Wubitu Ayana Sima 鈥�89, 鈥�15 MBA might never have predicted she would end up as the proprietor of a classic British tea room, but she never expected to spend more than a decade in Geneva, Switzerland, working abroad for the United Nations and the World Health Organization either.
At 54, the dual-degreed Auggie has always been a woman who likes a challenge. She鈥檚 happy when she鈥檚 busy, and as the owner of Lady Elegant鈥檚 Tea Shoppe in the leafy St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul, and a part-time MBA student at Augsburg, the mother of three is already thinking about her next adventure.
Serving Tranquility
Lady Elegant鈥檚, which she purchased from the previous owner, is actually two businesses鈥攁 tea shop and a tranquil tea room that is perfect for conversation and popular for groups of all sizes by appointment. Ayana Sima does the baking for the formal teas, including croissants and scones with clotted cream. The adjoining tea shop sells more than 80 varieties of tea. Her husband, Admasu Simeso, helps manage the restaurant, from the paperwork to the online shop.
She manages four part-time employees, and everyone works Saturdays, because it is their busiest time.
Each place in the tea room is set with a distinct tea cup. She鈥檚 collected cups from all over鈥攖hey come from the United Kingdom, China, and Japan鈥攁nd washes each one by hand. They break easily, she warns, especially in the transition from a group service in the morning to a group in the afternoon.
鈥淚鈥檓 a coffee drinker,鈥� she confesses. Growing up in Ethiopia, she would pick coffee out of the backyard at her mother鈥檚 house and they鈥檇 roast it themselves. She learned to enjoy tea while working in Switzerland, and has grown to know the delicate chemistry of time, tea leaves, and temperature of boiling water.
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