SWEET P
Stewart Hall • 5 Queen Street • St. George’s GE 05
441-293-0627 • lilibermuda.com
The intoxicating scents at Bermuda Perfumery capture visitors’ attention from the moment they step over the threshold. But on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons, there is some earnest competition—the equally intoxicating (and mouth-watering) aromas of freshly brewed tea and delectable treats.
Paula Hayward recently returned to her native Bermuda after years of owning and operating a successful restaurant in New Jersey. “I wanted to be doing something I loved,” she says, “but without the stress of the restaurant world.” So she tapped into her strong pastry-chef background and began designing cakes for destination weddings and other catered events. (She recently earned “Best of Bermuda 2016” in the cakes category.) Soon after Paula’s wedding business was up and going, mutual friends introduced her to Isabelle Brackstone, the owner of Bermuda Perfumery, located in Stewart Hall, a historic 18th-century property owned by the Bermuda National Trust. Isabelle had already been mulling over the possibility of offering afternoon-tea service at the Perfumery, so the new friends devised a plan for Paula, “Sweet P,” to begin hosting it on-site. She has been serving tea there twice a week ever since.
“When the weather permits,” says Paula, “tea is served in Isabelle’s lovely courtyard garden.” Sweet P offers a selection of teas from Harney & Sons in delicate teacups and saucers that don’t match (on purpose), along with finger sandwiches, pastries, and hot-from-the-oven scones served with local honey, jam, and Chantilly cream alongside. “Many guests have declared the scones the best they’ve ever had,” she adds proudly.
