Kawaii Kitty Cafe: Cat is almost out of the bag
Kawaii - Japanese for "cute" - is the mission of Kristin Eissler, who quit her job as a fashion designer for Jessica Simpson to set up the place.
Japanese snacks and kitty cats to play with, and possibly adopt.
Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society is placing six to 10 cats at a time at Kawaii. They have run of a cute, pink room in the front window that could pass for Hello Kitty's rumpus room.
The cafe is in the back - completely separate from the cat room. Eissler spent months working out the technical issues with various city agencies.
Back in the cafe, which has one small table for dine-ins, there's a shop with cat-themed merchandise.
Ronca's menu includes carrot ginger soup, edamame hummus, tonkatsu (Japanese panko pork sandwich) with orange ginger slaw on a multigrain roll; Japanese egg salad sandwich with Kewpie mayo; and a few vegan items. For dessert, he's offering strawberry, mint & cream sandwich, house-made green tea ice cream, chia pudding and berries, banana Nutella "sushi," assorted pastries.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.