Next month, the team behind family-owned Venezuelan restaurant Casa Ora (148 Meserole St.) is opening Lulla’s (169 Graham Ave.), a bakery, restaurant, and cocktail bar.
Casa Ora is a Michelin-recommended Venezuelan-American restaurant that opened in 2019 and underwent an extensive renovation in 2021. Sadly, a month after reopening, the restaurant experienced a string of break-ins, but that did not stop the Diaz family from moving forward.
Casa Ora is owned and operated by Isbelis Diaz, her son Ivo Diaz, and his wife Rachel Diaz Pirard. The restaurant was lovingly named after the Ivo and Rachel’s daughter, Ora.
Now, the Diaz family is branching out with Lulla’s, Casa Ora’s “little sister,” which is coincidently named after Ora’s little sister.
This new venture will be managed by Ivo, Isbelis, and Diego Farias, the sous chef at Casa Ora, who are defining Lulla’s as the “first Venezuelan bakery in the New York City.”
Lulla’s will combine a bakery with cocktails, which Ivo said is his “true passion,” noting that he worked alongside fellow Venezuelan native Leo Robitschek, the bar director at Manhattan’s Eleven Madison Park.
During the day, Lulla’s will be a destination for baked goods and lunch sandwiches in addition to cocktails. A curated coffee cocktail menu will include 10-15 alcohol-infused java drinks.
At night, Lulla’s will serve a menu of tapas, seafood and pasta, plus an extensive beverage menu with over 40 cocktails.
Ivo told Greenpointers that he hopes to open Lulla’s by mid-October.