『CuGino’s Hunter Moody and Gene Todaro』のカバーアート

CuGino’s Hunter Moody and Gene Todaro

CuGino’s Hunter Moody and Gene Todaro

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Discover Lafayette welcomes Hunter Moody and Gene Todaro, proprietors of CuGino, their beautiful Sicilian restaurant located at 117 South College Road in Lafayette. This episode is presented in special partnership with Eat Lafayette by Lafayette Travel, celebrating the locally owned restaurants that help define our community and our culture. CuGino may be relatively new to Lafayette’s restaurant scene, but there are generations of restaurant experience behind it. Hunter Moody grew up in one of Lafayette’s best-known restaurant families, while Gene Todaro brought authentic Sicilian cooking to Acadiana more than four decades ago as one of the founders of Marcello’s. Their paths are remarkably different, but their philosophies about food, hospitality and the people who work alongside them are very much the same. Hunter Moody: Raised in the Restaurant Business For Hunter, the restaurant business was part of life from childhood. His grandfather, B. I. Moody, was a CPA who became involved in the restaurant industry through the Trotter brothers’ Burger King franchise interest. The Moody family went on to own and operate numerous restaurants and other franchises, including Luther’s Barbecue, Chart House and Outback Steakhouse. Hunter remembers being included in the business by his father at an unusually young age. “When I was 12 years old, he’d say, ‘Son, get in the car. We’re going talk to Outback Steakhouse in Baton Rouge.’ When I was 15, he’d say, ‘Son, come sit at the kitchen table. Let’s discuss this month’s P&Ls and financial statements.’” Hunter says academics were highly valued in his large family, but he discovered early that his strengths were elsewhere. “I was more of a blue-collar kind of person, believe it or not, coming from a very well-off family with a lot of privileges, a lot of opportunities. But I played sports and loved them. I was good with my hands, good with people. From a young age, I wanted to be in the restaurant business.” At the age of 28, Hunter took over his family’s Sonny’s Barbecue operation in Baton Rouge at a difficult time. The restaurant had experienced two down years following the 2008 financial collapse, and the family was considering closing it. Hunter saw potential in both the management team and its loyal customer base. Within a year, he says, sales and profits returned. Over the next decade, the restaurant nearly doubled its sales. That experience also shaped Hunter’s approach to leadership. As Sonny’s itself began adapting to a changing restaurant industry, Hunter embraced a management philosophy centered on kindness, teamwork and creating a workplace where people could thrive. “I never minded sweating. I never minded working hard. And that’s why the business worked out well for me early on.” Gene Todaro: From Palermo to Louisiana Gene Todaro’s story begins thousands of miles away in Sicily. Gene grew up in Palermo and was 14 years old when his family came to the United States in 1961. His father had actually been born in Pueblo, Colorado, before returning with his family to Sicily, which meant he was an American citizen. After World War II, with Palermo devastated by bombing, Gene’s father and his brothers began considering leaving Sicily. A visit to the American consulate changed everything when they learned Gene’s family could obtain American passports. “We came into the country on an American passport because our father was American.” The family initially settled in New Orleans, where relatives already lived, before Gene’s path eventually brought him to Lafayette. Gene did not initially plan on spending his career in a restaurant. His academic background was in accounting, and he earned an MBA through Texas A&M while working for Halliburton in Dallas. He also operated a restaurant on the side. Then his younger brother Marcello, who was attending USL in Lafayette, called. “He says, ‘Gene, there are no good Italian restaurants in Lafayette. I need you to come down here and see what you think and see if you can help me get a restaurant.’” Gene came to Lafayette, surveyed the local restaurant scene and agreed that the city could use another Italian restaurant. He helped get the business started with every intention of returning to Dallas. Six or eight months later, his brother called again and asked for help. Gene sold his Dallas restaurant and moved to Lafayette. The rest became part of Lafayette restaurant history. The Todaro Taste The Todaro family’s food traditions came directly from Sicily. Gene remembers shopping for his mother, Rosalie, and learning the ingredients that went into her cooking. He may not have been the one doing the cooking, but he learned what the finished product was supposed to taste like. Rosalie Todaro “I knew all the ingredients and what went into different dishes, and I knew what they should taste like. And if something didn’t taste quite like it, we got to ...
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