The Story of Luca Italian
Owning a restaurant has always been a lifelong dream of mine. One day, a couple of years ago, I was approached by a friend that wanted someone to take on his venue called 109. The offer was a good one, the venue was great, numbers stacked up, good location etc. After a few sleepless nights of tossing and turning, both excitement and nerves battling it out, the excitement eventually won.
I’ve been close to my brother-in-law for around 7 years. It also just so happens that he has a chain of restaurants. You see where this is going, right?
We ran 109 for around a year but it always felt like it was someone else’s restaurant that we were simply “running”. It was as clear as day that something was missing. We made the decision to close 109. The next step was getting on a plane to Venice. Not for a long weekend of filling up our phone’s photo albums, but for 2 weeks of “hard working” culinary research.
Venice’s restaurants don’t have a good reputation, mostly justified because of the poor food you find in tourist joints around the central parts of the city, like St Mark’s Square. If you allow yourself to get lost down picturesque alleys, off the beaten track, you’ll soon be rewarded with little wine bars, known as bacari, with locals standing at the bar counter, conversing with each other, sipping bright orange drinks and snacking on authentic Venetian small plates known as cicheti.
Our bodies were physically exhausted, but our tastebuds were loving every second. This is where our inspiration and passion derived from. In December 2021, we opened Luca.
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