Anna Pavoni
Restaurateur & Champion For Women in Hospitality
Anna Pavoni is the co-owner of Maestro Hospitality’s portfolio of restaurants. She manages back of house operations from the centralised support office for all their businesses—everything from Accounts to PR, Marketing, HR, Reservations, Events, Legal, and more.
Anna is also a restaurant consultant and enjoys the opportunities it provides to work with others. In 2014, Anna was a finalist in the Appetite for Excellence Young Restaurateur of the Year. In 2021, Alessandro and Anna were jointly awarded the Restaurant and Catering Association's state Restaurateurs of the Year.
Anna holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting, Management, Latin Languages), a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies (French), a Diploma of Human Resources, a Diploma of Hospitality (Sommelier), and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. Plus RSA, First Aid and FSS, of course.
Anna was also a founding member and was on the original board with WoHo, a not-for-profit association supporting women's career development in hospitality. She also developed an informal networking initiative for female restaurateurs called the Council of W.A.R (Women and Restaurants). Anna is dedicated to spreading the message that hospitality is a career path, not just limited to the traditional back and front-of-house chef/waiter/manager positions.
In her 'spare time', she volunteers at her local surf club, holding her current Bronze Medallion and helping with the nippers program. She also regularly patrols the beach as a volunteer lifeguard.
Get in touch with Anna by emailing anna@maestrohospitality.au
COUNCIL OF W.A.R
Women And Restaurants
The Council of W.A.R is a spin off of a group of women restaurateurs in Sydney who meet regularly and have found it to be not only of professional support and development but also a source of friendship. We call this our Council Of W.A.R (Women And Restaurants).
The often-lonely role of a female restaurateur, often in the media shadow of the male representative of the business, has given this project wings of its own, as those involved have thrived on the opportunity to talk shop thoroughly with others from not just the same industry but specifically the restaurant landscape, and even more specifically, from an owner and operator perspective.
We offer each other support, share our expertise and encourage each person to generate new ideas and motivation to take away with them. It is not only incredibly helpful from a ‘brains trust’ point of view, but is also a validation of the intense amount of ‘hats’ we are to wear every day. We learn from each other, in a trusting and open environment – we talk honestly… as only women can!
We have regular conventions but it is mainly an informal, very beneficial, network of like-minded experts!