Veteran-owned Luchals soulful seafood opens April 19

(FOUNTAIN, Colo.) — Beloved local eatery Luchals is opening up a new brick-and-mortar restaurant. Their Grand Opening will be held on April 19, 2024, and is the next step in what has become a lifelong culinary passion for Chef Chantal Lucas.

Chef Lucas learned to cook by watching her mother and grandmother prepare fresh food, from scratch, at home. This background has inspired her as a chef and guides her kitchen today.

“We’re 90% from scratch,” she said. “So we have all of our fish. We hand-batter all of our shrimp. We make our macaroni and cheese from scratch. We make our greens from scratch. You know, things are not coming from a can, because if that’s the case, then you could go do that yourself. So we implement good food quality at a decent price and offer something that is a step above.”

She was drawn to the military because of her father and grandfather. “I joined the military when I was 20,” she said. “And my biggest reason for joining the military was to do something bigger than me. So I am a third-generation soldier. My grandfather was a soldier and his father was a soldier.”

The marriage of these two pursuits led her to pursue a career path as a cook in the Army. She said she was blessed to be in a unit where others cared about how the food was prepared, both in the dining hall and out in the field.

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The Phillip Connelly is a huge, prestigious award in the Army, where dining facilities are judged for quality and cleanliness—Chef Lucas’s kitchens won every time they entered.

“We had a thing called the Phillip Connelly [award] as a dining facility. And what they would do is they would come down and they would look at all the different eateries and stuff on post and they would rate you based off of your cleanliness, the type of food that you do, how good it is, you know, just our methods, and those things kept me motivated to want to do more because I love that type of stuff and we would win.”

She met her husband, Travares Lucas, in the Army, where he was a chemical engineer. They married in 2013 and got stationed at Fort Carson two years later. Travares encouraged her to take her career a step further, and after leaving the military she received a Culinary Degree from the prestigious Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts.

Their Luchals journey began in 2016. It began with a food truck and then they moved to an installation at food hall COATI on Tejon Street in downtown Colorado Springs. Now, they will soon be a full-fledged brick-and-mortar, with what Chef Lucas describes as a “classy urban” vibe. Adam Riddens, the former proprietor of Ephemera, has also come on as General Manager at Luchals.

“We will have cocktails. We do have a full bar. We will have some entertainment, light entertainment,” Chef Lucas said. “We will be doing brunch on Saturday and Sundays as well. Military discount, hands down, for sure.”

They also have gluten-free options, and Chef Lucas wants people to know their kitchen is set up to be safe for those who have severe gluten allergies. “We do very well, our staff, making sure that [cross-contamination] doesn’t happen.”

She said that a lot of Luchals guests have been able to eat favorite foods they haven’t eaten in 10 or 15 years, because of a gluten sensitivity or allergy. “I’ve had people cry and say, I have not eaten this type of stuff in a long time. And I’m happy to be able to enjoy this.”

Chef Lucas is focused on customer service in everything and especially providing a positive experience with the food she creates and serves.

“Putting a smile on somebody’s face from making a good product,” she says, and that’s what drives her rather than getting a pat on the back or a thank you. “Did you enjoy that? Was it something that you felt like you spent good money on? Yeah. I love that. Without that, we wouldn’t be in business.”

The Grand Opening of Luchals promises to be a big event, and walk-ins are welcome, but Chef Lucas recommends making reservations to be sure you get a spot. Luchals new space is located at 6436 S. US Hwy 85-87 in Fountain.

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