chef Jessica Vasquez and partner Marguerite Singson will serve as Han Cha’s inaugural visiting chefs. Beverage offerings will include teas from Chicago-based Spirit Tea and cocktails featuring locally crafted spirits from Judson & Moore and Half Acre Beer Co.

Han Cha and Yunomi open by reservation June 5, 2026, at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago.