There is a new Italian restaurant in downtown Victoria serving traditional cuisine from the northern regions of Italy.
Partners in life and in business, James Frost and Heather Dosman have been working for years to open a restaurant of their own and have been putting on coursed pop-up dinners in Victoria for the last year and a half to do so.
Now, their dreams have come to fruition, as Lumache opened its doors officially on Friday, December 7th.
Lumache origins
Lumache translates to snails in Italian, which Frost says is a nod to the traditional ways of cooking slow food—cooking things with intention, the right way, the long way.
Frost has worked under some of Vancouver’s most influential Italian chefs at La Quercia and Livia.
Through working at these restaurants, he fell in love with cooking regionally, which even took him to Italy for a four month apprenticeship at Osteria Morelli, in the Italian Alps cooking with his mentor’s mentor.
After returning from Italy, Frost and Dosman got busy making plans to open their own restaurant.
The space
The space they found is located at 1001 Douglas Street in Unit G2A. Most recently, this space was a Filipino eatery called Ate, but before that, this was Hank’s original location.
Frost says he found this space through connecting with former Hank’s owner Clark Deutscher.
“We looked at a few spots but for the most part, they were prohibitively expensive,” said Frost.
He and Dosman wanted to avoid taking on an investor in the business, as they wanted to retain control as owners when they were able to open, so they began looking at smaller, more affordable spaces.
That’s when Deutscher showed them the space they have since acquired, with Frost stating “This could totally work,” as soon as he saw it.
The duo then spent the next couple months hiring and renovating the space, creating a warm, inviting and cozy restaurant that seats just 16.
“Each part of the room has a very distinct and unique vibe, just because of the way the room is laid out,” explained Frost.
To fully embrace this charming, unique space, Dosman and Frost opted to name the three tables: Tavolino, Mezzo and Tavolo.
Tavolino is a perfect date night table as it is tucked away in a corner away from the action, Mezzo translates to “medium” and can fit two spaciously or four intimately and lastly, Tavolo, which can comfortably fit four.
Then there is the bar, which faces an open kitchen and provides a more interactive dining experience.
“You’re sitting at the bar, you can talk to me, I’m going to talk to you, I’m going to cook your food in front of you, making pasta to order—you’re kind of having the chef’s table experience,” said Frost.
Food menu
After honing his skills in Italy and putting on 12 pop ups over the last year, the menu at Lumache has already been workshopped and perfected.
Lumache offers food ala carte, but also has a tasting menu, which he recommends for those who want to try a taste of everything.
The alla carta menu has two sections: antipasti and pasta.
“The antipasti section offers smaller plates, vegetables, a little bit of seafood, anything that’s not pasta. That part of the menu is for us to share some things that we love,” he said.
“Then we have the pasta section which is all handmade, all the time, with five pastas on the menu. Each one is unique.”
The tasting menu costs $89 a head, and comes with seven courses.
“You’re going to get a bit or two of just about everything on the antipasti menu, and then pasta-wise, we’ll pick a couple things from the alla carte menu and a couple things from off the menu that we’re wanting to share.”
“Every one of these dishes I love, and I put on the menu for a reason.”
A couple highlights from the menu are the Trippa a La Quercia, the Agnolotti in Bianco and the Tiramisu.
The Trippa a La Quercia is an ode to Frost’s two mentors who both served a different version of this honeycomb tripe dish at their restaurants.
“This tripe is something that impacted me, learning how to cook,” Frost told Victoria Buzz.
“The way Fiorenzzo makes it, the way Adam makes it and the way I make it would all look different. It’s more about the process than the recipe.”
The Agnolotti in Bianco is an elevated nod to noodles and butter, with the agnolotti being filled with fondutta, or cheese sauce, and tossed in lots of butter before being finished with a hazelnut oil.
“This is something I sort of made up, which is based on pasta in bianco, which is just pasta in butter,” he explained.
“Its something that’s usually for children but it’s something that I still eat—It’s undeniably delicious and if you don’t like it, you’re kidding yourself,” he laughed.
“Imagine not liking a bowl of pasta and butter.”
And the Tiramisu is a recipe that Frost has made hundreds of times, at several restaurants.
His version however, he developed simply by subtracting elements until it was at its most basic. This is what he likes best and he feels his customers will feel the same.
These three dishes are just the tip of the iceberg and Lumache has much more to offer, including a dessert cheese course.
Lumache sources all ingredients possible at a local level, getting produce from local farmers, dairy from local fromageries and anything else they can from a neighbour that produces sustainable, artisanal ingredients.
Drink menu
Dosman handles the front of house for Lumache and has put together a wine list that complements all dishes on the food menu.
It is a mix of old world and BC wines, and highlights many vineyards who do things as Lumache does: focusing on the slow, and right way of doing things.
“Heather is looking for wine makers that apply our same philosophy to their grapes and our wine making as we do to our food, sourcing of ingredients and our food prep,” explained Frost.
They have negronis on tap and have a small but mighty cocktail list, which includes ‘The Dave-tini,’ which is Frost’s uncle Dave’s recipe.
“I’m not a marini guy, but this is the best martini, it doesn’t get any better than this,” said Frost.
It has to be made with specific ratios and using specific ingredients, but there is another aspect which Frosts says makes this drink special.
“Its mostly about how hard you shake it and for how long,” he laughed.
There are also a number of non-alcoholic options and two local beer options on tap.
New Year’s Eve dinner
Now that they are open, Lumache is planning a special dinner at the restaurant on New Year’s Eve that will be $150 per person, but those who attend this event will get to try the food elevated to a whole new level.
“I’m going to import some black truffles, some Italian truffles, and we’re going to use some BC caviar, which is to me an underrated local delicacy,” said Frost.
“It’s a really fun excuse for us to do some stuff we wouldn’t normally be able to do.”
There are only a handful of reservations left for this dinner.
Lumache is open weekly from Friday to Monday, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Reservations can be made online.
