Honing in on Hospitality

By: Wendy Waren, LRA VP of Communications

At the edge of the mighty Mississippi River, at the point where it takes its shape as a crescent, sits the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, the largest hotel in Louisiana, and where Tony Abadie found his place in the world of New Orleans’ most notable industry—hospitality. As this year’s Louisiana Restaurant Association (LRA) Chair of its Board of Directors, his career ascension began three decades ago when he became an assistant beverage manager there.

Abadie grew up in a restaurant family. His grandfather Jerome “Mena” Maiorana was the general manager at the original Acme Oyster House in New Orleans in the early 1950s through the mid-1960s, before opening his own restaurant—Mena’s Place. It was there Abadie got his start in the restaurant industry as his grandfather’s busser and deliveryman, visiting businesses throughout the French Quarter.

“My grandfather was a special person,” Abadie reminisces. “He never met a stranger and everyone loved him. If someone didn’t have enough to pay for some of his heartwarming New Orleans comfort food, he’d tell them to pay for it next time.”

Mena was so generous that those people “down on their luck” sometimes felt compelled to leave a possession behind to let him know they were good for it. It’s that compassionate and caring nature that shaped a young Abadie into the man he is today. 

“I learned how to be a nice guy from my grandfather, and how to make a Sazerac,” Abadie laughs. “My whole family worked in that restaurant: my grandfather, my mother and her sister, my father and his sister, my brothers…it was the epitome of a typical family restaurant business.”

More restaurant and bar jobs would follow as he paid his way through Louisiana State University while studying mechanical engineering. His first and only internship led him to discover that the career path of engineering wasn’t meant to be.

He returned home in 1982 to New Orleans for the first of many jobs with the Hilton. After moving up through eight management positions, he currently holds the title of Director of Catering and Events, where he oversees a division that produces hundreds of annual events and more than 450,000 meals for hotel event attendees.

“Our job is to make those magical moments come to life for our clients,” shared Abadie. “Everyone has different expectations and listening is the key to delivering what they want.”

NRA Public Affairs Conference Registration Open

Dear LRA Members,

The National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) Public Affairs Conference is set for April 14-15, 2015 in our Nation’s Capital at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. It is with great pride that I have accepted our 2015 LRA Chair Tony Abadie’s request to serve “State Whip” for this important industry event. If you have not visited Washington D.C. before the entire Capitol complex and National Mall are full of historic sites, museums and places of interest.

Advocacy is a vital component to advance the interests of the restaurant industry and now more than ever our industry faces unprecedented attacks on numerous legislative and regulatory fronts. Your attendance at this event has a powerful impact in sharing your business concerns and issues with our Congressional Delegation. The focus of the LRA and NRA is to build our industry’s influence and image by expanding our member’s engagement.

This two-day event begins on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 14 with a keynote address followed by breakout sessions and issue panels to get you up to speed on the key issues facing our industry. That evening, we celebrate our industry’s great philanthropic efforts recognizing the winners of the NRA’s Restaurant Neighbor and Faces of Diversity awards. Past Louisiana winners include: Tommy Cvitanovich of Drago’s Restaurants, Greg Reggio of Taste Buds Management and Leah Chase of Dooky Chase Restaurant.

On Wednesday we have a jam packed day that begins with a breakfast speaker and then we board buses to head to Capitol Hill to meet our Congressmen and Senators. After the Hill climb, the NRA and LRA in conjunction with the American Hotel and Lodging Association are hosting a reception. Our Louisiana attendees enjoy a group dinner together to share experiences of the conference.

If you have attended the Conference in the past you are aware of how our Hill visits are organized, but for those of you who will be joining us this year for the first time, I’d like to share it with you.

Due to the time constraints, size of our group and location of the congressional and senate offices, an individual itinerary is created for each LRA attendee to direct you to those meetings we would like you will attend. Our best impact is when we have constituents of each Congressional district join us with their Congressman. We try to accommodate every request and we hope to have good representation at all meetings.

For each meeting, a member spokesperson is selected to represent the group and “make the ask(s).” These member spokespeople attend the breakout sessions and issue panels and also meet with the LRA staff to review the talking points in advance of the visits to ensure they understand the issues that we will discuss with the Congressmen and Senators. And we try to have an LRA senior staff member present for all of the Hill visits.

To register, click here.

I’ll see you in D.C.!

Sincerely,

Jim Besselman

2015 State Whip, NRA Public Affairs Conference

Tony Abadie to serve as 2015 LRA Chair

Tony Abadie, 2015 LRA Chair

The Louisiana Restaurant Association (LRA) is pleased to announce that Tony Abadie, Director of Catering and Events at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, will serve as the 2015 LRA Chair of its Board of Directors.

In this capacity, Abadie will serve as the ambassador of Louisiana’s world-renowned restaurant industry. He will travel the state attending chapter meetings and philanthropic events throughout the year and foster the engagement of one of the state’s largest business trade associations.

A New Orleans native, Abadie has been a member of the LRA for 32 years and was elected to the state board in 2006. He served as the Greater New Orleans Chapter President in 2005.

Abadie grew up in a restaurant family. His grandfather was the general manager at the original Acme Oyster House in New Orleans in the early 1950s through the mid-1960s, later opening up his own restaurant, Mena’s Palace. It was there that Abadie got his start in the restaurant industry as his grandfather’s busser and deliveryman, visiting businesses throughout the French Quarter. More restaurant and bar jobs would follow as he paid his way through LSU and studied engineering. However, that career path wasn't meant to be; he returned home to New Orleans and soon began his life’s work.

For more than three decades, Abadie has worked for the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, the largest hotel in New Orleans with more than 1,600 rooms and 1,500 employees. He began his career in 1982 as an Assistant Beverage Manager and after moving up through eight management positions, he currently holds the position of Director of Catering and Events. Annually, Abadie’s division produces more than 450,000 meals for hotel event attendees.

“We are fortunate to have someone of Tony’s background serve as our chair, as he gives so much of his time to ensuring that the restaurant industry thrives in Louisiana. Tony is an affable and selfless leader and we look forward to his guiding the LRA’s mission and goals this year,” said LRA President & CEO Stan Harris.

Abadie has volunteered his time to numerous LRA state board committees and, in addition to his role at the association, has served on the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board and the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience board of directors. Abadie is also a co-founder and current Vice President of the Louisiana Hospitality Foundation.

“I am truly honored and humbled by the opportunity to chair such a well-respected association,” said Abadie. “This year will be a truly rewarding experience and I consider it a privilege to further the restaurant industry’s identity and reputation.”