After serving the flavors of Sicily for dinner in the Arts District, Italian-born chef Michele Galifi now wants you to rise and shine for a California-inspired multicultural breakfast with Lulu’s Coffee.
“It’s a modern coffee shop with some quick and really comforting breakfast items,” said Galifi, whose new spot opened in mid-August and operates out of his still-running Bianca Sicilian Trattoria restaurant during the morning hours.
“I always wanted to do breakfast and coffee here at Bianca, and I was not able to do it at the moment. So at first I found someone to do a coffee pop-up and that operated for four months, but now I’m in a much better place, and I decided this was our perfect chance and opportunity to start Lulu’s,” he said.
Galifi, who was born and raised in Palermo, Sicily, opened Bianca, which is named after one of his young daughters, almost a year ago in downtown Los Angeles with the aim of creating modern versions of traditional dishes like house-made pastas, antipasto, steaks and seafood dishes.
Italian-born chef Michele Galifi is offering an elevated breakfast with his latest spot Lulu’s Coffee. (Photo courtesy Lulu’s)
Italian-born chef Michele Galifi is offering an elevated breakfast with his latest spot Lulu’s Coffee. (Photo courtesy Lulu’s)
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Italian-born chef Michele Galifi is offering an elevated breakfast with his latest spot Lulu’s Coffee. (Photo courtesy Lulu’s)
He’s taking that same house-made approach at Lulu’s, which is named after another daughter. But inspired by his Central American wife and multicultural family, he’s not sticking to just traditional Italian fare this time.
“We utilize the same principles as Bianca, which is everything is made from scratch. Everything we use for breakfast we make in-house. It’s more like California and Los Angeles’ most loved items,” said Galifi. Those offerings include syrups, creams and other dishes using farmers market ingredients, as well as fresh baked bread.
Among the unique drink options at the coffee shop is the Lulu, which is made with espresso, caramelized plantain, milk and a cream top. The plantain portion was inspired by his wife, whose family hails from El Salvador and Nicaragua, where plantains are heavily included in meals.
“It’s a really plantain-forward coffee, that’s really delicious and sweet,” Galifi said. “My wife is Central American, and she’s always been into coffees and Latino flavors, so I tried as hard as I could to bring that Latino flavors to the coffees.”
Other dishes are locally influenced, such as the Avo Toast with avocado cream, prosciutto and furikake and a smash burger topped with a fried egg, plus, of course, the quintessential Los Angeles breakfast burrito. It’s made with hot sausage, which is mixed with bacon, country potatoes, eggs, and given a bit of Italian flair with mozzarella cheese.
“To me, when I eat it, I know there are some Italian flavors because we do a sausage which does not, really recall a chorizo but it is a sausage. And then I use a thicker cut bacon that is more Italian flavor. It is the classic LA burrito with some Italian twists and flavors,” he said.
Lulu’s Coffee at Bianca Sicilian Trattoria
Where: 1200 E. 5th St., Los Angeles
Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. daily
Information: biancasiciliantrattoria.com