The Woods – The Founders The Black Cat Café as we know it today was founded in 1996 by Jay and Leoyln Wood as the Black Cat Coffee and Cigar Bar.
Kudos to Jay and Leo! They, along with some stalwart friends, came up with the ideas that provided the basis for what the Cat! is today.
It was Jay’s idea that good cigars, good coffee, and pleasant libations would go together in the right setting. The vacant-at-the-time unit in the west end of the historic Victorian train station in Downtown Laconia offered the perfect setting.
Leo’ s concept and design set the stage for the atmosphere, and her thoughts for the menu consisting of sandwiches, salads, light entrees and fine desserts rounded out the offerings.
The Woods were the proprietors for five years. They struggled in the early years, but found moderate to pretty good success by the end of their tenure.
Jay took a job out of town that made keeping the Black Cat Coffee and Cigar Bar impractical. It was offered for sale.
The Second Owners
The Woods sold to a couple from California. During the course of California couple’s 12 month run, business declined. The name was change to the Station House. Nothing seemed to work, and the business was put on the market again.
The O’Rourke’s Buy the Cat! Jean – who had been a personal lines customer representative for a local insurance agency for 13 years – and Kinney – then Director of Development for a Laconia based retirement community – took the plunge into restaurant ownership on June 6, 2002.
That was the date that the Black Cat Café (as it is known today) was reborn.
Thanks to Annie Paquette of Paquette’s Signs the words “Coffee and Cigars” were removed from the signs he had originally created. He then replaced them with the word “Café”.
The doors reopened on June 11, 2002, and the NH Liquor Commission issued a full liquor license to the Black Cat Café on June 26. Several of the original Black Cat employees returned to help get it back on its feet.
The only major change on reopening day was the no smoking policy. The cigars had disappeared from the Cat’s product line during the second owner’s tenure. Since the Cat had been closed for a couple of weeks before their purchase and – more importantly – since it seemed like the right thing to do, the Black Cat Café became a Non-Smoking establishment.
A copy of Leo Woods' original menu was found in the archives. Jean built the Cat’s new menu around the original concept.
Pat & Mike Daly Take Ownership of The Cat The O'Rourkes have turned over the Cat to another Local Family, Pat & Mike Daly, both with long work histories in the food service industry in the Lakes region. Pat has been both front of the house as well as kitchen manager for Christi's Cove, The Road Kill cafe, Nothin' Fancy and Ritas Bar & Grille. Mike has just finished over twenty years at the Weirs as manager for Nothin' Fancy, which became Ritas and now is known as the Crazy Gringo. Along with their daughter Melissa and long time Black Cat veteran Erin ( the Quiche Queen ) the Daly's are expanding the Dinner Menu as well as hours of operation and plan on continuing to provide all the favorites that made the Cat what it is today.
The Black Cat Café Today The new and revitalized Cat! is now in it's fourth year of operations. The menu has grown dramatically, as has the business.
Salads….Fresh, made to order green salads, including one of the best Caesar Salads in the Lakes Region, have a reputation all their own. Quiche….The Cat’s! quiche, which is made fresh daily, prompted a customer from France to say, “your quiche would take my country by storm, it’s so good.”
Sandwiches & Wraps….Others brag about sandwiches made the way you want them, but Cat! delivers. The chicken salad is made according to a special recipe, and all of the sandwiches are made just when they are ordered exactly the way they are ordered. Pasta Salads….The chicken bow tie is the most popular. It, along with the tuna elbow, was derived from the original Black Cat recipes. Soups….The Cat’s! soups really are homemade. Erin is responsible for the spicy, but not too spicy, chili that is always on the menu. She also creates the chowders that are a cold weather feature every Friday. Jean makes the beef stew that is fortified with Guinness. She is also responsible for an ever changing variety of tasty soups.
success by the end of their tenure.