No Half Measures ft. Lanny P. Lancarte II
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Whether you're seeking pedigree, a plan or a process, Lanny possesses it all.
Chef, restaurateur, entrepreneur, visionary and Fort Worth native, Lanny P. Lancarte II is the owner of Righteous Foods, CHOMP Catering, Eat Fajitas and Ground Control Consulting.
Lanny has been a familiar face on the food scene since getting his start at Joe T. Garcia’s as a child, from which he set his sails toward a solo journey with his first restaurant, Lanny’s Alta Cocina Mexicana. His menus at Alta Cocina were a vibrant work of art, changing with the seasons, giving Lanny’s diners innovations that were well before their times and resulted in one of the most targeted culinary destinations in North Texas.
Lanny graduated from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas majoring in Nutrition. During his youth Lanny took advantage of a number of culinary study tours to Mexico, working with and learning from luminaries like Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless.
Eventually returning to the birthplace of his culinary beginnings, Lanny opened his first dining room deep within the patio gardens at his family’s landmark Mexican restaurant, Joe T. Garcia’s on Fort Worth’s historic North Side. (Creating a “pop up restaurant” before pop ups were even in our vocabulary)
Lanny took up a healthy and active lifestyle as seriously as his cooking, which led him to open Righteous Foods. His biking and snowboarding travels alone have landed him on the roads of the Costa Brava in Spain, the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, the Smoky Mountains, the Sierra Mountains, all over the Rockies, the Alpanines of Italy, and the Coastal Range of British Columbia. His travels have provided insight to feed his creativity, with exposure and experience while exploring cuisines around the world and bringing the first all natural all day healthful cafe to Fort Worth in 2014 that still flourishes today.
By 2020, Lancarte had been working on a ghost kitchen concept for two years to provide an upscale dining experience delivered to your home. It was quickly launched out of Righteous Foods before he moved Eat Fajitas along with El Pollo Tocayo and Pizza Zapasta to a brick and mortar called Fantasma Kitchens.
While working day to day in his restaurants, Lanny has peeled back the onion of restaurant operations, creating bespoke - yet scalable and transferable standards, processes, and procedures to create efficient, profitable businesses.
Lanny’s heritage, his innate talent, his good nature, and his dedication to excellence and creativity continue to command rave reviews. The most desired distinction, however, is simply knowing he’s met or exceeded the expectations of his many patrons.
Episode Highlights
Behind the scenes of Lanny’s various business ventures in the local restaurant scene.
How Lanny keeps the creative spark alive through travel, networking, and ongoing learning.
Lanny’s tips for letting go of perfectionism.
Lanny’s journey in the restaurant industry and how his business came to life.
How Lanny has maintained a positive, sustainable work environment and retained long-time employees.
How operations changed during the height of the pandemic, and how Lanny’s team shifted to stay afloat.
What Lanny hopes to see in the future of the restaurant industry.
Where to find Lanny:
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Episode edited and produced by Carson Childers of Furlong Creative.