Susan Harris never planned on opening an afternoon tea shop after retiring. In fact, the whole thing started as a joke.
“It just kind of spiraled, really,” she said.
After working as a nurse for decades, she was getting bored and wanted to spend her time on something. Inspiration struck when she saw a tea set while thrifting with a friend. It sent her down a rabbit hole that eventually led to Afternoon Tea at the Village, she said.
With the help of her daughter, Abi Harris, Susan opened the shop in Long Beach’s Lakewood Village neighborhood on Oct. 24. It’s one of only two places in the city solely dedicated to afternoon tea — a sharp departure from their native England, where “tea is a way of life; tea is the answer to everything,” Susan said.
For the unfamiliar, they hope Afternoon Tea at the Village is approachable.
“It doesn’t have to be like a formal thing, but you can come and hang out with your friends,” Abi said.
For those who want their experience with a little more pomp, they have fancy hats available to borrow. Susan said recently a couple of dads came in wearing baseball caps and soon put on the fancy hats on top of them.
“It was quite cute, actually,” she said.
In the few weeks they’ve been open, Susan and Abi said customers have been excited, but many are still learning how to enjoy afternoon tea the proper English way.
Abi gave the example of one person who put cream in a fruit tea, which she said is a big mistake because the cream will start to curdle. She also gave the example of someone putting a sweet cream on a savory scone.
“We’re trying to keep it traditional, but there are little variations,” Susan said.
Regardless of how customers enjoy their tea, Susan and Abi just want people to enjoy themselves.
“It’s not just about the food or the tea,” Abi said. “We want people to come and have a good time.”
They want their customers to feel special, too, which starts with hand-selected china.
Every teapot and cup has its own story. Many were bought second-hand from thrift stores or estate sales, and some were gifted by friends.
Customers can choose which pot their tea is served in, picking the size and design they like the most. Options range from simple floral designs to extravagant teapots that are shaped like houses or dancing rabbits. The simple floral tea pots have been a surprising favorite for customers, Abi said.
The tea cups all have different designs as well, though none are quite as extravagant as the tea pots. Some cups even have mustache guards, a small ledge on the inside of the cup, so gentlemen can enjoy their tea and keep their mustache dry.
“I think when you do proper afternoon tea, you kind of feel special,” Susan said.
Susan’s favorite cup is white with a gold trim and a blue and yellow stripe lined with small pink flowers wrapping around the top. Because of the delicacy of china, everything needs to be hand-washed, which Abi and Susan have said has been a real pain.
“We’ve become way more popular than we ever envisioned. We thought we could be very quiet and we could do this on our own, but right from the very beginning, we realized that that was not the case at all, and so we’ve had to hire quite a few people,” Abi said.
When asked about the future of Afternoon Tea at the Village, Susan joked that she wanted to build an empire, but realistically, she said she just wants to succeed.
“We don’t want to run before we can walk,” Susan said.
In the future, Susan and Abi hope to be able to accommodate larger parties and would like to offer gluten-free and vegan options, but they’re taking things slow for now.
Afternoon Tea at the Village, 4105A N Bellflower Blvd., is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.