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When the 55-year-old Pink Tea Cup closed in 2009, manager Lisa Ford blamed the city, but the new owner, longtime regular Lawrence Page (who previously owned J’Adore and now owns the Actors’ Playhouse), is confident he can make a go of it. “It was mismanaged,” he says of the old location, “and that’s coming from Charles Raye himself.” Page says he’s been working hand-in-hand with Raye (the original owner, who is now in his 90s). “Charles was pretty upset that he built a legacy that just went out of the window, so it was important that I get the Bible thrown at me.” On Raye’s advice, he hired back a former longtime cook, known as Dot, to restore the original recipes. “A lot of stuff was altered and changed over the years,” says Page. “We’re bumping it up a notch to where it used to be.

The old staples like macaroni and cheese, collard greens, fried chicken, shrimp-and-cheese grits, and gravy-smothered pork chops will remain on the menu at similar prices (“a few things might go up a bit to $25 but the prices are overall in the same area”), but health-conscious dishes have also been added. Also new: A full liquor license that will allow for “Pinktinis” (Raye believed the original location was too small for a bar), an outdoor-seating area, and a stage (left over from when the space was Sweet Basil) that will host jazz, soul, and rhythm and blues for no charge. — Daniel Maurer