We sat down for an interview with Anthony, the man bringing 120 years of Parisian café culture to Manhattan by bringing Angelina Paris to NYC. Angelina Paris is one of our go-to caterers for our poshest private events at Maxwell and Anthony has been a dream to work with.

David Litwak: I’d love for you to tell me the story of Angelina BEFORE it came to the U.S.

Anthony Battaglia: Of course. Angelina Paris has 120 years of history. It all started with an Austrian pastry chef who opened his first bakery in Nice, in the south of France. His name was Antoine Rumpelmayer.

Antoine had six sons and started growing his company by sending each of his sons to major cities—Paris, Antibes—where our signature pastry, the Mont Blanc, was created.

Angelina was one of his sons. He owned what became Angelina Paris, the tea room. That’s where all the French and Parisian aristocracy—from Coco Chanel to Proust—would gather during the Belle Époque. The tea room was located in the center of Paris and became a cultural landmark.

Fast forward to today: Angelina Paris is still a highly successful tea room. It has long lines throughout the year, week, and even daily. It’s always full.

We started expanding internationally. We had a place in New York back in the 1980s. It wasn’t called Angelina, though—it was called Rumpelmayer.

That’s where all the chic little girls from the Upper East Side would go to celebrate. Then it closed, for reasons I’m not sure about. But Angelina continued to grow in Asia. We now have 12 locations in Japan, China, and Singapore.

We also saw a lot of interest in the Middle East, so we expanded to Dubai, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. Today, we have three locations in Saudi Arabia.

Our American guests in Paris kept asking us when we would open in the U.S. So, right before COVID, we started looking into New York City. As French people, the natural first entry point into the U.S. is, of course, New York City. It’s quite unusual for a French brand to start in the U.S. with somewhere like L.A., for example.

We built the first tea room in the middle of COVID, which was quite a challenging time. But we made it work, and now it’s been up and running for almost four years.

We also opened a second location on the Upper East Side. And actually, thanks to COVID, that’s how we met you guys. We started doing what I know best—my career began in catering.

So we began catering Angelina Paris to different homes and offices of our regular guests. And that’s really how we got started here.

David Litwak: Very cool. I want to go back to what you said about the tea room and the history—how everyone used to gather there. It’s actually very similar to how we named Maxwell, after Elsa Maxwell, and that whole café society vibe that was really popular.

Can you tell us more about that part of history—the Belle Époque period that Angelina was clearly somewhat at the center of?

Anthony Battaglia: Yes, of course. It would be a pleasure.

It was very trendy back then to meet in tea rooms throughout the day. That’s actually why Angelina Paris offers an all-day dining menu. So whether you come at 8 in the morning or at 6 p.m., you can enjoy breakfast, brunch, or even something like onion soup.

It’s really interesting in Paris to see who our first customers are in the morning. Often, it’s people who work night shifts—nurses, for example. And that’s when we sell a lot of onion soup, cheeseburgers, and so on.

What people don’t often realize is that we actually serve more savory dishes than pastries. Of course, we’re known for our hot chocolate and for our pastries, but on the all-day dining menu, you can get sea bass, a nice steak, chicken breast—whatever you like. Everything is available all day long.

What’s very important for us, wherever we open a flagship Angelina, is to represent this timeless icon of luxury—a symbol of the French art de vivre.

David Litwak: I’m very curious—I noticed while doing a bit of research that you’ve also expanded into packaged chocolate and ice cream. How are you thinking about innovation outside the four walls of your locations? In other words, beyond just launching in more countries?

Anthony Battaglia: That’s a very interesting question. It actually started in Paris with our tourist guests. They wanted to bring something home from Angelina—whether it was a porcelain cup and saucer, hot chocolate, or little candies. Those became souvenirs.

Then during COVID, when the dining room was closed for the first six months, we needed another source of revenue. Besides catering and grab-and-go options through delivery platforms, we looked for ways to generate income beyond our physical locations.

That’s how we launched our website, which now represents 20% of our annual revenue. We ship every day, all over the country.

Anthony Battaglia: We have boxes going out daily—to Minnesota, Las Vegas, Chicago—really all over the country. We ship a collection of high-end épicerie fine products.

This includes a range of tea boxes—we offer eight different flavors, available both loose and in bags. We also have our signature hot chocolate. It’s the same recipe we’ve used for over 120 years. Whether it’s in bottled form or powder for our dairy-free guests, they can mix the chocolate powder with water or whatever liquid they prefer.

We also offer a high-end selection of chocolates—crispy crêpes coated in dark chocolate, salted caramels, and more. These sell really well on our website, but also through partnerships with other businesses.

