RS Recommends

Why This Cat Food-Inspired Restaurant Could Be a Purrfect Cat-astrophe

From the makers of Fancy Feast, Gatto Bianco ('white cat') promises dishes for humans that take inspiration from Fancy Feast recipes and Italian cuisine

By Tim Chan

Tim Chan

Contact Tim Chan on X Contact Tim Chan by Email

View all posts by Tim Chan

August 1, 2022

Add us as a Google Preferred Source

Limited reservations for “Gatto Bianco by Fancy Feast”, are available beginning August 4

Purina

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.

Popular pet food brand Fancy Feast is hoping to change some dated preconceptions about wet cat food by offering up human-grade, cat food-inspired “feasts” that people can eat at a real restaurant.

The pop-up restaurant, dubbed “Gatto Bianco by Fancy Feast,” opens near the Meatpacking District in New York next week and will feature an “Italian-style trattoria and culinary experience” to celebrate the brand’s new “globally-inspired” Medleys recipes.

Gatto Bianco (Italian for “white cat”) promises fancy dishes for humans that take inspiration from Fancy Feast Medleys recipes and traditional Italian cuisine. The menu is being developed by Fancy Feast’s “in-house chef,” Amanda Hassner, who’s created “gourmet” cat food for the brand in the past, with names like the “Florentine Collection” (featuring garden greens in a delicate sauce) and the Primavera Pack, with culinary-inspired global recipes designed for your feline friends.

Florentine Collection

Buy Fancy Feast Florentine Collection $25.26

While Hassner has spent her time cooking up cat cuisine, the pop-up restaurant will also bring in Michelin star-winning chef and acclaimed New York restaurateur Cesare Casella to help craft new dishes for the event. If the wet cat food is any indication, expect the menu at Gatto Bianco to include plenty of chicken, tuna, gravy and greens.

Hassner says the menu at Gatto Bianco will also be “prepared in ways that help cat owners understand how their cats experience food – from flavor, to texture, to form.” It’s unclear how that will translate to a plate on your table, but some high-end restaurants in the past have served food out of tin cans, while pork or chicken liver pâté — with a similar look and texture to wet cat food — is still considered a delicacy around the world.

Editor’s picks



The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far



The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time



The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time



100 Best Movies of the 21st Century

While the new promotion is getting a lot of attention online from both cat lovers and foodies alike, it should be noted that Fancy Feast is promoting a two-night-only human-grade menu and not saying that their everyday cat food is safe or edible for humans. While few people have died from eating cat food, the ingredients, by-products and nutritional makeup of wet cat food are not designed for human ingestion. There are excessive levels of vitamin A and taurine in cat food, which can prove overwhelming to the human body. The moisture and amount of fats in cat food can also upset your system, leading to nausea or vomiting.

And while a chicken and gravy dish may sound appetizing at first, the meats typically found in cat food are often scraps that weren’t certified for human consumption, and doctors say eating cat food can lead to a risk of lethargy, diarrhea and malnourishment in the long term.

Your best bet is to leave the Fancy Feasts for your cat, and dine at the Fancy Feast restaurant — if you can get a reservation. Gatto Bianco will open for dinner on Thursday, August 11 and Friday, August 12 only, with four reservations per evening at 6:30 p.m. ET. Reservations for the Fancy Feast restaurant open on Thursday, August 4 at 12:00 p.m. ET through OpenTable and at FancyFeast.com/Reservations.

Can’t get a seat at the cat food pop-up? Fancy Feast does have another option: the pet food brand launched its “Petite Feasts” cookbook last year with “recipes for humans inspired by the exquisite, single-serve entree that cats love.”

In this article:

More News

Read more

Top stories newsletter

A Cultural Force That Transcends Generations

Enter your Email

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services.