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The vision
for Tappo was a collaboration of two old friends
Armando Russo and NHL’er Shayne Corson whom have
shared a friendship lasting over 25yrs. The
dream of opening a restaurant was always a hot
topic over the years and has now come to
fruition. Well established now and
thriving, Tappo Wine Bar & Restaurant is a
fixture in the historic Distillery District.
Armando grew up in old Montreal; his family
migrated from southern Italy just before he was
born. He gravitated towards the restaurant
industry after upscale Davinci’s opened and
quickly became one of the hottest restaurants in
Montreal. Davinci’s was home to all of the stars
from Marlon Brando, Robert Deniro, John
Travolta, Rene Russo, Wayne Gretzky, Mario
Lemieux, Patrick Roy and more.
Shayne was drafted in 1984, where he celebrated
the evening with his family at Davinci’s.
Armando remembers Shayne’s entire family being
extremely nice to him and all the employees that
evening. Shayne would then continue to visit the
restaurant frequently and through the years they
developed a friendship as strong as a
brotherhood.
Armando always had dreams of opening his own
restaurant that would not only carry on family
traditions, but also the comfort and feeling of
home. Shayne, having worked a little in the
family restaurant in Barrie which his mother
ran, also had similar aspirations.
After Shayne’s playing career, the vision that
they both dreamed of would come to fruition.
Opening up a small but vibrant restaurant in a
fairly unknown area in Toronto called the
Historic Distillery District once owned by
Gooderham and Warts. Tappo would be the name
they settled on meaning “corked” in Italian.
They would focus on bringing in some of the
finest consignment wines, making there guests
feel at home when they walked in and wow them
with traditional Italian fare. Since the doors
opened, Tappo has become not only the place to
be in the Distillery, but a place to be seen.
See you at Tappo! |