For example, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels order Angelina products during Christmas, Mother’s Day, or Valentine’s Day to offer their clients. It really represents the pinnacle of Parisian épicerie fine.

David Litwak: That’s very cool. We’re actually starting our own snack bar here for members—something where they can grab soup or a small bite after they’ve had a drink or two. One of the reasons we’ve partnered with you is because we don’t have a kitchen, so we rely on your team.

But we do need something in between—something to offer when someone wants to hang out a bit longer, and we don’t have a chef in or haven’t catered for the evening. So we should definitely explore that.

Anthony Battaglia: I don’t know if you’ve visited our location on the Upper East Side, but we don’t have a dining room there—it’s a grab-and-go space.

We offer salads, sandwiches in different sizes, and some great pre-made ice cream cups that are super popular. We also have a collection of what we call gâteaux de voyage, or “traveling cakes”—things like diamond cookies, financiers, and mini financiers in bite sizes.

It works really, really well.

David Litwak: I’m not sure how much of the history you know—you mentioned it earlier that there was an earlier spot you opened that failed, can you tell us about that?

Anthony Battaglia: Yes, we opened what is now known as Angelina, but back then, it was named after the founder—Rumpelmayer. The Rumpelmayer café was located in the Hotel de Berne, in Midtown.

David Litwak: I don’t think I know it. I’ve only been here seven years, so that’s a bit before my time.

Anthony Battaglia: Okay. Very cool.

David Litwak: Well what was the biggest challenge for you coming to America? You’ve expanded to many other places before trying New York again. Was there a reason behind that? Did you feel more pressure being in New York, where it feels like the eyes of the world are on you?

Anthony Battaglia: To be honest, we sort of missed our opening [curing COVID]. Our Francophone and Francophile guests weren’t in town. The French community had gone back to France. The people who know Angelina Paris and have their routines there weren’t in New York.

A lot of them left the city for their second homes, so it was challenging to let them know we were here. And even today, after being open for almost four years, a lot of people still don’t know we’re in New York. We continue to surprise guests who already know the brand from Paris.

Many of our guests in Paris are American. They were the ones requesting us to come to their hometown—New York.

So I’d say the biggest challenge, to be transparent, is making sure our Paris team understands the habits of New Yorkers. When guests come to Paris, they’re in France—they’re looking for that French art de vivre.

But when we’re in New York, we’re on their territory, in their country. We have to be much more aware of their expectations and needs.

David Litwak: Is it kind of like, when people are in Paris, they’re seeking novelty and a Parisian experience, but when they’re in New York, they’re looking for routine—something that can become part of their daily or weekly life?

Anthony Battaglia: Exactly, exactly.

It took us some time—and for my pastry chef especially—to understand that we needed to have a cheesecake in the pastry case. A lot of people came in asking for it. They’d say, “We love Angelina Paris, but do you have a cheesecake?” It’s one of the most popular pastries in the city.

So, we made our own version of a cheesecake. And guess what? It’s now the second or third best-selling pastry in our case.

David Litwak: You don’t have a cheesecake in Paris?

Anthony Battaglia: No.

David Litwak: Is that a distinctly American thing? Like one of those examples—kind of like how General Tso’s chicken is actually an American-Chinese food invention?

Anthony Battaglia: It was really just about listening to our guests. They wanted something they enjoy on a regular basis, so we created our version of cheesecake.

It’s the same with the cheeseburger. Paris didn’t have a cheeseburger for a while. They had the croque monsieur—your classic ham and cheese sandwich—but not a cheeseburger.

We also have sundaes—a great selection that we mix with macarons. Always done with French flair, but designed for New Yorkers who are looking for something they can enjoy every day.

David Litwak: When you mentioned macarons earlier, it made me think of some of the famous macaron places. That brings me to one of my last questions: how have you thought about collaborations? Are you working with influencers, other brands, or even other French brands that are already in America?

Anthony Battaglia: Following the same strategy of bringing Angelina outside its walls—especially with the need for additional revenue—I had to get creative.

I actually started my career as a caterer. Daniel Boulud brought me to New York, and I was catering for his boutique company called Feast and Fêtes on the Upper East Side.

Through that, I saw the growing need among fashion companies to integrate hospitality into their brand experience.

For example, I don’t know if you’ve been to Cartier recently, but the first thing they do when you arrive is bring you upstairs to their hospitality center. Then a salesperson comes to meet you, and that’s where they begin building a relationship with you before taking you downstairs to view the jewelry.

A lot of other companies are doing similar things. For example, if you go to Hermès looking to buy porcelain—especially during the end-of-year period—most weekends they’ll offer you hot chocolate from Angelina. You get to enjoy their porcelain while sipping Angelina’s signature hot chocolate.

