- Insiders Profile -
Founder of Dear Breakfast, Taqueria Paloma, The Marvila Bakehouse, Velours
Julien Garrec is the French entrepreneur behind Dear Breakfast, the concept that helped put all-day breakfast firmly on Lisbon's map. After several years in New York, he arrived in Lisbon in 2016 and opened the first Dear Breakfast a year later, bringing with him a new approach to morning culture built around perfectly cooked eggs, great coffee, and the idea that breakfast shouldn't have a time limit.
Almost a decade later, his universe has expanded well beyond Eggs Benedict. From Taqueria Paloma to The Marvila Bakehouse and a growing series of pop-ups and collaborations, Julien continues to experiment with formats, cuisines, and neighbourhoods, while keeping the same instinct for creating places that feel relaxed, generous, and distinctly Lisbon.
◆ When you opened the first Dear Breakfast in 2017, Lisbon's brunch culture was still in its early days. What did you see in the city—and in the way people were eating—that made you believe an all-day breakfast concept could work?
When I arrived in Lisbon, I felt there was room for something new. New York had exposed me to farm-to-table restaurants, specialty filter coffee, everything sourdough, matcha, and a more modern breakfast culture. We were already serving matcha at Dear Breakfast in 2017, when it was still quite nonexistent here. The idea was simple: bring those influences to Lisbon in a relaxed way and make breakfast something you could enjoy all day.
◆ If you had to describe your universe in just three words, what would they be?
Generous. Curious. Authentic. Authenticity is very important to me. I love real stories, real encounters, real products, and the people behind them. We try to work as much as possible with our closest community: small farms, local producers, coffee roasters, tea suppliers, and people we genuinely know and trust. For me, the best places have a strong identity but never feel manufactured. You should feel the people behind them.
◆ When you decide to launch a new concept, where does the idea usually start? Is it something you've discovered while travelling, something you personally crave, a gap you spot in Lisbon, or something else entirely?
It can start anywhere. It could be a taco I ate five years ago in a market in Oaxaca City, a bakery somewhere in Europe, a restaurant in New York, a sound system in a club, a ceramic plate, a colour, or simply someone I meet.
Markets are actually one of my biggest sources of inspiration because everything comes together there: food, people, noise, smells, and culture. But for me, creativity is mostly about putting ideas and people together.
I don’t think everything needs to be reinvented. Sometimes you simply need to take something familiar and give it a different perspective. We started, for example, using our spaces differently very early on. When Dear Breakfast was closed late in the afternoon, instead of leaving it empty, we invited other communities in: chefs for takeovers, pop-ups, music events and (small) parties. At the time, it was surprising; today, these kinds of crossovers between restaurants, music, and culture are everywhere. I really love experimenting and bringing our customers with us into those new adventures.
◆ You lived in New York for several years before moving to Lisbon. What did New York teach you about restaurants and food concepts that you still carry with you today?
It taught me to keep looking for what is new. New York is constantly moving: a new neighbourhood, a new chef, a new way of serving something familiar. And most importantly, it taught me not to be afraid of having a strong point of view. The best places don’t necessarily try to please everybody. They know exactly what they are.
◆ From Dear Breakfast to Taqueria Paloma and The Marvila Bakehouse, your concepts have very different identities, cuisines, and formats. Is there a common thread that connects them all, or do you deliberately approach each new project as a completely different universe?
They’re very different worlds, and I actually want them to stay different. But the common thread is generosity. At Marvila, both with the Bakehouse and Taqueria Paloma, we love having a large terrace and big tables where people can come in groups, share food, and stay for a long time.
Lisbon has become a city where sometimes it is surprisingly difficult to spontaneously have dinner with eight or ten friends. I really like the idea that you can arrive somewhere without planning everything a week in advance.
Dear Breakfast has a different format, but having several locations around Lisbon gives us a bit of that flexibility. We’re also very excited to open a new Dear Breakfast in Chiado at the end of September. It will allow us to welcome even more people in central Lisbon and also bring some of the pastries and creations from Marvila Bakehouse into the city centre.
◆ After years of opening permanent venues, you've also been experimenting more with pop-ups and collaborations. What attracts you to these more temporary and flexible formats?
