Anthony J. Machcinski

amachcinski@ydr.com

It's not unusual to see Jingle, a domestic shorthair cat, walking around the legs of chairs in the loft. Bean, another domestic shorthair, likes to lounge next to customers as they sip their coffee.

Days like this are the norm at the Colony Cafe in Pittsburgh — one of many cat cafes popping up throughout the nation.

“In a place like Pittsburgh, people are thanking us for opening here,” Colony Cafe owner Sue Hendrickson said.

The cat cafe concept started in Asia in the late '90s and early 2000s, Hendrickson said. The cat cafe is simple: Customers can block out a certain amount of time and play with the cats, all while enjoying coffee or light refreshments purchased at the cafe.

When cafes began to spring up in the United States, the adoption element — where the cafe fosters cats for the local Humane Society – came into play.

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Hendrickson admits that she and her husband were getting burned out by the ultra-corporate New York City lifestyle and were looking for a way out. The pair had an issue, though — they wanted to get out of the rat race, but couldn’t retire.

Hendrickson, who was committed to animal rescue and adoption, had visited several New York City cat cafes and fell in love.

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"You don't visit an animal in a cage" in a cat cafe, Hendrickson said. “You get to hang out with it.”

After extensive research, the pair moved to the more affordable city of Pittsburgh with the idea of opening their own cafe. They took the “there’s got to be a way to make it work” approach — working with everyone from peers in the industry to health department officials, Hendrickson said.

Last month, the pair opened Colony Cafe to success. The cafe and wine bar fosters about 11 cats and their first cat, Zinfandel, was adopted in late February.

Start on the ground floor

Another cat restaurateur hopes to open a shop soon in Maryland.

On March 2, Baltimore resident Cam Tucker launched a Kickstarter campaign hoping to raise $5,000 to renovate a building for Baltimore’s first cat cafe. Just two weeks later, the campaign has raised more than $22,000 from 450-plus backers — nearing the campaign’s stretch goal of $30,000.

“It’s been incredible to see people who support the Kickstarter, and a lot of people who don’t use Kickstarter have said they’re looking forward to visiting,” said Tucker, who plans to open Charm Kitty Cafe near north Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood.

About 30 miles south in Annapolis, artist Hailey Taylor opened her own cat cafe.

“Everyone was really excited,” said Taylor, who opened Kittens in Cups on March 6. “Crazy concepts like this aren’t frowned upon. It’s a very open community to new ideas.”

What are the benefits?

When visitors come into Kittens in Cups, they’ll meet Wink, a black-on-white domestic shorthair and one of the cafe’s 10 resident cats fostered from the Anne Arundel County SPCA.

Many of the cat cafes, including Colony Cafe and Charm Kitty Cafe, will foster the cats from the local SPCA or humane society. Fostering the cats provides an improved living experience for the cats and a better adoption process for the humans.

“It’s a great way to get the cats more adoptable since they’re not in cages and they can let their personalities shine,” Taylor said.

For humans, even those not interested in adopting a cat, the cat cafes are a great way to unwind.

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“We create an atmosphere that you can come and do homework, or have a date night or just hang out,” Taylor said.

Tucker, who plans for Charm Kitty Cafe to be a co-working space, sees the cafe as a potential oasis: a Starbucks with cats and a local vibe.

"People have some pretty stressful stuff they do and they just need a break,” Tucker said. “How nice would it be just to take a break, play with some cats, and get back to work?”

How is this legal?

While the concept of cats and coffee may be a well-received thought, state food inspectors and cafe owners have worked together to ensure the two stay separate during food preparation.

“It has to be an environment that will ensure food safety,” said Shannon Powers, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

Powers said that in Pennsylvania, there are two requirements that the cafe must meet:

There has to be a physical separation between where the food is being served and where the animals are.

Servers in the animal section must be dedicated to that section and cannot go into a food section.

Regardless of the circumstances, Powers recommended potential cat cafe owners work with the state department of agriculture.

That’s exactly what Hendrickson did when she opened Colony Cafe.

At Colony, refreshments — coffee by day, wine by night — are served on the first floor of the business. Then, those looking to hang with the cats pay a separate fee and go up to a second floor “cat loft” where food and drink are allowed, but not served. Kittens in Cups and Charm Kitty Cafe are similar.

What about Central Pennsylvania?

The idea that someone could open a cat cafe in Central Pennsylvania isn’t hair-brained.

While central Pennsylvania’s cities like York, Harrisburg and Lancaster don’t match up to the population of Baltimore, all three have a larger population than Annapolis, according to 2013 census numbers.

Dylan Bauer, of York-based real estate developer RSDC, said no one has come to him with a cat cafe concept yet, but he isn’t against the idea.

“If somebody came to us and had experience, we would absolutely entertain the idea,” said Bauer, who grew up with cats. “I think it’s a niche that Yorkers would gravitate toward.”

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Interested in trying the concept?

Here are some regional cat cafes already open within a few hours of Central Pennsylvania.

Colony Cafe — 1125 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh. www.colonycafepgh.com

— 1125 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh. www.colonycafepgh.com Kittens in Cups — 177 Defense Highway, Annapolis. www.facebook.com/kittensincups

— 177 Defense Highway, Annapolis. www.facebook.com/kittensincups Kawaii Kitty Cafe — 759 S. 4th St., Philadelphia. www.kawaiikittycafe.com

— 759 S. 4th St., Philadelphia. www.kawaiikittycafe.com Le Cat Cafe — 2713 W. Girard Ave., Philadelphia. www.lecatcafe.org

Anthony J. Machcinski is the food reporter for the York Daily Record. Follow him on Facebook, @ChinskiTweets on Twitter or email him at amachcinski@ydr.com.



