Boston’s Only Cat Cafe Gets One Step Closer to Opening

An incoming coffee shop that is aiming to be Boston’s only cat cafe cleared another hurdle this week on its road to opening. According to Boston Business Journal, the plan for A Sanctuary Cafe — a combo coffee shop, cat lounge, and bookstore — was approved by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday in a vote where five board members verbally said yes to the proposal and one board member actually meowed affirmatively.

Beacon Hill resident Brittany Baker is behind the shop, which she hopes to open in the neighborhood at a former bank branch at 80 Charles Street, between Pinckney Street and Mt Vernon Street. Next, she has to obtain a health variance from the city in order to make coffee drinks on-site, according to BBJ.

There’s a parm party happening at Juliet this weekend

Gather ‘round at Somerville French and Italian spot Juliet to watch the team crack open a 90-pound wheel of parmigiano-reggiano on Sunday, December 11. The action starts at 5:45 p.m., and tickets to the show — which include parm tastings — are $14 per person.

A Vermont brewery snags a national beer award

Fiddlehead Brewing Company in Shelburne, Vermont was named the country’s top craft brewer in 2022 by beer industry publication Brewbound. The 12-year-old brewery is best known for its Fiddlehead IPA, which accounts for 88 percent of its sales, according to the Boston Globe.

Pizza and pasta chain Bertucci’s files for bankruptcy (again)

The Massachusetts-based chain has declared bankruptcy once again after losing millions of dollars during the pandemic, trade magazine Restaurant Business reports. This is the second time that it has filed for bankruptcy protection in the past four years. The first time through, it closed over a dozen locations, but it is unclear which, if any, outposts will close this time around.