Surely you know Hello Kitty, right? Unmissable red bow, supercute blue overalls? This delightful character is one of the most beloved and recognizable pop culture figures on the planet. Even if you didn’t know (until now) that her hobbies include “baking cookies” and “making new friends,” you certainly know this very demure, very mindful girl on some level. Perhaps you’ve even met her inside Universal Studios Hollywood, where she’s out hugging guests inside the theme park on the daily.
But Hello Kitty is just one figure in the expansive Sanrio universe. Sanrio is a Japanese lifestyle brand that’s been in business since the ‘60s, and whose characters are adored all over the world. Hello Kitty’s gaggle of equally adorable pals are varied and quirky, like My Melody, the honest and good-natured bunny; Kuromi, My Melody’s mischievous counterpart who sports a black and pink jester’s hat; Keroppi the frog, who lives with his family at Donut Pond; and so many more. In fact, over 450 Sanrio friends have debuted over the brand’s decades-long history.
And many of those friends of Hello Kitty are now represented in food and beverage form at Universal CityWalk. We’re absolutely psyched to welcome the brand-new Hello Kitty and Friends Cafe to Universal CityWalk Hollywood!
Being a fan of the Sanrio universe means getting to know the dozens of quirky friends within it. And that’s exactly the ethos Universal Studios Hollywood’s food and beverage team brought to this eatery. For Chef Julia Thrash, culinary and executive chef at Universal Studios Hollywood, the menu at the Hello Kitty and Friends Cafe is completely character-driven. The beverages and the dome cakes, which are all unique to the Universal CityWalk location, are all named after — and inspired by — one Sanrio character. So the first step in menu creation for Chef Julia was diving into the Sanrio universe.
“We wanted to get a bit of the insight behind each character so we could bring them to life through the flavors and design of the overall menu,” says Chef Julia. From there, her team sought to answer, What kind of flavor profile does each of the friends gravitate to? What best represents them?
“We really tie back to the character itself,” says Chef Julia. “For instance, our Hello Kitty Mousse Dome is apple-pie themed, because one of Hello Kitty’s favorite desserts is apple pie.”
Over on the beverages menu, you’ll see the Tuxedosam Lemonade, named for the dapper, bowtie-wearing, English and Penguinese-speaking penguin who resides on Tuxedo Island. His drink is a blue raspberry lemonade which perfectly matches his signature bright blue coloring. The Keroppi Matcha Latte, a frozen matcha latte topped with whipped cream and matcha powder, matches Keroppi’s adorable froggy coloring. The Kuromi Berry Iced Tea is a blackberry tea with a purple sugar rim, topped with blackberry and mint, inspired by Kuromi’s iconic black-and-pink jester hat, and her mischievous “dark side.”
“I think out of the core menu for opening day, my favorite is actually the Chococat Frozen Mocha,” says Chef Julia. The drink is inspired by Chococat, a sweet black cat with a chocolate brown nose. It’s fitting that the frozen coffee beverage includes chocolate popping boba, topped with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.
As Sanrio fans might know, there are other Hello Kitty Cafes in North America — including one in nearby Irvine, California. But you’ll be pleased to hear that, in addition to the entirely new beverage selection, the Universal CityWalk outpost will feature a rotating selection of offerings completely unique to this location.
“We wanted to also make it so there is continuity with other Hello Kitty Cafes, but we wanted to make it unique to us at CityWalk,” says Chef Julia. “That’s where the dome cakes come in.”
Unique to the Universal CityWalk Hello Kitty and Friends Cafe is the rotating selection of mousse dome cakes. Each dome cake is made up of three (delicious) components: mousse, filling, and a cake base. It’s more of an eat-it-with-a-spoon dessert than an on-the-go treat, though perhaps that depends on your personal level of coordination. Each cake is inspired by a specific Sanrio friend, from the flavor profile to the oh-so-Instagrammable color palette of the mousse itself.
Throughout the year, the menu will always include three mousse dome cakes. The Hello Kitty Mouse Dome, which is red like Hello Kitty’s signature bow and composed of cinnamon mousse, apple pie filling, and cinnamon streusel, is always on the menu. The other two selections will rotate, with one cake leaving each month and a new one coming in.
The current dome cake selections at Hello Kitty and Friends Cafe include the Chococat Mousse Dome, which is dark brown like Chococat and made with chocolate mousse, peanut butter ganache and chocolate crisp pearls; and the Kuromi Mousse Dome, which is deep purple and made with ube mousse, white chocolate ganache and chocolate sponge cake. In October, the Chococat cake will rotate out, and a new character-inspired cake will rotate in.
For Chef Julia and her team of recipe developers, dreaming up dome cake recipes was a creative highlight of working on the Hello Kitty and Friends Cafe. “I think that’s where we found ourselves most passionate,” she says. “We put our most creativity into the creation of those dome cakes, especially in matching the flavor profile with the character.”
In all, her team has whipped up 12 Sanrio dome cakes to rotate onto the menu throughout the year, plus the always-available Hello Kitty Mousse Dome. Which is to say: if you want to try every Sanrio friend’s cake at the Hello Kitty and Friends Cafe, you’ll just have to keep coming back.
But wait, there’s more!
Right next door to Hello Kitty and Friends Cafe is the Sanrio Smile Shop, full of adorable Sanrio-themed merchandise unique to Universal CityWalk Hollywood. Grab all kinds of apparel, mugs, magnets, bags — you name it! — donned with Hello Kitty herself on it. I’m especially a fan of the merch line featuring Hello Kitty with the iconic Universal Studios Hollywood sign on it.
The Sanrio Smile Shop will also feature rotating lines based on some of Hello Kitty’s most beloved friends. At opening, the shop featured mugs, shirts, plushies and more celebrating Cinnamoroll, a floppy-eared puppy who loves dancing, napping, and, of course, eating cinnamon rolls. Other friends of Hello Kitty featured at the Sanrio Smile Shop include Keroppi, Pompompurin (a laid-back golden retriever who loves to nap and watch pastry videos), Keroppi, Kuromi, My Melody, Chococat and finally, Badtz-maru, a mischievous penguin who lives in Gorgeoustown.
The shop also features an adorable photo op with Hello Kitty (driving a Hello Kitty-themed convertible with California plates reading HELLO KITTY) in front of a tableau of her Sanrio friends and an illustrated Universal CityWalk Hollywood. Delightful!
As always, the merchandise will rotate in and out based on availability. I guess that means you’ll just have to hit up the Hello Kitty and Friends Cafe and the Sanrio Smile Shop ASAP!
What are you most excited to taste at Hello Kitty and Friends Cafe at Universal CityWalk Hollywood? Let us know in the comments below.