By Boulder County Farmers Markets

L.R. Laggy was on a road trip when he stumbled upon a question that would change the course of his career: What do you want to be known for?

Up until this point, he often found himself meeting life’s opportunities as they came. After growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey, he went to college in Boston, followed his friends to Hoboken where he worked in some of the hottest restaurants in New York City, created and sold his own physical meditation timer after becoming fed up with an app and eventually moved to Colorado to be closer with his sister and epic mountain biking trails.

But it wasn’t until that pivotal trip in 2020 that he honed in on a vision: L.R. Laggy wanted to serve the most delicious brisket in the region.

Perhaps it was due to his time working at Blackbelly, or simply that his road trip itinerary brought him through Kansas City and Georgia, that L.R. landed on this particular dream. He had never even smoked meat before starting Rang Tang Craft Barbecue and actually highlighted an expertise in Italian wines on his resume when he first started looking for restaurant jobs in Boulder.

Instead, the thread that ties all of his endeavors together is eye-to-eye service. In New York, L.R. cut his teeth at Babbo, where the elusive reservations and casual stream of celebrities created an environment where every night felt like a Broadway production. He recalled one evening when a renowned cookbook author Harold McGee came in for dinner service. McGee’s order was an exact replica of L.R.’s favorite dishes at Babbo — pig’s foot, beef cheek ravioli, sweetbreads — which is a badge of honor for any foodie.

While his time at Babbo was a tough act to follow, if you ask him, it’s a close tie with his first restaurant job in Boulder: The Kitchen. It was during his time there that L.R. delved deeper into the world of hospitality. He experienced how important it was to interact with each customer as a whole person and to tap into the most human parts of yourself while serving others.

He also got to taste food from local farms and ranches and started to notice how the quality of freshly-farmed ingredients impacted the taste of the dishes he served. L.R. recalled the awe among the servers when, after losing a reliable meat vendor for a long stretch of time and becoming accustomed to serving industrial meat, they once again got to taste meat raised locally on a diet of real food.

Today, that’s the difference you can taste in every bite of L.R.’s first solo food venture, Rang Tang Craft Barbecue. He began drafting his business plan during the pandemic and knew immediately that he wanted to build a barbecue business that was healthy for people’s bodies as well as the planet. He focuses on local ingredients — he sources his meat from Grama Grass & Livestock, Buckner Family Ranch and Frank’s All Natural Homestead Meats — and incorporates seasonal produce in salads, coleslaw and toppings. Much of his produce comes from fellow vendors such as Toohey and Sons, Off Beet Farm, Aspen Moon Farm and Monroe Organic Farms. And when there is a certain ingredient he can’t get locally, he’s still sure to buy organic.

If that wasn’t enough, L.R. made what he considers his biggest pledge to clean food: no seed oils, ever. Seed oils — like canola or grapeseed oil — lose their nutritional value in the extraction process and contain higher levels of unhealthy fats.

“I think the way to transform the food system,” he explained, “is to have high standards.”

And when you combine the nutritional value of local, organic meats and produce with clean ingredients, it’s fair to say that you have found yourself guilt-free barbecue in Rang Tang.

After joining the Boulder Farmers Market in 2023, Rang Tang Craft Barbecue has built a loyal following in Boulder County. In addition to the Wednesday and Saturday markets, you can often find Rang Tang at The Rayback or, if you’re looking to feed a crowd, hire them for private events.

As for what’s next for the business, L.R. is leaving the door open.

“The whole process has been so organic,” he shared. “I’m trusting that when the next iteration shows up, I’ll recognize it.”

For now, it’s safe to say that he’s found his niche at the farmers markets — just this year, he launched a new food podcast called 75% Food, where he interviews fellow vendors and food entrepreneurs to help share their stories.

Stay in touch with Rang Tang Craft Barbecue by visiting their website, rangtangbbq.com, and listen to the 75% Food podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts.