DINING

LuLu's Cafe & Bakery: New shop, same (tasty) signature plant-based fare and baked goods

Jennifer Chandler
Memphis Commercial Appeal

Black-eyed pea sausage. Tofu eggs. These are just two of the delicious vegan creations you will find on breakfast sandwiches at the new LuLu’s Café & Bakery.

Offerings like these, as well as delicious twists on baked good classics like Molasses Rye Cookies and Apple Fennel Muffins, have made treats from LuLu’s popular for both those who strictly follow a plant-based diet and those who don’t.

The café and bakery at 3119 Poplar Ave. is the new permanent spot for LuLu's Foods, a food business run by Don Gaines and Stephanie Blanda. It’s the next step for the plant-based bakery that has been a staple at the Cooper-Young Farmers Market since 2019.

LuLu's Cafe & Bakery owners Stephanie Blanda and Don Gaines. Their new cafe is located at 3119 Poplar Ave.

Open for breakfast and lunch, the offerings include an assortment of breakfast sandwiches, a daily soup, baked goods and a coffee bar.

The café opened its doors this week and will celebrate its official grand opening Feb. 4.

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Plant-based fare

Many of the dishes are creative plant-based twists on classics.

“We are channeling our food memories, but now we eat differently, so we are doing it differently,” Gaines said.

The Sausage Sandwich has been on the menu since LuLu’s early days. A patty made from local black-eyed peas and roasted vegetables is seasoned with a traditional sausage seasoning blend. It’s served on an organic grain sourdough biscuit.

Vegan breakfast sandwiches are served all-day at LuLu's Cafe & Bakery, 3119 Poplar Ave.

The Brekky Sando is a play on a classic bacon and egg sandwich. A tofu “egg” is served on a house-made roll topped with smoked carrots, cashew cheese and a beet sauce. It’s a flavorful combination of flavors that Gaines credits as a collaboration between himself and Blanda.

Only sourdough

All the baked goods are made with a sourdough starter. “We don’t use any commercial yeast,” said Blanda, as she pointed out that even their white flour is more whole grain than anything you might buy at a grocery.

“I think our bagels may be the only sourdough bagels in town,” Blanda said. Each bagel is shaped by hand before being boiled in water flavored with malted barley powder and molasses. As part of their “from-scratch” commitment, even the Everything Bagel Seasoning is made in-house.

Sourdough bagels at LuLu's Cafe & Bakery at 3119 Poplar Ave.

Scones come in flavors such as Blueberry with a Lemon Miso Glaze. Cookies are offered in flavors like Molasses Rye and Persimmon Seed. Buns and biscuits are made fresh daily for the breakfast and lunch sandwiches.

How it all began

Gaines started his business LuLu’s foods in 2019. Blanda joined him in April of that year. Since then, the two have grown their business, and a loyal following.

Inside LuLu's Cafe & Bakery at 3119 Poplar Ave.

Both Gaines and Blanda said the inspiration for their business comes from the care they have about making food from scratch.

“We have put a big emphasis on being environmentally and socially responsible as we can,” Blanda said.

Produce is sourced locally, flour is procured from a small female-owned mill in North Carolina, coffee beans come from Memphis roasters Dr. Bean’s and Boycott Coffee and the restaurant composts what it cannot use.

They try to eliminate as much food waste as they can.

“We do a lot of preserving. Some things get frozen, others fermented and some canned,” said Gaines, mentioning his tomato jam is the perfect condiment for the plant-based sausage sandwich.

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A new business model

Gaines and Blanda said one of the main things that makes LuLu’s Café and Bakery unique is that it is a worker-owned cooperative.

"There are so many examples of how a cooperative works in parts of the country like the Bay area," Gaines said. "It is a way to make a business last, even in hard times and even past us."

LuLu's Cafe & Bakery at 3119 Poplar Ave.

Blanda said she and Gaines met while working at a restaurant. “We wanted to work somewhere that was a collaborative, so we made it.”

Jennifer Chandler is the Food & Dining reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jennifer.chandler@commercialappeal.com and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer. 

LuLu’s Cafe & Bakery

Where: 3119 Poplar Ave.

Hours: 7 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday

Phone: (901) 590-3938

Online:lulusmem.com