Leonard Louvierre – Zea Rotisserie & Bar

For nearly 25 years, Leonard Louviere has been one of the most familiar faces in Lafayette’s restaurant community, serving as general manager and an investor in Zea Rotisserie & Bar. But Leonard’s story in hospitality began long before Zea opened its doors in Lafayette.

In this episode of Discover Lafayette, Leonard joins Jan Swift to share his journey from working in restaurants, bars and hotels while attending USL, to spending 15 years overseeing food and beverage operations at the Cajundome, and ultimately taking a leap of faith that would shape the next chapter of his life.

This is a special edition of Discover Lafayette in partnership with Lafayette Travel and Eat Lafayette. We thank them for their support!

“I ended up loving working in restaurants,” Leonard recalled of his college years. “The people I worked with, we worked hard. We were paying our way through everything, including school, and it was always in me to do that.”

From the Cajundome to Zea

After graduating from USL, Leonard briefly went into construction, building a few spec houses, but he knew food and beverage was where he belonged. The newly built Cajundome offered that opportunity.

Leonard initially applied for an assistant food and beverage position and was invited to work one night as something of an audition. Several people were being considered. By the end of the week, management told him, “Nobody worked like you. We want you to come and do this.”

That one-night opportunity turned into a 15-year career at the Cajundome, where Leonard eventually became food and beverage director.

His next chapter began at a restaurant industry show in Chicago, where Bryan McLain, owner of Louisiana Market, introduced Leonard to the men behind the Taste Buds: Gary Darling, Greg Reggio and Hans Limburg. The longtime friends and business partners had created Semolina and were developing a newer concept, Zea.

McLain had a Lafayette building. The Taste Buds had the restaurant concept. Leonard had deep roots in Lafayette, restaurant experience, and the desire to invest and work. Within about a week, they decided to make it happen.

Leonard didn’t just take a management position. He invested his life savings in the Lafayette restaurant.

“I was scared,” he admits. But nearly 25 years later, that leap of faith has more than paid off.

The “Magic” of the Zea Menu

So how does Leonard describe Zea’s food?

It isn’t easily placed into one category. The menu reflects influences from around the world, but Leonard says there are Southern flavors and seasonings woven throughout, whether it’s the Thai ribs, Asian almond shrimp or corn grits.

And four dishes stand above the rest. “The magic. It’s Thai ribs, corn grits, Asian almond shrimp, spinach salad.” “We can’t make recipes that incredible again,” Leonard says. “We’ll never lose those four.”

Consistency is critical to Zea’s success. Recipes are followed precisely, from the ingredients and proportions in the spinach salad to the preparation of every entrée. Kitchen employees are trained to meet exact specifications because a guest should receive the same dish each time they visit.

Interestingly, Leonard readily admits that he doesn’t cook.

What he does know how to do is hire people who are better than he is at what they do.

He points to longtime kitchen manager Heath Lemoine, who has been with him for 24 years, and a management team whose members have worked together for more than two decades.

“I hire people better than me,” Leonard says. “It is the reason I have succeeded.”

Building a Culture Where People Stay

Long-term employees can be unusual in the restaurant industry, but at Zea Lafayette, Leonard’s management team has remained remarkably stable.

“We truly do love each other, without a doubt,” he says.

That doesn’t mean a busy restaurant isn’t intense. It is. But Leonard draws a clear distinction between the urgency surrounding food and service and the way employees treat one another. Respect remains paramount.

When hiring, Leonard says character and personality often matter more than experience. “You have to be a nice person. You have to want to deal with the public.”

Employees need a sense of urgency, an understanding of teamwork, and a genuine desire to serve others. When something goes wrong with a guest, Leonard doesn’t want employees explaining or making excuses. He wants them asking a simple question: “How can I fix this?”

Leonard believes everyone would benefit from working as a restaurant server for six months. Why? Because serving teaches you how demanding it can be to work with the public, how to put someone else’s needs first, and what hospitality really means.

“I’m a servant. I invested my life savings, I’ve done well, but that’s all I am. I serve people. That’s it.”

A Long-Awaited Transformation

For nearly a decade, Leonard pushed his partners to make a major investment in the Lafayette Zea.

He wanted a larger, more functional bar and a restaurant that felt fresh, comfortable and exciting. Eventually, his partners agreed, and architect Kirby Pécot helped create the dramatic renovation and expansion that guests see today.

The bar was moved to the front and greatly expanded, additional seating and private dining areas were created, and acoustic panels were installed to reduce noise and make conversation easier.

Leonard says the multimillion-dollar investment has delivered exactly what he believed it would: sales have increased by approximately 25 percent since the expansion. The Lafayette restaurant now employs about 150 people, up from approximately 95 before the expansion, and receives roughly 70 employment applications each week.

The expansion also gives Zea more flexibility for gatherings and private events. Leonard says the restaurant has spaces capable of accommodating everything from small groups of 12 to larger events of 50 or 60 people.

Creating Good Employees

What is the most difficult part of running a restaurant today? Leonard didn’t say finding employees. He said, “Helping employees develop self-esteem.” His goal is to help people become proud of their work, recognize their own value and learn to do the right thing even when no one is watching.

“Our one and only job is to create self-esteem for our employees.”

Leonard uses a simple example in employee orientation. If he walks through the parking lot at midnight and sees trash, he picks it up because it will still be there tomorrow if he doesn’t. “Do the right thing even when no one is looking,” he tells his team.

He encourages employees to learn additional positions, work harder and become more valuable so they can advance to shift leader, part-time manager and beyond.

It is a philosophy that turns the conventional restaurant-industry complaint about finding good employees on its head. Leonard is focused on creating good employees by giving them an environment in which they can grow.

Hospitality Extends Beyond the Restaurant

Leonard’s commitment to serving others doesn’t end when he leaves Zea.

For approximately 24 years, he has supported Hospice of Acadiana, including hosting a Good Friday crawfish boil at his home that most recently drew about 225 people and raised approximately $8,000 for Hospice.

He also volunteers each Tuesday in Hospice of Acadiana’s Food with Love kitchen, working alongside Kent Zeringue and other volunteers to prepare approximately 750 meals for hospice patients. Delivery volunteers then bring those meals directly to patients.

“I like to gather people together and do things,” Leonard says.

That is true in his personal life as well. He loves entertaining at his home, eating out at local restaurants, listening to live music, dancing and especially zydeco.

“I love a good zydeco band and I love a place to go and dance, without a doubt.”

His love for gathering people together may be the thread connecting everything Leonard Louviere does, from his backyard to his volunteer work to a bustling dining room at Zea.

“You Have to Love Every Aspect of It”

For anyone dreaming of opening a restaurant, Leonard offers a dose of reality. Loving to cook isn’t enough. “You have to love every aspect of it,” he says.

That means schedules, employees, long nights, teamwork, criticism, financial pressures and the intense first months of a new restaurant. Adequate capital is essential, as is experience actually working in hospitality.

Most importantly, Leonard says, you need a team. “You have to hire people better than you that can do a lot of things because you can’t do it all.”

After decades in the hospitality business, Leonard Louvierre still works nights and weekends, still eats Zea’s food, still walks the dining room checking on guests, and still sees himself first and foremost as someone there to serve. (Photo by Robin May.)

And perhaps that explains why Zea has become more than simply a successful Lafayette restaurant. Under Leonard’s leadership, it has become a gathering place where generations of Acadiana families return, employees build careers, and hospitality is rooted in something remarkably simple: “Be kind. Treat people with respect. Do the right thing when no one is looking. And take care of the people who walk through your door.”

For more information and to order their delicious food, visit https://zearestaurants.com/location/lafayette/.