For me, pop-ups are mainly about reaching a new audience and challenging our brands in completely different environments.
Marvila is becoming an amazing destination, but it is still a destination. Not everybody naturally travels there. When we took Taqueria Paloma to Casa Aberta, for example, we suddenly brought the concept onto this new, beautiful rooftop in the heart of Santos. People who might never have travelled to Marvila could discover Paloma somewhere completely different.
We brought our team and our cooks, but it also gave us the opportunity to collaborate with the talented chef Jodie Cruz, who brings a lot of freshness and new ideas to our menus.
Dear Breakfast was created in 2017 and Taqueria Paloma in 2018. These brands have history now, which is something I’m very proud of, but it also means they constantly need to evolve. The challenge is to keep them sexy, relevant, and contemporary without losing the classics people love. Pop-ups, chef collaborations, and takeovers are a perfect way to do that. They also introduce us to people and communities we wouldn’t necessarily meet inside our own spaces.
The Marvila Bakehouse
◆ You've watched Lisbon's food scene transform dramatically since 2017. What do you think the city does much better today—and what do you think it's still missing?
Lisbon is much more confident today. There are incredible chefs, producers, coffee people, bartenders, designers and creative communities, and customers are also much more knowledgeable about food, coffee, bread, wine and sourcing.
I personally always see the future as something positive. For me, it’s like a blank page: there is still so much to write and nothing is completely predefined. We’re lucky because we don’t have to start from zero anymore. We have customers we genuinely love, and they give us that love back by staying loyal after all these years. They’ve helped our brands become recognised in Lisbon and internationally through guides, press and word of mouth. That really means a lot to us.
But it also challenges us. People know Dear Breakfast, so we always want to remain a reference for breakfast in Lisbon. Of course, we need to keep the classics people love, but we also need to continue creating and surprising. And in Marvila, I really want us to keep contributing to the development of that part of the city.
◆ After almost a decade in hospitality, what is one thing you now know about creating a successful restaurant that you completely underestimated when you opened your first one?
I think I was lucky to find a formula that worked quite early. But what I’ve understood is that when you open somewhere new, you first have to do it with your heart.
You can’t be completely rational. It’s a little like a relationship: at the beginning there needs to be attraction, curiosity, and seduction. You have to make people want to discover the place, something new. Of course, afterwards the numbers need to work: it’s a business! But I don’t think you can create a place people fall in love with by starting with a spreadsheet.
Then comes the other side of hospitality: consistency. You have to reproduce that experience every day, even on a rainy Tuesday when nobody important is watching. For me, that’s the formula: emotion first, discipline afterwards.
◆ As a Lisbon Insider, what would be your perfect 24-hour Lisbon itinerary? We'd love your recommendations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a drink.
I always start early in one of my morning places – maybe Dear Breakfast Alfama, when the neighbourhood is still waking up. Coffee, eggs, something sweet (the blueberry pancakes!), then a walk through Alfama before it gets crowded.
I’d probably fit in some movement too. My new wellness obsession is Lagree Studio: it’s intense Pilates; you really have to commit, but I love the way it works on strength and posture at the same time.
For lunch, I feel like escaping the city; I’d head towards Caparica and stop at Myra for a few oysters by the beach. I like Retrogusto Caparica too, and their pizza covered with pistachio sauce. Delicious! La Matta and Pizzico in the city are serious too ;)
For aperitivo, I love places that feel like a discovery. Villa Dorothéa is one of those hidden gems — an incredible old fishing village that has been beautifully restored and transformed into a boutique hotel. It’s perfect for meeting friends for a drink, showing them somewhere unexpected, and very often staying for dinner.
Otherwise, Casa Aberta is a great option: a beautiful rooftop with an offer perfectly curated, right in the heart of Santos, especially around sunset. And later, I’d go dancing at Rumu. I actually like arriving quite early: the team is always incredibly welcoming, and the music selection is consistently impeccable.
For me, the best Lisbon days are a mix of food, movement, the ocean, friends, and music - and ideally, they end much later than planned. But work is never too far away and rarely waits. That’s the life of an entrepreneur.
Taqueria Paloma
