NEW HAVEN — Poppy's Coffee and Kitchen hasn't even started serving lunch yet, but they've been packing folks in for all-day breakfast and making friends as East Rock's new hotspot on Whitney Avenue for three months now.
It's part of the grand plan.
"Lunch Coming Sometime," owner David Oricchio, a Fairfield native who also owns East Rock Coffee (the former Lulu's) over at Orange and Cottage streets, says in a tongue-in-cheek entry on the Poppy's website at www.poppysnhv.com. "In the future. Probably not next week. Maybe the week after."
Lunch originally was to come a couple of weeks after Poppy's early June opening. More than three months in, Oricchio, 33, still is working on it.
"Realistically, I hope to get it done this month," he said.
Not to worry.
The buttermilk and blueberry pancakes, eggs benedict, avocado toast and BECA (bacon, egg, cheddar and avocado) sandwich all are worth ordering anytime of the day.
Poppy's compact menu also features a French omelette with fried shallots, various three egg omelettes, an acai bowl and coconut quinoa porridge, among other treats.
It also features a proprietary, emissionless coffee roasting system, which runs on electricity, that roasts beans both for Poppy's and East Rock Coffee.
Poppy's, in a former market at 374 Whitney Ave. between Cottage and Lawrence streets, is open Tuesday through Sunday from 7 a.m.-4 p.m., serving breakfast from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. and coffee and tea for the last hour.
While Poppy's has a pretty good head of steam on now, it wasn't all that easy getting it open. Oricchio and his wife, Julia Oricchio, took over the lease in 2019 and promptly saw their most immediate plans squashed by the COVID-19.
Luckily, "the landlord was great," and actually forgave the rent for about a year of couple of years by which the opening was delayed, David Oricchio said.
Oricchio, who serves a limited menu at East Rock Coffee , began looking for another space in 2016 and 2017 because he wanted to do more.
"I knew what I wanted this to be — a place where East Rock families would come and be together," he said. He opted not to start with a takeout-only model when that was the only option available in the early days of the pandemic.
"My favorite cuisine is diner," he explained. His wife, who grew up in New York City, prefers more contemporary fare. Out of those preferences, Poppy's was born — with a core of diner-like food in a spot with lots of natural light and a fair share of earth tones in the decor.
So far, "we've been well-received," he said. "During the weekends, we usually have a wait for a table."
He said he considers himself lucky that when he looks around Poppy's, he doesn't see a lot of familiar faces from East Haven Coffee, and he wasn't surprised.
"I expected that we'd be busy," Oricchio said.
Still, there was some unexpected help.
"Apparently, a lot of people found out about us from TikTok," which is even more impressive given that "We don't have a TikTok," Oricchio said. "My marketing prowess is not that great."
But "I know this neighborhood and I know what they like," he said. "My wife and I" are "just going to make something that we like — and I hope a lot of other people like it."
When lunch does arrive, expect to see four sandwiches — including a fried chicken sandwich — some simple salads and maybe some poached salmon, a seasonal grain bowl, one daily soup and some vegetarian chili, Oricchio said.
Customer Steve Wilmarth, who was just finishing a noonish brunch while working on his laptop one recent day, likes what he's experienced at Poppy's so far.
"It's just a very comfortable spot for coffee and breakfast," said Wilmarth, a workforce development consultant who lives on Prospect Street and generally works from home. "I like coffee" and "I like an open and comfortable place."
Poppy's fills the bill on both counts.
"It's a break from the routine," said Wilmarth, who recently returned to New Haven after eight years of doing his work in China. "I like the coffee shop — and it's simple and I get what I need."
mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
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