First impressions are often lasting ones.
Just ask Dagmar Livora and Stephan Muhs. The couple vowed they would live in Victoria one day after discovering our seaside Shangri-La back in 1988 as German tourists who followed a hunch north from a holiday in San Francisco. Twenty-one years later, Livora and Muhs took the plunge for full-time life in their adopted city. “Victoria is like a little European gem,” said Livora, who opened True North Gelato restaurant on Government Street earlier this year. “We fell in love with the place 21 years ago and kept coming back every year for stays and holidays. We knew we wanted to live here.” The couple have two children, aged six and eight, who were both born in Canada during the family’s many travels here. The fact the children had reached school age hastened the decision to move here permanently. Muhs and Livora still operate a small Internet security business based in Germany. True North Gelato — in a former souvenir shop on the tourist strip below Ric’s Steak House — is much more than the name suggests. The 72-seat licensed restaurant specializes in its namesake (they are classically trained in Italy), but also offers sweet and savoury crepes, thin-crust pizzas, soups, European-style salads and other fare such as lunch pastas. Everything is made from scratch, including cheese mixes, batters, doughs and the gelato with Island milk. The couple spent a year clearing and remodelling the 2,500-square-foot space and hit plenty of roadblocks with city hall on inspections and other delays. They had planned to open last July but missed an entire summer season, they said, due to frustrating bureaucracy. But their finished retro-style decor is impressive in red and yellow, featuring half-mushroom-style and bench seats. And the gelato, by the way, is to die for …
True North employs 10 staff. It’s at 105-910 Government St. Call 250-383-5303.