Jo's Tazzina Cafe & Confectionery (Tazzina is Italian for "little cup") really began when Jo fell in love with a building design. Tuscan Place was built by Bob Keller to look like a small European apartment building dropped onto a corner in downtown Madison, WI. The upper floors consisted of small but bright apartments, none over one bedroom and he wanted the ground floor, like those in most European cities, to have small retail spaces providing goods for the tenants of Tuscan Place and the surrounding neighborhood.
He thought a coffeeshop would be an ideal component of that and approached Jo after seeing her small East Madison shop, Cuppa Jo, which opened in 1998. She wasn't looking for a second location and wasn't really interested in being downtown--until Bob convinced her to "just take a look." The space available for a coffeeshop was a large corner spot with lots of windows and a covered terrace area. And Jo loved the building itself which was much different than any other in the area.
Still, she didn't want to open "just another coffeeshop." Madison had plenty and she had already done that anyway. Instead, Jo envisioned an eclectic European-style market cafe: one that would recreate the relaxed warmth and old-world service that sometimes wasn't found in the hip, internet cafes currently in operation. And one that would provide more than coffee, a bagel, and a seat.
Jo's Tazzina is the result of that desire. While you can get one of the best coffee or espresso drinks in town and pastries baked on-site and from many fine bakeries, even European ones, you will also find specialty foods from chutneys to salad dressings; reasonably priced lunches; and fabulous chocolates, of course. And all in an open, warmly designed space with attention to detail and customer service.
You'll even find Jo there much of the day, enjoying the shop she created to please herself as much as others.