'I wanted to show the real me'
By Sierra Henry
Published in News on September 4, 2018 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Barbara Rice puts special touches on her dishes to let her customers know they are prepared with care.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Barbara Rice prepares for the day in the kitchen of her new tea house, B. Sweeney's, at the back of The Artisan Village on Center Street on Friday. Each day Rice prepares fresh quiche that is served with a salad.
Barbara Rice is back and better than ever with her new café: B. Sweeney's Restaurant and Fine Teas.
After years of serving the Goldsboro area with Royal Tea House, Rice moved to Florida with her husband where she worked as an executive chef. Three years later, she felt Goldsboro pulling her back.
"I wanted to come back, I like Goldsboro very much," Rice said. "I like the warmth of the people of Goldsboro. It's a good feel ... When we came (to Goldsboro) it was just nice to settle for a while. When you're in the military, you're moving.
"So, we were here, and my husband decided to retire here and I already had a restaurant here, so I knew everybody and it was just nice to settle in the community."
B. Sweeney's Restaurant and Fine Teas is located at 123 N. Center St. in the Artisan Village, and is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The restaurant provides a friendly environment to enjoy an afternoon cup of tea. From shepherd's pie and Jamaican jerk sandwiches to decadent cakes and desserts, Rice said that there is something for everyone to enjoy.
"The restaurant here, I tried to make it so that it's welcoming. It's for anyone to come -- mothers and daughters, husbands and wives -- for anyone to come and feel at home," Rice said. "That's why I created an at home environment, so people feel like they're in their own living room or dining room."
Along with a selection of international loose-leaf teas, B. Sweeney's offers a variety of dishes. Her goal, she said, is to make the restaurant focus on a variety of international foods from different countries around the world.
Rice immigrated to America with her husband, who was in the U.S. military, from Royal Leamington Spa, a town in Warwickshire, England ,that is famous for its water.
Although she studied business administration, she said that cooking was in her blood. Not only was her father a chef in England, but so were her brothers. Much of her experience came from helping her brothers and father in their own restaurants, she said.
When Rice decided to move back to Goldsboro in December, she realized that she did not want to reopen the Royal Tea Room.
In the past, she said she felt like people who ate at the Royal Tea Room felt as though they needed to be dressed up or look a certain way. She said it felt too formal, even though that was not the original intent.
"When I came back, I didn't want to do Royal Tea Room again," Rice said. "It was new me, it was ... it was new. I wanted a transition and I wanted to show the real me: B. Sweeney. It was time for me to be me."
While B. Sweeney's may be a new restaurant, Rice said many of her old regular customers and former employees have stopped by to tell her how much they missed her and that they are glad she moved back into the area.
"Having everyone say, 'we're so glad you came back, we missed you,' ... I was amazed at the outpouring of warmth," Rice said.