Kathy Heck is gone, but her spirit will be present when her beloved restaurant, The Talking Teacup, reopens under new ownership in June.
“It will be Kathy’s idea, but with our flair,” said Patti Fitzpatrick, who bought the Chalfont restaurant with partner Nicole Boyer.
Heck, who had battled cancer for years, closed the Teacup in 2019 when she retired. The restaurant went out on a high note, with customers rushing to make reservations before it closed.
Fitzpatrick, who worked there as kitchen manager, had dreamed of buying it for years.
“I was happier here than in any other job,” she said.
It was while staying home during the pandemic that Fitzpatrick began to formulate the idea she would offer to Kathy’s husband, Eric Heck. He loved the restaurant when it was operated by his wife, who died last November.
Eric asked for a detailed plan. The partners put one together, and he became enthusiastic, Fitzpatrick said. The deal was signed and work began on the Teacup building, which has been vacant since it closed.
Since announcing the tearoom would reopen, the partners have been inundated with phone calls from former customers who are thrilled at its return. The partners were able to obtain the original phone number and website for the tearoom, 215-997-8441 and thetalkingteacup.com.
Much of the menu of tea sandwiches, scones, soups and desserts will be similar to when Kathy Heck owned the tearoom, and the scone recipe is the one she used, with a small update. There will be high teas and luncheon teas, just as there were in the past. The new Teacup also will offer weekend breakfasts and fundraisers for charity each month.
The new owners will add their own flair. “We will change up the menu a bit,” Fitzpatrick said, so customers can expect something different each time they visit.
While Heck’s décor was defined as “country chic,” the new partners want to create the coziness of “a visit to grandma,” they said.
Sometime in June Fitzpatrick and Boyer expect to open the restaurant. They are taking reservations for July since the starting date is unknown and depend on when renovations are complete and township approval is received.
Helping to remind visitors of Kathy Heck will be a portrait painted by Doylestown plein air impressionist artist Alan Fetterman, who will display additional artwork on the restaurant’s walls.
Among the things that remain the same is the motto that Kathy Heck followed: “Come as a stranger, leave as a friend.”
If you can’t wait for the return of The Talking Teacup, this basic scone recipe comes from allrecipes.com:
2 cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
½ cup raisins (or dried currants or other fruit you prefer)
½ cup sour cream
1 large egg
Step 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
Step 2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in raisins (or other fruit).
Step 3. In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth.
Step 4. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)
Step 5. Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes.
Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.
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