Barbara Anselmo Chifici

23, 2021 due to complications from Coronavirus at Ochsner Medical Center Kenner. A

lifelong resident of New Orleans, Barbara attended grammar school at St. Rita Catholic

School in New Orleans and graduated from Academy of the Holy Angels. She also

studied at Meadows-Draughon Business College, Louisiana State University, Loyola

University, and the University of New Orleans.

Barbara was the owner and matriarch of the independent family-owned restaurant

group Deanie’s Seafood restaurants. Barbara came from a large extended Italian family

of restaurateurs, where she learned the rigorous demands of running and owning family

restaurants. Barbara was awarded an American Culinary Federation New Orleans’

Outstanding Foodservice Professional Award in 2013, and had been sought to judge

culinary competitions throughout the country during her career. She remained a fixture

at the restaurants until the Coronavirus pandemic began last spring.

Barbara was an inspiration to generations of culinarians and hospitality workers. As a

widowed mother of seven children, she created a rich life for herself and her family

around food, faith and community. Her achievements as a woman entrepreneur

reached well beyond the expectations of her generation. She instilled a genuine sense

of hospitality, quality, family and pride into everything she did with motherly poise and a

steely determination that launched and sustained a New Orleans seafood restaurant

institution for almost 40 years.

Barbara married her late husband Frank Chifici in 1963, and the couple operated a

catering business out of their home and later two restaurants, Chifici’s Restaurant in the

Central Business District and Gromboli’s in Metairie, before purchasing Deanie’s

Seafood Restaurant & Seafood Market in Bucktown in 1982. She was widowed in 1985

after Frank passed away following an 18-month illness.

The Chifici family celebrated 38 years as owners and operators of Deanie’s Seafood in

April 2020. Known for serving up overflowing fried seafood platters and boiled Louisiana

seafood, Deanie’s became a local favorite that garnered national attention. The

restaurant was recognized year after year among New Orleans’ best seafood

restaurants and featured on numerous Travel Channel and Food Network programs.

In 2001, she opened the second Deanie’s Seafood restaurant located at the corner of

Iberville and Dauphine streets in the French Quarter. Deanie’s Sea Food Kitchen,

located at 2200 Magazine St. in Uptown New Orleans, opened in 2018.

In her later years, as her adult children became more involved with the day-to-day

management of the restaurants, she sought ways to champion the values and people

she loved. Barbara created Pinchapalooza in 2009, an outdoor crawfish and music

festival at Deanie’s in Bucktown benefiting local charities that was celebrated for 10

years. She had a large holiday display at her home that later was showcased in

windows of the former D.H. Holmes Department Store Annex that housed her French

Quarter restaurant, where she also introduced an annual Santa’s breakfast and holiday

sing-along series offered from 2013 through 2019. She enjoyed travel, dining, cruises,

cooking and had season tickets for the New Orleans Saints and local theater.

Barbara also had a successful real estate business for over 40 years. She was past

president and a longtime member of the Elenian Club of New Orleans, a philanthropic

group of women of Italian descent. She served in numerous officer positions for the St.

Mary Magdalen Mothers’ Club and the Archbishop Rummel High School Parents’ Club,

including vice president.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents Olga Eve Cazes Anselmo and Vincent

Anselmo, and her loving husband, Frank Angelo Chifici. She is survived by her brothers

Robert Vincent Anselmo (Marlee Early Anselmo) and Dale Anthony Anselmo, her sister

in law Virginia Chifici Tedesco and seven children, Mark David Chifici (Joan Dardis

Chifici), Darren Frank Chifici ( Chasidy Fonseca ), Eric John Chifici (Christina Haley

Chifici), Keith Vincent Chifici (Renee Gascon Chifici), Garrett Paul Chifici (Candice

Schloegel Chifici), Chandra Eve Chifici-Scarber (Richard Scarber) and Candace Ann

Chifici (Douglas Farrington). She also adored her 12 grandchildren: Dillon, Erica, Alaina,

Olivia, Nicholas,Therese, Sophia, Vito, Vincent, Dominic, Vivienne and Giovanni along

with a huge extended family who admired her dedication and hospitality to everyone

she encountered.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Mass at St. Catherine of Siena

Catholic Church, 105 Bonnabel Blvd., Metairie, LA 70005, on Friday, January 29, 2021

at 1:00 PM. Reception will follow at the Msgr. Melancon Center. Visitation will be Friday

at 10:00 AM. A private service will be held for her interment in Lake Lawn Park. In lieu

of usual remembrances, donations may be made to Angels’ Place of New Orleans,

4323 Division St., Suite 206, Metairie, LA 70002 and Ronald McDonald House, 4403

Canal St., New Orleans, LA 70119. The Mass will be live streamed on Youtube. Details

are available at www.scschurch.com and will be posted to Deanie’s Facebook page.