great cup of coffee – Winnipeg Free Press

Happy Monday!

That morning Free press business reporter Gabriel Piche told me that a Starbucks in Osborne Village had closed its doors due to rising crime in the area, and I learned that Cafe Cleocatra is opening a second location in the same neighborhood.

Harry Ho, manager of Cafe Cleocatra, visits one of the cats in the animal viewing area at 859 Portage Ave. A year – and about 150 cat adoptions – after opening, the Winnipeg business is expanding to a second, larger location “as quickly as possible,” says Ho. (Ruth Bonneville/Free Press files)

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Cleocatra's Original Cafe on Portage Avenue, which has adopted more than 150 cats since opening a year ago, is the latest in a string of Winnipeg coffee spots to help restore feline relationships.

It's so popular, cafe owner Harry Ho told Gabriel, “We need to find a second location as soon as possible.”

As Gabrielle and I rode the escalator up to the third-floor newsroom together that morning, she never theorized about what the closing of the Starbucks at River Avenue and Osborne Street might say about our penchant for expensive lattes.

But you can be sure that the opening of another cat cafe in our city is a testament to our care and compassion for cats. I love this!

Maybe one day, not just cats, but adoptable animals like the “micro pigs” at Japan's Mipig Cafe can find some comfort in Winnipeg's warm lap.

Shiho Kitagawa, manager of mipig cafe, holds a pig in Tokyo, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. Pigs, a miniature breed, wandered around the room looking for a comfortable lap to hug. Customers pay $15 for the first 30 minutes and reservations are required. (Evgeny Hoshiko / The Associated Press))

Have a good week!