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Tisane Café in Hartford abruptly closes, leaving community stunned

The closing of the café was so abrupt that there is no sign on the door and there are still condiments on the tables.

HARTFORD, Conn. — Tisane Euro-Asian Café in Hartford permanently closed its doors Monday. Rumors started late Saturday, but by Monday afternoon the management group overseeing Tisane announced the closure. 

The abrupt closure came as a shock to regular customers who visited the Farmington Avenue business frequently. 

"I just found out about it by trying to open the door, but it was locked, So that’s tough because we love that spot," said Lillard Lewis Jr. 

Lewis Jr. and co-workers would often have lunch meetings there or hang out after work, reminiscing about the good times. 

“The place has so many memories between karaoke between getting late night tea or late-night food and just having a nice safe place to hang out,” he said. 

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The shock also blindsided performers who had an event scheduled for Tuesday night. 

“We had performers coming from Boston. We had Robin Fierce here from RuPaul’s Drag Race," said Ms. Marita Bonita, a local drag performer. 

They said no one from the management company reached out to tell them. 

“When I heard that we weren't going to have the show anymore, I was just very disappointed. One that like the company didn't reach out to tell us ahead of time, because we were actually still planning music and costumes and makeup up until yesterday,” said Bonita. 

The closing of the Café was so abrupt that there is no sign on the door and there are still condiments on the tables. 

“They [management] told them yesterday morning, the day that they were closing. There were rumors the night before but all of them were like No, I think that's not true,” said Bridget Hurley. 

Hurley is a former employee who left Tisane a few years ago but is friends with many of the current employees, who according to her had less than days’ notice. 

She says it’s not surprising the café shut its doors for good. 

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“It was not surprising, super sad. But after the years of neglect that this place went through the upper management, it was not surprising at all,” said Hurley. 

Hurley claims employees had to work full summers without air conditioning in scorching temperatures. 

Locals 8 Hospitality Group that manages Tisane says the closure is due to less customers after the pandemic. A portion of their statement reads: 

“Tisane means infusion (as in dried herbs), and that was the vision when I built it twenty-four years ago,” said Founder and CEO Allie J. Gamble. “I wanted to create a spot with an infusion of people, products, and ideas all in one place.”

“Tisane has been a very special place close to my heart for many, many years,” said Gamble. “We’ve had some amazing times here. It’s sad to see Tisane close its doors, but many things have changed since the pandemic. Tisane used to be open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. prior to Covid and served four-day parts. People would have meetings over coffee that rolled into lunch, lunch meetings that rolled into happy hour, or dinner that rolled into cocktails and music. Its central location on Farmington Ave served as the perfect meeting space for many. Unfortunately, with more people working remotely and fewer coming into Hartford, it has impacted the business we had before the pandemic.”

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Hurley said that employees are being told something different about closing so abruptly with little notice. 

“Apparently they were scared that employees were going to try to steal from them if they knew in advance that they were losing their jobs,” said Hurley. 

Locals 8 said they are “making every effort to relocate Tisane’s staff to positions at other Locals 8 restaurants in the Greater Hartford area," according to the release. 

The management group says gift cards will be honored at all other Locals 8 locations, and any tickets purchased for upcoming events will be fully refunded. 

Click here for Locals 8 Hospitality Group's full statement. 

Jake Garcia is a multimedia journalist for FOX61 News. He can be reached at jgarcia@fox61.com. Follow him on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram.

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