KitTea Cat Cafe

https://www.kitteasf.com/


Place: KitTea Cat Cafe

Location: 96 Gough Street (at Page Street)

Hours: open Saturday and Sunday at 10:00am 

Meal:  Figgy Cheese (Bubble Waffle Wrap) ~ sharp Cheddar + goat cheese + arugula + berries + fig drizzle + olive oil; and a potta Hojicha[1] (Green Tea) ~ roasted spring Sencha tea leaves gives this tea a buttery sunflower taste

(You were expecting "Hound Dog", perhaps?)

(Sorry for the quality ~ or lack thereof ~ of these photos of some of the cats. These were taken through the window separating the Cat Lounge area from the café dining area. I am not sure of the names of the two cats in the top photo. I was told that the big fluffy black cat staring at me in the bottom photo is named Steve; he is a full-time resident there. It was pretty funny as he almost blended into the big furry black ottoman in front of him.)


Sometimes breakfast is not just about the food, but about the destination.

A couple of weeks ago I saw something pop-up on the funny pages of defacedbook about a "Cat Café" in San Francisco. The idea intrigued me, so I made a mental note to check it out some day in the future. Well, today happened to be that mentally-noted future day.

KitTea Cat Cafe has been open now since June 2015. It is the first Cat Café to open in San Francisco and the first ever established in the nation. The idea behind this unique place is pretty simple (as stated on their web-site):

"We're a unique cafe experience dedicated to enriching the interactions between humans and felines in a relaxing environment. Slow down, sip on some tea, and support the welfare of cats. 

We provide high-quality care to our permanent resident rescue felines and work with local cat rescues, including San Francisco's Animal Care and Control, Toni's Kitty Rescue, and Wonder Cat Rescue to find our featured adoptable cat(s) a forever home at each cat's own pace."

I did not count how many cats were in the Cat Lounge this morning, but there were anywhere from eight to ten "(permanent) resident cats" and about four or five 
"(adoptable) rescue kittens" lounging around inside.

The actual café seating area (if you are just going for food/tea and not visiting the cats, like I did this morning) is not very large. It has just three tables for two people, one table for four(-ish) people, and five counter seats overlooking the window into the Cat Lounge area (which is where I should have sat, but stupidly took one of the two-seat tables against the opposite wall; I had to keep getting up to view the cats and kittens playing in their space).

There are not a lot of items from which to choose in the breakfastary-mode, but there were still a few other waffle-ideas (in both the Belgian and Bubble categories) that I could have gone with. Plus, they do offer salads and sandwiches that I could have made into a light breakfast, too.

Whereas their breakfast (and general eating) menu is not really that extensive, they do have a very prolific selection of teas from which to choose. I really liked the sound of their "Earl Grey Creme ~ Award-winning, fresh + fragrant vanilla Earl Grey tea with beautiful blue corn flowers, bergamot oil, and Ceylon black tea." From speaking with the lady working at the counter in the tearoom area (and watching her making a number of teas this morning), their most popular tea happens to be "Ceremonial Matcha ~ Our Japanese Ceremonial Matcha is delicately sweet with underlying elements of green pea and mango. Made by slowly grinding shade-grown Sencha leaves from the first harvest of the year on a stone mill in Wazuka, Kyoto Japan. Matcha contains antioxidants and nutrients with many health benefits, including enhancing calmness and improving concentration."

I have only had this type of Japanese tea once before (see 'blog-entry from Monday, September 7th, 2015) and really enjoyed the smoky/nutty flavour of the one this morning. On the recommendation of the lady at the front counter, I used some milk in the first cuppa that I poured. However, on the subsequent (five or six) cuppas, I drank the tea plain all by itself; I preferred it better all on its ownsome. Due to the natural sweetness of this style of tea, no added sugar was needed or used.

Not that I really went there expecting some kinda 4-paw breakfast, but what I had turned out to be pretty good. They serve these egg puff/bubble waffles in a wire cone (kinda like you would see at a Belgian or French frites joint) and wrapped around the various ingredients. The berries in my wrap were blueberries (an actual botanical berry) and strawberries (not so much an actual botanical berry). I bet this would have been equally as good with either mint or basil leaves in place of the arugula. I also bet this would have been even better with some of the balsamic drizzle that they offer on a few of the other dishes; I am well aware that figs and strawberries go great with balsamic vinegar (and I would expect blueberries would, too).

I had checked out their menu before heading over there and did not really see the need of bringing any of my own hot sauces with me for use as condimentary supplements. I suppose I could have used some fresh-cracked black pepper on top, but I only thought of that after I had finished the meal. 

I doubt that I will be getting back there any time soon for breakfast, but any time I am in the neighborhood, I will have to stop in for a cuppa or a potta and to check on all the kitties.


Glen Bacon Scale Rating:
Figgy Cheese (Bubble Waffle Wrap) ~ 6.5;
Hojicha (Green Tea) ~ 7.1;
Cats and Kittens ~ 8.45

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1. 何？

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Djicha