After a successful matcha-themed pop-up, Remington cafe owner Quentin Vennie is putting down roots in his hometown.

The Baltimore-raised business owner, who opened the city’s first matcha tea bar in February, will sign a two-year lease next week to move the shop to 311 W. 28th Street. It’s a transition he hopes will allow his premium tea company, Equitea, to be a mainstay among the city’s growing beverage providers.

“We left the city in 2022 because we couldn’t raise any capital,” Vennie said. “But we always wanted the business in Baltimore.”

Before bringing his Equitea concept home, Vennie would pitch it to national retailers and investors in larger cities, searching for the credibility he needed to open Baltimore’s only cafe dedicated to specialty green teas.

While in 2022 coffee shops and breweries were popular ventures, Vennie says, investors doubted tea lattes and blends would find an audience in Baltimore. The lack of interest prompted Vennie to move Equitea to Los Angeles, where he raised more than half a million dollars and gradually grew the business to stock matcha blends in more than 600 grocers in 28 states. Powerful players in the wellness industry like Gwyneth Paltrow championed the tea on social media.

“We got to a place in business where we had enough credibility, enough support to make the move back,” he said.

With the help of Seawall, a prolific Baltimore real estate developer, Vennie took over the space at 2600 N. Howard Street in 2025, opening a temporary matcha-themed tea bar with sodas, lattes and other blended drinks priced around $6. Strong demand led the business to extend their stay through May.

Katie Marshall, a spokeswoman for the developer, said the shop’s foot traffic and positive reviews show that a niche wellness concept can succeed in Baltimore and not just New York, Los Angeles or Washington, D.C.

“We knew early on we wanted them to stay,” she said.

Their new permanent location in Remington’s 28th Street corridor is intended to encourage customers who frequently congregate around the R. House food hall to explore other local businesses.

Vennie had long hoped to bring more wellness to Baltimore. He believes that the possible health benefits of matcha and the practice of drinking tea can improve the mindfulness of customers. Vennie, who practices yoga and meditates, says that more needs to be done to make the wellness world a space inclusive of Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs.

He plans on making the new shop a place for community members to escape the day-to-day hustle. There will be opportunities to learn more about matcha and other specialty green teas, as well as times for the community to gather for early morning meditation. He’s hoping to carve out a listening room within the shop, where soothing vinyl music is played and texting or talking on phones is discouraged.

“We launched the pop-up with our own personal money, our savings,” he said. “We’re on our way to being a destination.”