We were lucky to catch up with Troy Ganter recently and have shared our conversation below.
Troy , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
Our team, The EDBL Family (Matt Smith, Chad Lee and I), joined forces at our sister restaurant, Papa’s Raw Bar, where we grew a passion together for trending food, building relationships and serving our community. Together we built our trademark, Eat Drink and Be Local®, which thrives off building synergy amongst local business and giving back to the local communities.
After Covid we we were approached by the Whelchel family who were building the Cove Brewery in Deerfield beach and they were looking for a food and hospitality partner to open up a kitchen adjacent to their brewery. During Covid we experienced the value of creating a simplified and scalable business that could run lean and efficient without compromising quality food and community service, so we jump right on the opportunity to pop up in our neighboring city.
The Cove is one of our favorite communities and we were thrilled to join forces with the Whelchel family as they share the same core values / culture. This was match made heaven;
Two Passionate Family’s, making Great Food, and Better Beer in one of the nicest breweries / venues known to the industry.
Our first thought was to open a scaled version of Papa’s, however our passion for Asian food and culture took over and we decided to create a new concept, Won-Tom’s, an Asian fusion kitchen built on umami and good vibes.
What and where did the name Won-Tom’s come from you ask?
Everyone would love to know where the name came from and locals are dying to meet the infamous Tom. The name showcases our fun outlook on life and is inspired by our out of the box creativity and passion to be different and shine. We are always trying to concoct new dishes and sauces that will shock your taste buds.
At Won-Tom’s everything is made from scratch with an abundance of love. We have dim sum and then sum, there’s something for everyone: soup dumplings, Gochujang Egg Rolls, Kind Bowls, Bao Buns, Tacos and Noods. We offer gluten free and vegetarian options to cater to everyone. There is no MSG is our house and we want to you feel good after chowing down.. Our Korean fried chicken tenders are actually gluten free. We brine our chicken for 24 hours and then off to a marinate before they are fried to perfection. Our Premium Pork Belly (Thai sticky basil pork) and the Highend Wagyu Blend (Wagyu Smash Sando) is all locally sourced from Sunshine Provisions and are taking the town by storm. We can’t wait for you to visit our kicthen and share your feedback.
We hope to see you soon at the Cove Brewery where you can treat yourself to a taste of Won-Tom’s. We also offer takeout at our kitchen window and delivery via UberEats. Our menu is constantly involving thanks to our customer feedback and local support.
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Order Online at Won-Toms.com
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Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Here are some questions and answers that help shine a light on me, our team, our brand and culture
Life story
Thank you 🙏
Describe the rise of the restaurant, and your fall into drinking, then your rise out of it.
I swore i would stay faraway from the restaurant industry.
In 2001 i left FSU to come home and help my father run his seafood commissary that supplied his iconic restaurant,Papa Hughie’s Seafood World.
We took a $300k commissary and turned into a 7 million dollar wholesale / import / export distribution center. We sold to restaurants and markets from key west to Jupiter and exported to hotels and resorts throughout the Caribbean. I had a company (home base) in Tortola, BVI. I met the girl of my dreams, now my wife and better half, Cassie Ganter, we owned multiple rental properties and were sitting on top of the world. So we thought. In 2009 the economy took a turn, we had our main cusomter in the Caribbean left us hanging for close to 1 million dollars and we were forced to bankruptcy. We had to forfeit our new distribution headquarters, all our rental properties , my house and my parents house and most of our assets. We even pawned our wedding rings :( We lost it all but our landmark restaurant. The banks saw no value in an old restaurant that we didn’t own.
I was never aware of my addiction(s) and character defects. this is when things got really bad for me, my new wife and my new born boys.
I crawled back to Papa and seafood world. My wife and i serve tables and hustled to raise our family.
In 2014 the opportunity became available to take over the Thai restaurant adjacent to seafood world. This was the beginning of Papa’s rawbar and Eat Drink and Be Local®.
Cassie and I were all in. We were officially restaurant owners. Papa’s took a couple years to get off the ground. Soon Business started to boom, we were building relationships, serving our community and having the time of our lives. My addictions and demons were doing push ups in the parking lot.
In 2016 i hit rock bottom, i was arrested and accepted the fact that i was an addict and needed help. My life had become unmanageable and i was sick and tired of running the show.
I knew i needed help so i surrendered and sent myself to rehab. I had to borrow money from my friends for rehab. This was the turning point of my life. I started working a program. Found a sponsor, a tight circle of sober brothers. I built a real relationship with God and found my purpose in life. My purpose was to help and serve others. In order to help others i needed to be the best Version of myself. I knew i needed to continue to work a program, turn my will over to God and trust in His plans for me and take things one day at a time. Today I’m aware and grateful. I posses the tools to pause, communicate, listen, stay present, and live with true purpose.
