Longtime Mount Pleasant Chef Landen Ganstrom Goes Out on His Own

MOUNT PLEASANT — After 13 years at Crave Kitchen + Cocktails, executive chef Landen Ganstrom left the Mount Pleasant restaurant to start his own meal prep service Healthy Thyme Meals. Ganstrom says that dealing with staffing issues and shutdown from COVID helped him realize it was time. The new meal service offers online selections of organic, paleo- and keto-friendly meals, and weekly specials. Ganstrom started this several years ago as a courtesy to his Cross Fit friends, but has quickly expanded into a business for the entire Lowcountry area.

CHARLOTTE — Chefs Anthony Smith and Taylor Bishop of catering business Chef’s Kitchen in South End neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina, have a new project on the way. The duo is currently renovating a space in Clover, South Carolina, near Lake Wylie. The second Chef’s Kitchen will be a sit-down restaurant and banquet hall, opening in the fall. They will draw from the Southern-meets-Italian-meets American cuisine of the current Chef’s Kitchen.

CHAPEL HILL — The internet went insane this week as a fluffy dog named Ellie assisted her owner in a curbside pick up at Chick-fil-A in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The video of the pup picking up the order in her mouth and carrying it to the car has been shared online over a million times.