South Jersey destination for Czech delicacies is moving to Haddonfield

Four Green Cats Cafe, which has brought authentic Czech flavors to Mount Laurel for the last seven years, is about to get a bigger home.

Started as a farmers market stand in 2019, the Rancocas Woods café, whose owners have Czech Republic roots, has become a destination both for South Jersey locals and within the broader Czech diaspora.

Now, with the building’s lease expiring at the end of the year and business that owner Nadia Vasa says has been more popular than ever, she’s planning to move her offerings of handmade Czech delicacies to a new, larger location in Haddonfield.

“To continue to provide the customers authentic food and entertainment, we need a bigger space,” Nadia Vasa said in Russian, translated by her husband and business partner, Mila Vasa.

The new spot at 18 Tanner St., the former home of Sang Tong Thai, has both a larger kitchen and dining area to provide enough space to expand their menu and to continue to host musical performances, comedians, and other live events.

The expanded menu will undoubtedly include the staples that Four Green Cats has become known for: Bohemian doughnuts, traditional kolaches, apple strudel, babka — all handmade with flour imported from Europe.

Soon to be equipped with a full-service kitchen, the Vasas hope to add new breakfast and lunch offerings in addition to Nadia’s traditional Sunday night dinners.

Once complete, Nadia envisions the new location as embodying the character of classic European cafés of the past that could have been found on street corners from Vienna to Paris.

The Vasas are aiming to open the new location sometime in September and will run both locations concurrently until their Rancocas Woods lease expires, they said.

And while they never wanted to leave Mount Laurel, they hope that the community they’ve built over the years will make the move with them.

“We’re hoping some of our customers follow us,” Mila said, but he knows that they’ll inevitably lose some of their regulars, especially those who currently live close enough to walk to the café.

More than just a coffee shop and bakery, Nadia sees Four Green Cats as a window into the world that raised her.

She makes every decision thoughtfully and with cultural authenticity at the forefront, from using her great-grandmother’s recipes to decorating the walls with her grandfather’s art, she said.

“It’s culture that no one gets here unless you fly home,” Mila said.

Customers have traveled from across the country to get a taste of their European roots without having to cross the Atlantic, Mila said.

Over the years, the business has also developed a relationship with the Czech embassy in Washington, he said, which will routinely send traveling musicians and artists to Four Green Cats to experience a taste of the Czech Republic.

More than once, he said proudly, traveling Czechs have raved that Nadia’s food is better than what they have at home.

“Now, she has the room to do what she wants to do,” Mila said.