Photos: Chris Emeott
Edina café brings whimsy and classic British fare.
Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland holds a special place in Jules Hill’s heart. “Growing up, I just had an affinity with Alice and wanted to be her going down the rabbit hole,” says Hill, the owner of Edina’s Mad Hatter Bakery & Cafe, which opened in April. She fondly remembers discovering the classic children’s book as a child. “It was that fantasy escape. As a kid, I was always a bit of a loner, and I liked reading books and things. And the character of Alice is that kind of character,” Hill says. “She had her little fantasy friends, and I envisioned myself as her falling down the rabbit hole and eating and drinking and getting bigger and smaller. It was just such a good book.”
That imaginative spark inspired the café’s name and ambiance. “With the cakes and the afternoon tea, you’ve got the Mad Hatter’s tea party,” Hill says. Everywhere you look in the café, you will find Alice, the Cheshire Cat, The Mad Hatter, British flags and much more. The café is the epitome of what Alice says in the book, “Curiouser and curiouser.”
Hill, originally from Essex, England, lived in Maryland for 17 years before moving to Minnesota during COVID-19. “My husband lived downtown Minneapolis when I met him 27 years ago. His family is from Winona. We always said we would live in the Twin Cities,” she says. Remote work finally made the move possible, and the family has now been in the Metro for three years.
“This business I set up about 10 years ago for friends and family. It was just by word of mouth. It was more of a personal passion project,” Hill says. Her grandmother was an avid baker, and Hill inherited her penchant for baking from her. When Hill retired 18 months ago from her day job, she decided to turn Mad Hatter into a full-time business. “I’m never good at sitting around and doing nothing,” she says.
Jules Hill and her son Ben Preston are the culinary geniuses behind Mad Hatter Bakery & Cafe. Hill handles all the baked goods while Preston is the savory savant.
Originally the Mad Hatter Cake Co., the company found its footing in Twin Cities’ farmers markets. Hill sold pastries and breakfast sandwiches alongside cakes and cupcakes. She says, “People were saying to us, ‘Have you got a storefront? You need a storefront. Where can we come and buy more?’”
The business is a family affair. Hill bakes while her son, Ben Preston, who is a trained chef, oversees the savory side of the menu. Both sides of the menu reflect British roots. “Everything we sell is of a British theme,” Hill says. That includes towering celebration cakes, cupcakes, traditional English scones served with Hill’s housemade clotted cream. She also does custom cakes and has gluten-free and dairy-free options. Preston’s savory items are the pinnacle of British comfort food that is rarely found in Minnesota bakeries. There are Cornish pasties, sausage rolls and the café’s piece de resistance: meat pies. “They’re all made from scratch,” Hill says. “Nothing is out of a can or a packet. It’s fresh meat, fresh vegetables all thrown in together in a slow cooker and slow cooked for 12–24 hours before it even enters the pie crust.”
That pie crust houses four flavors: Beef and Onion; Chicken, Bacon and Leek; Chicken and Mushroom; and Steak and Guinness. The Cornish pasties are traditional with a filling of black pepper, onion, potato, rutabaga and skirt beef.
Bangers and Mash. Photo: Mad Hatter Bakery & Cafe
The café also serves a full British breakfast all day or what Hill calls a “full fry-out,” plus lunch. “So, Shepherd’s Pie, Bangers and Mash, Pie and Mash,” she says.
Hill recently renovated the kitchen and has revamped the menu to include British Fish and Chips which are hand-dipped in beer batter and fried. Starting in October, she will offer British Sunday Roasts with traditional and vegetarian options.
And the Mad Hatter theme wouldn’t be complete without a tea party. Inside the café, customers will find tables are already set up for afternoon tea service, complete with tiered trays and teapots. Unlike many specialty tearooms, Mad Hatter offers the tea experience on a daily basis. Customers can stop in for a simple cream tea with scones and clotted cream or order the full spread of cakes, desserts, finger sandwiches, pastries and savory bites.
The dining area is spacious and is set up for tea in the afternoons. Photo: Chris Emeott
Hill hopes the café becomes a community gathering place. “I’m very keen to get into bridal showers, baby showers, birthday parties,” she says, adding that people can rent the space out. “I can dress it up however they want it with the full tablecloths.”
The Mad Hatter Bakery & Cafe is in many ways an ethereal dream brought to reality. It’s the physical version of Hill’s childhood dream: a place where cakes are central, tea is ceremonial and imagination is welcome at the table.
Full English Breakfast. Photo: Mad Hatter Bakery & Cafe
Lewis Carroll wrote that Alice “began to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.” Hill is living proof that a story that began with a lonely girl reading in Essex has decades later filled an English tea room with pies, pastries and people willing to follow curiosity and deliciousness down the rabbit hole.
Mad Hatter Bakery & Cafe
Instagram: @scorpio_jules
