Fun Food

If you're weary from winter inside with the wee ones, a new cafe at 3400 Chestnut Street in Hampden will open just as spring fever strikes.

Among the many wine bars and upscale bistros in the Hampden 'hood, Play Cafe will offer sophisticated kid-friendly food (read: bye-bye chicken nuggets) that will also appeal to adults.

"We'll offer waffles and grilled cheese and really healthy and delicious salads and finger foods," says Play Cafe owner Kathy Schott. "We'll also have awesome lattes. It will be simple, but really delicious."

And while parents linger over coffee and conversation, the cafe will also offer plenty of distraction for the tykes. "We will have an area with interactive play, dress up and blocks and all kinds of interactive activities for toddlers and kids through age eight," says Schott of the concept.

In Schott's case, necessity really was the mother of invention.

"My son is 2 ½ and after I had him, I realized how difficult it is to eat out with kids," she says. "I got serious about it last winter when a friend and I were stuck inside with our toddlers and said to ourselves, 'Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to go somewhere for a latte or something to eat while our kids played?'"

Schott's friend moved out of town, but fellow Hampden neighbor Ryan Sterner (who formerly managed the One World Cafe and Holy Frijoles) decided to get in on the new business venture.

Sums up Schott, "Just because you're a parent doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to eat out, too."