The Roosevelt New Orleans Replaces Teddy's Café with All-Day Café Alice
The Roosevelt New Orleans opens Café Alice, a 6 a.m.-to-8 p.m. café replacing Teddy's Café, with a StiR-developed menu honoring Alice Roosevelt across all dayparts.
The Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel, has opened Café Alice, an all-day café and bar that replaces the former Teddy's Café and operates daily from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The concept repositions a historically breakfast-weighted space into a full-day revenue generator, a format hotel operators increasingly favor to capture spend across dayparts from a single outlet.
Executive Chef Daniel Mills and Pastry Chef Kareena Dennis built the menu. The food and beverage program was developed with StiR Creative Collective, Hilton's in-house global F&B consultancy, which shaped the concept's culinary direction, storytelling and guest journey alongside the hotel team. StiR's track record in the Americas luxury portfolio includes Peacock Alley and Lex Yard at Waldorf Astoria New York, Leonessa at Conrad New York Downtown, and Brassica at Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead.
The concept is themed around Alice Roosevelt, daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, the hotel's namesake. General manager Sebastian Stutz framed the opening as legacy-driven. "Café Alice honors The Roosevelt's storied legacy while creating a distinctive experience for today's guests," Stutz said. "It joins celebrated destinations such as the Sazerac Bar in offering guests and locals another memorable way to experience the hotel."
What does the menu actually offer?
The kitchen leans on menu engineering through storytelling rather than price leadership, with items named after Alice Roosevelt's biography. They include:
- Alice's Emily Spinach Benedict — a breakfast dish nodding to her pet garter snake, Emily Spinach.
- Alice Blue Latte — espresso with spirulina for a pale blue shade, plus coconut, vanilla and coconut milk; "Alice Blue" was the color she popularized.
- The Black Tie Chicken — crispy chicken bites with shaved black truffle, caviar and crème fraiche, anchoring lunch and dinner in luxury ingredients.
- Cocktails including The Wild Child (Bombay Sapphire Gin, matcha), the Espresso Beignet (Altamura Vodka, Beignet Liqueur, Caffè Lucano, espresso) and Doctor's Bellini (Juliette Heirloom Peach Liqueur, Peychaud's Bitters).
Mills described the positioning as brasserie-style with Southern grounding. "The menu is inspired by Alice's out-of-the-box personality and the relaxed style of French brasseries while remaining true to our roots and providing guests with authentic Southern cuisine," he said. "We're excited for guests to step into Alice's world and discover it for themselves."
Pastry chef Kareena Dennis supplies house-made pastries day and night, including a Matcha-Yuzu Éclair, a Sazerac Apple Tatin Entremet and an Ube Basque Cheesecake — a house-baked program that keeps the outlet productive across all hours.
How does the design support the concept?
Interiors by ForrestPerkins pair climbing botanical wallpaper with arched brass niches, a green latticed ceiling, marble-topped tables and velvet banquettes. The palette runs warm cream and sun-washed terracotta. It is staged for lingering, which matters for an outlet expected to convert lobby traffic into check averages from morning coffee through evening cocktails.
Café Alice also carries a cause-marketing hook tied to Alice Roosevelt's fondness for animals. A limited-time Critter Sable Cookie Sandwich — a play on the animal cracker — comes with discounted Audubon Nature Institute zoo admission, and a portion of proceeds supports the institute's Marine Mammal Rescue program and turtle release efforts.
Where does it sit in the hotel's portfolio?
The café joins a lineup that includes the relaunched Fountain Lounge, the landmark Sazerac Bar, Italian-inspired Domenica, the seasonal Rooftop Bar and 24-hour in-room dining. Café Alice gives the property a morning-to-evening anchor among them.
The opening signals Hilton's continued use of StiR to standardize concept development across its luxury estate. Expect the consultancy's fingerprint — narrative-driven menus, all-day formats, house pastry programs — to spread further through Waldorf Astoria and Conrad properties as rivals chase the same full-day lobby economics.
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Senior reporter covering technology and product news in Restaurant and hotel operations at The Pass Brief.
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