Tapeo Turns Ten with Tapas for Charity

Tapeo recently unveiled a tapa of the month for October. The Villeray mainstay will continue do so until June 2014, when the restaurant will celebrate a decade in business with a donation to Fonds Tapeo de design urbain de Villeray.

The urban improvement endowment, funded by the monthly $10 tapas specials and conceived by Tapeo's owners Sebastien Muniz and Victor Afonso, in conjunction with borough councillor Elsie Lefebvre, is the restaurant's way of giving back to a neighbourhood that has changed dramatically over the span of ten years. According to Muniz, everyone has a say in how the money is invested.

We're soliciting input from our neighbourhood customers all the time. And the response has been great. The monthly specials have been selling very well, as people make the connection that the proceeds are going to a worthy cause.

As for whether Tapeo has a specific financial goal in mind, Muniz responds that the restaurant will top up the fund, if necessary, to meet its desired target.

If I had a dollar for every time someone looked at me funny when I told them I was opening up a restaurant in Villeray a decade ago, I'd be retired right now. The neighbourhood has become a destination. You have Jean-Talon market, places like Chez Vincenzo, Café Vito. We want to observe this anniversary by doing something that really has an impact.

And what about that tapa of the month?

It's a traditional Spanish tapa (ensaladilla rusa). (Chef) Marie-Fleur (St-Pierre) puts a little twist on it. It's delicious.