RICHMOND, Va. — Every business has its origin story.
Many come off as tall tales, with slight exaggerations added in over time for dramatic effect.
When Ted Santarella often told of the origin of his first restaurant, Tarrant’s Café at 1 W. Broad St., he’d recall the eatery’s original tight quarters, with no kitchen and meals cooked on a hot plate.
Turns out, the full origin story is even better.
Santarella was a lone New Yorker and first-time restaurant owner when he opened Tarrant’s in an old drug store on what was then a rough stretch of downtown in 2006.
The dining room was small and there wasn’t much of a workable kitchen. Unbeknownst to diners, meals were carried down from an apartment above the restaurant and heated with a microwave or a camping stove.
What the restaurant lacked in cooking equipment, it made up for with Santarella’s hustle and vision.