We also just finished a really fun collaboration with Longchamp, the French handbag company. Longchamp has a beautiful store on Fifth Avenue, right by the Cathedral, and we created a café with them: Café Longchamp x Angelina Paris. It was a great win-win.

Longchamp was looking to bring more traffic into their store, and we were looking for visibility. So we brought in our tables, chairs, the whole café concept, and created a pop-up that lasted over two months. We’ve now done it for three summers in a row.

It’s a great setup because guests have to come into Longchamp to pay for their iced coffee, croissant, or pain au chocolat. And Fifth Avenue doesn’t have many food and beverage options, aside from the little Ralph Lauren carts near Rockefeller.

David Litwak: I was about to say—it reminds me of Ralph Lauren’s café, Ralph’s.

I think the original Ralph’s Café was tucked inside one of their boutiques, right? And then they franchised it out.

Anthony Battaglia: Exactly. We did something similar with Longchamp, and also did a collaboration with Carolina Herrera.

Carolina Herrera is a well-known designer on the Upper East Side. Her flagship is there, and during wedding season—May and June—all the brides-to-be come in with their moms and best friends to try on their dresses.

We organized a full afternoon tea experience for them while they were shopping, and it worked really well.

We also did a great partnership this past weekend with Jacadi for Tea Day. Jacadi is a kids’ brand—they have a location in the Flatiron District and another in Midtown.

Do you know the brand?

David Litwak: No, I don’t.

Anthony Battaglia: So I try to find smart collaborations that make sense—true win-wins. Jacadi made sense. All the kids love hot chocolate and ice cream, and we have a great ice cream cart. So every guest who walked into the Jacadi store got an ice cream.

When we saw how successful the carts were, we expanded. Now we have two—one pastry cart and one ice cream cart. We bring them to offices for after-hours cocktails with clients, or to residential buildings where the management company invites Angelina to come sell ice cream for a couple of hours.

It’s a fun activation and really brings the community together—and that’s what we’re all about.

David Litwak: Very cool. We’ve got to get you out to one of our Summer Fridays.

We’ve been doing them with Via Carota Cocktails and last week, Brooklyn Coachworks brought out one of their vintage Land Rovers and parked it in front. We set up bistro tables and created a whole vibe—kind of like an “urban safari” with a French twist.

Anthony Battaglia: Morgan and I also did something fun with Christian Louboutin. We did something with Christian Louboutin in the Meatpacking District too. We customized the entire cart in red, with “Christian Louboutin” written on it. They wanted to promote their new shoes—and it was a big hit.

We did that for three weekends in a row—one event in the men’s section, one in the women’s, and the third at Saks Fifth Avenue. Big success.

We also did a really fun collaboration here at the Tea Room with John Lobb—the high-end shoe brand. We partnered with Petrossian, the caviar company, and Martingale, a newer cognac brand that just entered the U.S. market. Next time, I’ll make sure to put you on the guest list.

Those four brands came together—John Lobb, Petrossian, Martingale, and Angelina—and we hosted a very exclusive event for top customers. It was a great success.

David Litwak: I’ll keep that in mind as we think about what we could do before summer ends. I think the Summer Fridays idea could work really well.

Last question—what are you most excited about? You clearly launched under tough conditions, with COVID and your core French audience out of town. Now that we’re past all that and you seem to have real momentum, what’s next? What are you looking forward to?

Anthony Battaglia: The expansion of the brand. Now that we’ve reassured our investors and proven that the business model works—and that customers understand and connect with our story—we’re excited to start planning our growth.

We’re looking at places like Las Vegas, Miami, Texas. There’s plenty of opportunity. We’ve already been contacted by many people around the country who want to bring the Angelina tea room experience to their state.

It’s a very exciting phase we’re entering.

David Litwak: New York is the first U.S. location, right? And you’re overseeing all of that expansion—do I have that right?

Anthony Battaglia: That’s correct. I’m in charge of the U.S. territory for Angelina.

David Litwak: Wow. You’ve got a lot on your plate going forward.

It should be fun. Amazing.

Well, that’s all from me and I really appreciate you taking the time to chat. Thanks a lot, Anthony, both for this and our larger partnership and collaboration.

Anthony Battaglia: Cheers. Bye-bye.

Anthony's journey from catering with Daniel Boulud to bringing a 120-year-old Parisian institution to New York shows how the best international expansions happen: with patience, adaptation, and a deep respect for both your heritage and your new home. As Angelina continues to grow across America, they're proving that authentic experiences—whether it's a perfect hot chocolate or an afternoon tea collaboration—never go out of style.

Want to experience Angelina for yourself? Find them in SoHo and on the Upper East Side. Or at a Maxwell event they are catering!