On July 1, Antoni’s in Lafayette celebrated the unveiling of a new Robert Dafford mural in the Italian café’s Blu Room. Members of the Oil Center Association were invited for the unveiling, with limited spots available, followed by special dining availability in the Blu Room.
Antoni’s Co-Owner Holly Cure shared that about 2o people were in attendance, including Oil Center Association board members Kevin McKay, Mark Barton, Carol Trosclair and George Holland, as well as dignitaries from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette art program.
The Blu Room is typically only open on Fridays and Saturdays, but with its new mural, the Blu Room provided art to gaze upon while diners, like Dafford, enjoyed small bites, including homemade focaccia with roasted garlic and pesto spread, bruschetta pomodoro, chocolate-dipped cookie bites and complimentary prosecco and red wine.
The Carts to the Cures
Eli and Holly Cure are the husband and wife duo running Antoni’s since 2013. Before the Cures, Bruce and Lynda Cart opened the Italian café in 1996. Holly first worked at Antoni’s in 2008 as an employee under the Carts. From there, she built a relationship with Bruce and Lynda, who eventually entrusted Holly and Eli, who also has a restaurant background, to carry out their legacy.
Holly and Eli met working at the Blue Dog Café, and Eli worked at the Café Vermilionville at the time of the purchase of Antoni’s.
“We both are greatly involved in the day-to-day operations of the restaurant, with his strengths in the kitchen and maintenance and mine in front-of-house and bookkeeping,” Holly shared.
Dafford’s Blank Canvas: The Blu Room at Antoni’s
The Cures’ effort to preserve Antoni’s while keeping it a thriving restaurant is prevalent in the Blu Room, which now houses the new Dafford mural. The Blu Room is an additional space at Antoni’s that has undergone name and function changes, serving as an event room, extra space for COVID and, since 2024, a space for a meal and a show…