Yummvees owner Tracy Flitcraft (Photo courtesy Yummvees)
“[I] grew up with [my stepfather] making pierogies, so we had to make ones that would meet his standards,” says Tracy Flitcraft, owner of the plant-based restaurant Yummvees and a longtime vegan.
Open since February, the from-scratch kitchen produces everything from mock meats to cheese and pasta in house, and the menu consists of vegan adaptations of bacon cheeseburgers, Italian sausage sandwiches and, yes, pierogies.
“I challenge any meat eater to eat here, and I can almost guarantee they’ll have a good experience,” Flitcraft says confidently, noting that the menu at Yummvees has options for everyone, not just vegans.
This is Flitcraft’s second vegan restaurant, the first being Hang Space, which she opened in Bon Air with partners April Viar and Dave Witte in 2018.
Located at 3511 Courthouse Road, Yummvees feels vibrant and bright, yet its beginnings come from a place of great tragedy. In 2015, Flitcraft unexpectedly lost her son during childbirth.
“It’s not a life-altering event; it’s a life-stopping event,” Flitcraft says. “Any kind of traumatic event, you sort of are forced into looking at your life and say, ‘Wow, is this what I want to do for the rest of my life?’ Especially when you realize how fragile life really is.”
It was after her loss that Flitcraft decided to leave her corporate career.
By 2016, Flitcraft had found comfort in cooking and opened Yummvees as a catering company, operating out of her home. After converting her dining room into a commercial kitchen to meet health code regulations, Flitcraft started making weekly deliveries, catering small events and eventually selling to wholesale customers. It took only a year for Yummvees to grow out of the small 10-by-10-foot room in Flitcraft’s house.
“It was sort of ridiculous at times; I would find everywhere to [balance] food on every single surface,” Flitcraft says. Yummvees took a hiatus when she opened Hangspace, but it has now made its return.
Flitcraft says the restaurant began as a way for her to support parents who have experienced a similar loss.
“We really almost operated as a charity,” she says. “I gave away about 80% of our profits to bereaved parent organizations and different organizations that were important to me. It was very therapeutic.”
She says once Yummvees becomes more established, she plans to start donating again.
“The charitable aspect was always my main driver for doing this. I would find folks that had recently lost children, and we would send them money, and we would send them food. A lot of it was done very low-key because I know what I went through in the beginning. If people didn’t send me food, I probably wouldn’t be alive,” Flitcraft says.
Flitcraft’s late son continues to be a major influence on Yummvees.
“My son is everything about this business, and everything down to the color of the walls is something that reminds me of him,” she says. “It’s the decor, the dishes, what we name the drinks. Everything is really relevant to the important people in my life, starting with my son all the way down to my mother, who recently passed away.”
Today, Flitcraft hopes her story can bring parents who have suffered similar tragedies together and break down the stigma surrounding their loss. Parents who have lost children have even come into the restaurant to share their stories with Flitcraft.
“We want to talk about our children because even though they’re not here, they’re still our children,” she says.
Yummvees is open Wednesday through Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m. for dinner, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday for brunch and is closed on Monday and Tuesday.