How did the restaurant industry play a role in your addiction? Working in a restaurant fueled my addiction, i always wanted to cater to others and make sure everyone was having fun, i was surrounded by drugs, alcohol, and people. I made it my job to entertain everyone
How did working with your family and in a family-owned restaurant help you?
Working in a fmaily business has its ups and downs. Thank God for my family, they are everything to me. My father and mother taught me everything i know. My father was my best man, my mentor and still my best friend. We started off never seeing eye to eye (young bull impulsive know it all vs old bull – stubborn and not eager to let go)
We are still a thriving family business but we have made a huge pivot to incorporate team principles. We put our faith in our systems. We surround ourselves by great people and hold each other accountable. Always learning, always growing. Our purpose is to SERVE
What obstacles did you have to overcome along the way, and how did that change you as a person?
I learned the hard way that i can not do everything. I learned how to surrender and ask for help. I learned to surround myself by great people.
I learned the greatest gift is feedback and how imperative it is to listen and communicate. This keeps me grounded, present and grateful.
I believe our purpose in life is to be kind and help others. SERVICE
Once i learned about all my character Traits. I was able to turn all my weaknesses into strengths and use this as the gold in my pocket to help others. everything that’s happened in my life, happened for me not to me.
I believe that we are always right were we need to be and God never gives us things we can not handle.
Looking back – through addiction, COVID, expanding, not expanding, etc. – how would you now describe success?
Wow, what a roller coaster, addiction , bankruptcy, family challenges, covid
Highs and lows, extremes, rock bottoms.
It all happens for a reason and there’s always an opportunity to learn and grow if your positive, grateful and seeking opportunities.
We don’t have problems
We have challenges and God has a plan for us all. All we have to do is Trust and keep our faith.
Would you consider your business a success, and do you consider yourself a success story?
I’ve always wanted one thing in life and that’s to be happy. I’m happy today. I have everything i need. A family that loves me, we respect and inspire each other. We have a Savior that is always there for us and we have purpose. I love our story, we are so blessed and excited to see what God has in store for us.
I know you said before that your team of employees is like a family and everyone looks out for one another (i.e. COVID). How did this environment help you and your business succeed?
We learned to pivot, stay pliable and adapt
My team is my family and my family is my team. We would do anything for each other.
Our business is built on relationships and service
It blows my mind how we grew through bankruptcy, hurricanes, covid and so much more.
When covid struck
We slimmed down from 126 employees to our 14 all stars
We had to close the rawbar and where able to keep the market open as an essential business, we scaled our menu, catered to locals, started deliveries to local communities and neighborhoods (our lifeline)
Covid showed me nothing can beat our team and family. Together we can survive anything. Covid was probably the best thing that happened to us.
We consolidated seafood world and papas
We turned the legendary back dining room of seafood world into a speak easy “the barrel room”’ we inquired a liqoir license, implemented new sysmtes, a management team and started holding each other accountable
Today
We are Papa’s Raw Bar
At papas we have our day one fresh market, our new speakeasy / private party room and our restaurant which is a consolidation of the best from both restaurants .
We would like to thank our patrons for the continuous local support, they are our lifeline
Like i said our business is and always will be built on relationships
And our purpose is to serve
Thank for making Papa’s your favorite place to
Eat Drink and Be Local®
More about our A Team at Papa’s
My given nickname is “Papasan” from locals
Son of of papa and due to the fact I love Asian cuisine and culture
They call my brother Chris “The Fish”
He sources all our day boat fresh fish
Then you have
The Man, the myth, the Legend” – Papa Hughie and the the real boss, my mom, Mama Joy
Our CFO “our controller aka our anchor is jennifer Wyrosdick
Our CMO | CBO marketing and design guru is Matt Smith “LongBranch”
Matt has brought our brand to life and keeps us trending
Our executive chef and culinary director
Chad wyrosdick aka “ChadDaddy” “Chad Lee” gets his name because of his big heart and eagerness to help others and Brillant passion for food
Our Manager Mary Bugeja has been with us for over 25 years and is our relationship guru
We are one big family that uses team principles to hold each other accountable
And lastly my ride or die. My wife Cassie aka “smooth operator” is our VP and is the backbone to our family and business. She is very involved with our restaurant as she has a lifetime of restaurant experience, starting waiting tables at seafood world 17 years ago and has been helping us grow stronger systems since.
Our teenage boys are getting earning their stripes as they learn to bus tables just like their father did when he was thirteen :)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Won-Toms.com
- Instagram: Won_toms
- Facebook: Won_toms
