"We are living our dream."
That's the message from young couple Sam Waseem and Philip Smith who have opened York's newest cafe and bar.
Cat in the Wall opened in Stonebow this week in the former Moda hairdressers building.
Sam, 31, and Philip, 27, have spent the past few months gutting and renovating the former salon by themselves and turning the building into a stylish cafe and bar.
The couple, who met when they were both working in events and management at the National Railway Museum in York, also want the venue to be a performance space for poets, artists and musicians.
Sam said: "We wanted to bring something different to York - we wanted to create a place that we would like to go to ourselves!"
Watch Sam tell us about their new cafe-bar:
The couple began planning Cat in the Wall during the first lockdown when Philip was made redundant and Sam was furloughed.
Sam said: "I have wanted to be self employed for ten years and have a passion for what I do."
Cat in the Wall is open every day from 8am to midnight.
The food and drinks menus feature many products from Yorkshire or provided by local suppliers.
It sells a range of hot drinks with coffee and tea from Taylor's of Harrogate. Wine and beer and spirits for its cocktail menu are supplied by Tate-Smith of Malton.
The food menu offers toasts, teacakes and brioche for breakfast, wraps and sandwiches at lunchtime with quiche and pies from the York Pie Company. Snacks and cheese and charcuterie sharing boards are available too as well as sweet treats.
The couple want to establish Cat in the Wall as a performance space too, with events on most evenings.
Sam said: "We will have poetry, live readings, open mic, music - we are excited to see all the different things we can do."
Philip added: "Hopefully, every time people come in they will see something different."
Impressively, to keep costs down, the couple fitted the interior themselves.
Sam said: "We had to rip out everything from the salon - that took three months. We then painted everything and made the bar ourselves out of MDF. I did the sawing and Philip took the measurements."
They faced some challenges.
"Nothing was at a right angle and all the floors are curved. It was all very educational - and a lot of fun!" laughed Sam.
And they said it was great to be part of York's thriving independent business scene.
Sam said: "Everyone has been very supportive and welcoming."
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