Deviled eggs, curry chicken, and peach cobbler: Akwaaba Tea Salon’s soulful afternoon tea experience

Guests walked into Akwaaba Tea Salon’s inaugural sitting in strappy, kitten, and stiletto heels; floral frocks; and fascinators pinned atop naturally curly crowns. They placed clutches on square tables covered in white linen, each with a pink peony centerpiece, and smoothed pastel-hued skirts behind their knees before gingerly sitting on low chairs.

These first patrons — mostly women — were fly, on time, and ready for their soulful afternoon tea experience to get on and popping.

“Welcome,” Monique Greenwood said to her sharply dressed guests. Greenwood, owner of the popular Akwaaba Bed & Breakfasts Inns, wore the tea salon’s no-nonsense uniform of black trousers and a white top. “I’m so happy that on this Friday you all decided to push back the world, take a breath, take a sip, and enjoy.”

Greenwood, a former editor of Essence magazine and serial entrepreneur, opened the Akwaaba Tea Salon & Event Space — Akwaaba is the Twi word for “welcome” — in early June on the bottom floor of a two-story brick building that sits kitty-corner at the intersection of Baring Street and Lancaster Avenue.

The 24-seat salon is one of many African American-owned art galleries, vintage clothing boutiques, restaurants, and beauty shops in West Philly’s Powelton Village, which is quickly becoming a hub for trendy Black-owned businesses. Greenwood, who bought the former apartments at 3811 Lancaster Ave. in 2021 after closing the Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns in D.C. and Cape May, plans to turn the building’s top floor into an event space for birthdays, baby showers, bridal showers, and day parties for tea lovers of all kinds.

Greenwood’s bet on the well-to-do British custom of afternoon tea is a sure shot. Thanks to our love of dramas that capture the romanticized, well-dressed pomp and circumstance of yesteryear like HBO’s The Crown and The Gilded Age and Shonda Rhimes’ Netflix hit, Bridgerton, afternoon tea — also referred to in the States as high tea — is in the midst of a moment.

Nothing says I’m worth it more than brewing a piping cup of tea in the middle of the day. Add to that exquisitely Instagram-able fashion and a newfound thirstiness for the time-honored ritual has emerged. Earlier this year, a New York sightseeing company brought Tea Around Town, a bus tour that serves afternoon tea to Philadelphia tourists and natives. Two pink tour busses, topped with a flower-studded glass ceiling, leave from the intersection of Sixth and Market Streets each day.

“Women love a reason to get cute, hang out with their friends, and post a selfie,” Greenwood said. “High tea is the perfect backdrop for that.”

Twenty of the Akwaaba Tea Salon’s 24 seats are filled this sunny Friday afternoon. A pianist plays jazzy versions of ‘80s R & B. Glasses of water with springs of rosemary await guests at each place setting, next to a white teapot mug and a raisin scone served with clotted cream and preserves. Vintage floor-to-ceiling photos of Black people in their Sunday best — some from Greenwood’s personal photo albums — are the backdrop. “The photos remind us that we come from the best of the best,” Greenwood said. “And that our ancestors made all of this possible for us.”

It’s not just the ambience that makes the Akwaaba afternoon tea experience different, it’s the soulful menu. Loose-leaf teas are sourced from Brooklyn Tea, a Black-owned tea company based in Brooklyn, New York. The summer menu features Afropunk, a peach-flavored rooibos; a sweeter Caramel Pu-erh (a fermented tea); and Well-kanda, a purple-hued herbal tea.

“We wanted our guests to experience a total tea immersion,” Greenwood said. “Every guest gets a color-coded hourglass timer so they know their tea has steeped enough. We make sure our Akwaaba tea drinkers are treated to the perfect cup of tea.”

Akwaaba’s savory sandwiches and sweets are prepared by executive chef Victoria Tyson, of Victoria’s Kitchen & Catering, a soul food restaurant on Ogontz Avenue in West Oak Lane. Instead of a crustless egg salad sandwich, Akwaaba diners are treated to a deviled egg topped with a bite of Southern fried chicken. Also included in the savory sandwich mix is a creamy Brie and turkey on triangles of white bread, a curry chicken salad croissant, and a caramelized onion and Gorgonzola mini tarte — the perfect mouthful of intense, cheesy decadence.

The mini deserts — the reason I live for afternoon tea — include a tiny cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, a buttery pinch of dense poundcake, spoonful of peach cobbler, and the corner of a lemon tart.

“This was such an exquisite afternoon of pampering,” said Deloria Gilliam, one of eight celebrating her mom’s 75th birthday. “It’s very elegant. We all feel so special and so cared for.”

Akwaaba Tea Salon is open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with 90-minute reservation-only tea sessions at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. Guests may chose from the Baring (scone, tea service, and a tier of sandwiches for $48) or the Lancaster (The Baring plus soup and salad — for $56). At the moment, alcohol is BYOB.

“Everything was just so well-done,” said Vash Boddie, of Mount Airy. Boddie invited his friend Annetta White, who drove all the way from Skippack to join Boddie for afternoon tea. “It was perfect,” he said. “The ambience, the mood, the food. It was wonderful. Of course, I’d certainly come back again.”

Akwaaba Tea Salon is located at 3811 Lancaster Ave. For reservations, log on to https://www.akwaabatea.com/ or call 866-466-3855