‘Good food in the neighborhood’: D’Nulffos opens in East Lansing

Tucked away behind The Morning Post, a casual East Lansing breakfast spot with a newspaper theme, is a seafood restaurant and chophouse with chandeliers, curtains and a full bar.

Originally meant to open in tandem, a paperwork issue held D’Nulffos up for four months after its sister restaurant’s December opening. Now, the breakfast-dinner combo is open in full.

Co-owner Dan Tyler said he’s had the idea for “the better part of 10 years.”

“My retirement plan was a breakfast place, and I’ve always wanted to have a steakhouse,” he said.

With its dim lighting, selection of high-end wines and steaks ranging from $32 to $77, D’Nulffos hardly feels like a logical companion to the casual diner that closes at 2 p.m. Tyler said D’Nulffos was meant to feel like a speakeasy and that charging as much as he does encourages him to provide the best possible experience he can.

“That’s my biggest deal,” he said. “I’m asking you to spend a decent amount of money in this place. Maybe it’s $90 a person, maybe it’s $80, so I’d better give you a well-rounded experience from the time you walk in.”

Tyler said the restaurant’s “intimacy” is what sets it apart from the crowd.

“What makes us different is our ability to create on a daily basis,” he said. “Our menu is very small, so we’re gonna do features. We don’t have to buy large quantities, so we can be more sustainable and buy higher quality.”

The seating is limited, but Tyler said that’s intentional. His vision for a customer’s experience is very deliberate: “You walk through the breakfast place at night, and then you walk in this weird back room, and you’re like, ‘Holy crap, a speakeasy in the back room!’ Then the server walks up in their attire, and the way they speak to you, they make you feel welcome.

“It’s not just going out to dinner here,” he added. “It’s an event, it’s an experience. That’s why I don’t have 700 seats. This ain’t about money, it’s about what I can do to make your night out or your breakfast the best experience it possibly can be.”

When asked what the principle behind D’Nulffos is, Tyler was blunt: “The principle is, can we just get a good place?”

“It’s a nice restaurant, but it’s still in the neighborhood,” he said. “Why do I have to go downtown or to the east side or Detroit? Why can’t I just go down the street to that weird little plaza, and in the back of it, there’s this cool-ass place and a guy cooking up some good food?”