|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
There’s a new cafe coming to Santa Clara where your take-home box might just be a cat.
At Nabi Cat Cafe, not only can guests play with and pet the cats, they can adopt them as well. The Korean-inspired cafe is partnering with San Jose Animal Care Center to be a foster home for cats and will serve human guests trending Korean drinks, such as cotton candy-ade and tiramisu lattes, and food, like waffles and pastries. Co-founders Christine Hedeen and Ailee Kim are sisters-in-laws with a passion for rescue animals, and they aim to open their cafe late summer or early fall.
“We want our space to be a place where people can relax and de-stress and potentially find a cat that can change their life in the same way our rescue animals changed ours,” Hedeen said.
The inspiration for Nabi Cat Cafe came from Hedeen’s rescue cat Misu, given the title “chief inspurration officer.” Hedeen, a San Mateo resident, didn’t grow up with any pets, but later on found her love for the pet industry while working in merchandising for the pet food aisle at a major retailer, a corporate job she currently works in.
“I feel like I get in my head a lot and I’m a huge overthinker,” Hedeen said. “(Misu) is just so content, and all she cares about is her next meal and going to sleep. And I think it has made me want to strive to live a more simple life with her.”
Hedeen and Kim met about a year or two after Kim and Hedeen’s brother began dating.
“I’m the older sister, so of course, I was like, ‘Who is this girl?’” Hedeen said. “But Ailee really turned out to be one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life. She’s so calm and collected and just has such a good heart. And so it was a joy to bring her into the family.”
Kim, a San Jose native, graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in hospitality, previously working at a sushi restaurant, a Marriott hotel and a curry restaurant. She currently works as a barista at Blue Bottle Coffee and is using her background in food and beverage to create a Korean-inspired food and drinks menu.
Both Hedeen and Kim are Korean-American and aim to establish the first Korean-inspired cat cafe in America. Not only will the food and drinks be Korean, but the decor and overall ambiance will be as well, “almost cottage core,” Kim said.
“What we’re trying to go for is comfortable (and) cozy, and most of all we just want to make it a cat haven, comfortable for us, but also for the cats as well,” Kim said.
Nabi Cat Cafe plans to operate on a timed entry fee system, where one ticket allows a guest an hour at the cafe and one complimentary drink that can be upgraded to a premium drink with an additional charge. Hours of operation likely will begin around 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. and close around 6 p.m. or 7 p.m., although plans are still being finalized. Nabi Cat Cafe plans to offer student discounts as well.
“(We’re) trying to get as many cats that need to find a home adopted out,” Kim said. “(We want to be) a relaxing haven for not only cats, but also for humans who are seeking it, because cats can give a lot of that relaxation and just calming environment for people.”
Nabi Cat Cafe, 2255 The Alameda, Santa Clara. Instagram: @nabicatcafe.