Baton Rouge celebrity chef Jay Ducote has left Guaranty Media after more than three years, according to Guaranty President and CEO Flynn Foster.
Ducote, who founded Gov’t Taco in White Star Market in 2018, sold his three limited liability companies, which included the restaurant, his spices and sauces brand and the Bite and Booze brand, to Guaranty Media in September 2019. Ducote and his staff became employees of Guaranty under a new division of the company called Jay Ducote Hospitality Group, with Ducote hosting a prime time radio show.
After the sale to Guaranty, Gov’t Taco opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant on Government Street in 2020.
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“Jay will always be Gov’t Taco’s ‘Founding Father,’” Foster said in a text message.
Meanwhile, Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux founder Brandon Landry announced that he too is transitioning out of his role as CEO. He will now serve as chair of the company’s board of directors, according to a company announcement.
Scott Taylor, the company’s president and chief operations officer since 2010, has been appointed to replace Landry as CEO.
The brand has launched an extensive growth plan over the past few years with more than 75 restaurants now open across 13 states and more than 100 additional franchises in various stages of development. In early 2022, Walk-On’s opened a second corporate office in Atlanta.
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Landry says in a prepared statement that Taylor is the “natural choice to assume the CEO reins as the brand enters its 20th year.”
Taylor is on the advisory board for the Louisiana Restaurant Association and the Restaurant Leadership Conference.
These stories originally appeared in a Jan.4 issue of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.