Matcha Time, Much More Than Sushi

Yes, there will be sushi.

But Matcha Time, opening soon-ish in Ellicott City, will be a peek into the breadth of Japanese goodies that, according to Hatsumi Watanabe-Smith, are hard to find in Howard County.

“When people find out I’m Japanese,” she said Friday morning, “They always ask do I do sushi. There’s so much good stuff instead of sushi.”

Matcha is a Japanese green tea, Watanabe-Smith said, and Matchta Time - located behind in the building that was home to the - will be a Japanese Tea House. Expect a selection of teas, pastries, a few coffee varieties and a retail section with Japanese crafts.

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“People here are spoiled,” she said Friday morning. “People already have so much sushi, and I’m going to be the only one to make it,” so she’ll only have a small selection of sushi.

Watanabe-Smith will be the only employee for now, though she hopes to be able to hire help after the business gets off the ground. The Ellicott City resident is a former accountant who settled here 20 years ago after living in Arlington.

There were Japanese stores in that area, but “that’s quite a long way to go,” she said.

She hopes to be able to open the shop before the summer’s end, but is still waiting on permits from the county. 

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