Wichita restaurant adding breakfast menu that includes recipes from a now-closed favorite

Beautiful Day Cafe in Wichita closed last fall, and since then, fans have been missing its healthy menu — especially at breakfast.

But soon, they’ll be able to taste those favorites again. Another Wichita restaurant — Old Town’s Lotus Leaf Cafe — has just hired Beautiful Day Cafe chef Juan Pulido and will soon add breakfast service that will showcase his talent for the morning meal.

Jackie Keefer, who has operated Lotus Leaf Cafe at 251 N. Washington since 2014, said she’s wanted to add breakfast for awhile. She brought Pulido onto her staff after Beautiful Day Cafe closed and realized that she could start breakfast service and let Pulido handle it.

Though she hasn’t been able to start breakfast yet — she has to hire some morning staff first — she hopes to have it going by the first of August. Pulido has already begun putting together a menu that includes several of the favorite dishes he was making at Beautiful Day Cafe, including banana pancakes and vegan French toast. He’s also planning a breakfast burrito, and Keefer has asked him to include an acai bowl and avocado toast.

The breakfast menu, like the rest of the menu at Lotus Leaf, will be healthier and use cage-free eggs and whole-grain items. It’ll also include gluten-free and vegan/vegetarian options as well as smoothies and juices.

Though she hasn’t settled on hours for breakfast, she’s thinking about Wednesdays through Sundays starting at 7 a.m. The breakfast menu would be offered until 11 a.m. except on Sundays, when it would be the only menu served and be offered until 4 p.m.

Keefer will still be in charge of the kitchen the rest of the day, but breakfast will be Pulido’s baby, she said.

“He’s an amazing person,” she said. “He has come in and is very uplifting and always positive. I really enjoy having him in my kitchen.”