At Fancy Feast's Restaurant, People Got to Eat Like Cats

It can be said without a doubt that the Fancy Feast brand team really knows who their customer is. (Hint: It is not the human buying the cat food.) It would also be easy to be confused by the brand’s latest marketing stunt: a cat-themed Italian trattoria—lovingly named Gatto Bianco (aka “white cat”)—in New York’s Meatpacking District, which was created in partnership with a Michelin-starred chef. Beverages were served in fine glassware, not bowls. Courses were beautifully plated and presented at tables adorned with shimmery golden cutlery and cloth napkins with the Fancy Feast logo stitched in gold thread. The Fancy Feast cat himself made appearances before and after dinner to pose with (and occasionally paw) lucky diners. Guests even received gift bags filled with human-pleasing goodies including a heart-shaped food mold, pasta-making tools, an apron and cutting board etched with the brand’s logo, bags of seasonings and a massive cookbook autographed by James Beard Award-nominated chef Cesare Casella. Gabriel Vinas, brand director for Fancy Feast, told Adweek while the trattoria was created for humans with the intent to celebrate the brand’s new recipes for its Medleys collection, it also served a greater purpose of giving cat owners an insight into their pets. “We hope that it’s a window to help cat lovers get to know a little more [about] how their cats see food,” he said. “How they experience food. How they love the variety and the forms and textures. So they can come a little closer to their cats and understand them a little better. We like to think that food has the power to connect us.” Fancy Feast’s in-house chef, Amanda Hassner, was on hand to guide guests through the sensory experience of the night’s first course, which she deemed an “exploration of textures.” Hassner then educated guests on the carnivorous nature of cats, and how that knowledge informed the proteins selected for the meals. Casella then took over to walk guests through the remaining menu courses, which included Tuscan-style spare ribs with rigatoni, braised beef with spinach and polenta, and a heart-shaped almond cake served on plates garnished with cocoa powder-stenciled paw prints. (Menu items also included sea bass and salmon osso buco with saffron risotto, which were available on nights open to the public.) It was, in short, a fancy feast that 16 lucky cat lovers who were quick enough to snap up the OpenTable reservations got to enjoy. The brand also partnered with cat-owning culinary influencers to create content about the event on their social channels, as well as a virtual culinary session with Hassner. She led the group through a cooking demonstration of dishes from the Gatto Bianco menu while also discussing the new Fancy Feast recipes. Hassner, who was formerly an in-house chef for the prepared foods division of parent company Nestle, said when Fancy Feast maker Purina "came sniffing around,” the opportunity to translate these recipes into a culinary experience humans could also enjoy was one she could not pass up. Hassner also worked on the brand’s cookbook (for humans), which was released last year. “I understand as a chef how people experience food. Purina understands how pets experience food,” she said. “I work in a space where I help people understand how their pets experience food. It’s a very cool space.” While the pop-up may be hiss-tory, recipes from the menu are now available on the brand’s website.