Tony was the head chef at Italian restaurant Valandro's who had been installed by previous owner Luca and, along with assistant chef and friend Luigi, were introduced to new owner Leanne Battersby when she bought the business in 2007.
It soon became apparent that Leanne had no experience in the restaurant trade and after refusing to listen to their advice, both Tony and Luigi had major concerns about the future of their jobs. The pair were always as thick as thieves and the final straw came when Leanne sacked Luigi a few weeks later for being disrespectful to her... Tony told her that he would also walk out if she fired Luigi. Leanne tried to reason with him but Luigi informed her that they'd both got new jobs lined up together and were due to start tomorrow - with Tony pointing out that it was better to leave than watch the business go bankrupt. A panicked Leanne was left to face a restaurant brimming with customers on her own and desperately enlisted the help of stepmother Janice Battersby in the now-abandoned kitchen.
List of appearances[]
2007