There’s a new Mad Hatter in charge of celebrity-favorite New York City restaurant Aliceâs Tea Cup.
The sisters who founded the popular “Alice in Wonderland”-inspired tea house have sold off their business after more than two decades — and while facing a mountain of debt, The Post has learned.
âAfter 23 years, Aliceâs Tea Cup finally found the right people to pass the baton to and the group is led by Jeni He who plans to be faithful to the core concepts and brand, and grow Aliceâs Tea Cup beyond the current locations,â said Lauren Fox, who founded the shop with sister Haley in 2001.
Alice’s Tea Cup has three locations — on the Upper East and West Sides and in Brooklyn — and has long been a staple for scones, finger sandwiches, hundreds of tea offerings and whimsical memories for kids, tourists and stars alike.
Celebrities like Conan OâBrien, Amy Schumer, the Olsen Twins Ewan McGregor, Julia Stiles, Laura Linney and Julia Roberts were all reportedly big fans, with many customers spotting them sipping away at a table with their young families.
On Monday, the shop filed for an assignment of benefits for creditors â a workaround to Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings that helps restructure debts and manage troubled assets.
That means that assets and debts will be controlled by a law firm specializing in corporate restructuring, with court documents stating that attorney Lawrence Morrison was retained on July 13.
According to a filed creditor list, the tea house owes roughly $230,000 to credit card companies, contractors and other vendors.
The lionâs share is a $150,000 debt owed to the federal Small Business Administration.
During the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, Aliceâs Tea Cup received an $800,000 grant from the SBAâs Restaurant Revitalization Fund, according to the New York Times, which reported in 2021 that the shop was looking for new ownership after a laggard pandemic recovery.
The Monday filing is a way to address outstanding debts, according to former owner Haley Fox, and does not mean the shop’s tea cups and saucers will be sold for scrap.
Fans of the themed restaurant will be grinning like the Cheshire Cat with the news that it will still always be tea time, despite an earlier report erroneously stating the shops had already closed.
Fox said that the new tea proprietor has previous restaurant experience and âis the right person for the job.”
âNo location is shuttered or shuttering and the party goes on!â the statement from her sister Lauren added.
Aliceâs Tea Cup opened their first Upper West Side shop in 2001, and quickly became a neighborhood favorite of kids, family and tea-time enthusiasts as well, offering traditional tea time treats like biscuits, finger sandwiches and scones, plus a huge array of tea leaves.
The Fox sisters, who grew up in a household with a tea-addicted father, aspired to one day open their own tea shop. That became a reality nearly 23 years ago when sister Haley moved back to New York City from Los Angeles.
âWhen I told my husband the only thing Iâd miss were the tea houses, he said I should open one. So I did,â she told The Post in 2005.
That year, the sisters opened a larger, 2,800-square-foot tea room on East 64th Street â called Aliceâs Tea Cup Chapter II â where offerings expanded to include a full restaurant blending American fare with tea flavors, like a Lapsang Souchong smoked chicken breast. In 2019, they launched small café and takeout spot opened in Brooklyn Heights.
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