Lou Abin

Background

Lou Abin is a restaurateur and nightclub operator residing in Las Vegas, NV where his company has launched multiple outlets and brands including TAO Restaurant and Nightclub at The Venetian, LAVO Restaurant at Palazzo and Marquee Nightclub at The Cosmopolitan. In New York, Abin's company controls TAO, Avenue, LAVO, The Stanton Social, Rule 57, Avra, Beauty & Essex, Marquee, Dream Downtown and Arlington Club. He originally hails from New Jersey where his parents owned and operated an Italian catering business. Abin got his start in the industry after becoming acquainted with Lidia Bastianich, who was acting as a guest chef at the time in one of his courses at the Cornell Hotel School. Hobbies include race car driving, tennis, scuba, travel and cooking.

Career

Abin’s parents strived for his benefit, sending Abin to Newark Academy in Livingston, NJ for his studies in grades six through 12. While taking studies at Newark Academy, Abin met Roy Alvarez, a teacher who became his mentor. Alvarez shepherded Abin through prep school and even later on in his development as the two reconnected as student and professor at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.

During Abin’s senior year at Cornell, in a class where groups of students created and operated their own public restaurant night in the Statler Hotel, he created his first vibe dining experience: the Norseman's Feast, a viking themed bacchanalia. Abin also took a course that year that brought in guest chefs for each of the students to work with in creating a proposed business model. One of those chefs was Lidia Bastianich. When the course had finished, Lidia invited Abin to work with her at a new restaurant that she was opening up with her son, Joe Bastianich, called Becco, in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. Starting out as a manager at Becco, Abin continued to work with the Bastianich family over the next 10 years on multiple projects until eventually growing from AGM to managing partner of Lidia’s Kitchen.

After his time with Lidia’s Kitchen, Abin decided to travel to Italy and was able to get set up quickly thanks to personal referrals from friend and business partner, Lidia Bastianich. During his time in Italy, Abin’s passion for Italian cuisine and restaurant management was solidified by the towns he visited, as well as the chefs and hotel staff he met. While on this travels, Abin received a call from a former colleague from Campagna in NYC, exclaiming, “You have to get to New York to see TAO!” Abin headed back to New York and interviewed for a position with TAO. After that meeting, he accepted an AGM position with the establishment. TAO was an immediate success and became the highest grossing restaurant in the US.

Abin eventually became GM of TAO and later a partner in a deal to bring the brand to a new market in Las Vegas. TAO opened inside The Venetian in 2005 and was an instant hit. Abin and his TAO Group partners have since gone on to open successful ventures such as LAVO Italian Restaurant inside of Palazzo, Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub inside of The Cosmopolitan and Marquee at the Star Sydney.