Fork & Hammer

Jeff Tonidandel> Jamie and I have big dreams, and we set big expectations.

Jamie Brown> We are two and a half years in with build out.

We are years behind in our launch at this point.

(tool whirs) Jeff> The closer we get to opening day, the more details, the more decisions.

Everything is just piling up.

I don't know when you know you've worked too hard at a dish and you just don't get it.

But we tried that dish for months.

Chris Rogienski> When I'm giving somebody my food and people don't like it, it.. it hurts.

Jamie> A problem that's this big could become this big if you allow it to be.

Oh, this is making me nervous.

What was custom, now is like custom for the wrong wall.

Jeff> We really, day by day, have to fight for that dream.

Jamie> Losing an executive chef is like losing an arm.

This part of our business is now on shaky ground.

>> Major funding for Fork and Hammer is provided by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina, the proud partner of South Carolina ETV and South Carolina Public Radio.

With the generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations, the ETV Endowment of South Carolina is committed to sharing entertaining and uplifting stories and series like Fork and Hammer .

>> This series is made possible by Trust20.

Trust20 is a nationally accredited food safety training provider offering online training, certifications, and resources for all areas of the food service industry Learn more at Trust20.co.

>> Charlotte, from the refined to the unexpected, every bite, a memory in the making.

There's much more at Charlottesgotalot.com >> Fork and Hammer is brought to you by Biltmore Estate Winery .

(bright music) Jamie> Hmmm... I'm just not sure which one's right or if it even matters, because it's off.

The wallpaper down in the wine room was particularly difficult to deal with, because we had created this custom mural for a completely different design down in that space.

What was custom, now is like custom for the wrong wall.

Dalton Johnson> Right, I got you.

Worker> So you'll want to lay them out.

Jamie> Oh, this is making me nervous.

Okay, let's take this whole box up and we will begin upstairs.

We unrolled a lot of the wallpaper upstairs and put it out on the mezzanine, just so we could see it backwards, how it was going to be installed.

The original specs that we had were very different from where we are now, Worker> Right.

Jamie>...two years later.

Yeah, what's weird is that this curve comes in.

Worker> Yeah.

Jamie> Do you know what I mean?

So when you cut it, you don't actually... We just had to piece by piece, work together with the wallpaper guys.

You send it this way using that laser.

Worker> Okay.

Jamie> And then, before you get too far, start bringing it back this way.

Worker> Start on the left side.

Work this direction.

Jamie> Okay.

We have a plan.

Everybody did their part to get it together.

There were parts where we had to cut off and resize.

We had to order a little bit of extra wallpaper as well.

Every single place where we have wallpaper, we seem to run into problems.

On the mezzanine, on the underside of it, we really wanted to have a really unique texture, so we found this beautiful 3D wallpaper.

The issue with the wallpaper is that it's super heavy, so we're having a little bit of trouble with the bubbling on it.

And they said there are some things they can do to kind of soften it and then try to press those bubbles in a little bit more.

So if that remains, we will probably have to redo that one, which is going to be expensive and time consuming too.

I can look around this space and see so many places where we messed up.

You just have to keep moving forward.

(music fades out) (machine whirs in background) (bright music) Jeff> I don't know another way to build a complex, restored restaurant without being here every day.

I have to be here.

I have to know what's going on.

I have to be on top of things.

Jamie> Is it 6 inches or 8 inches of concrete?

Jeff> And Jamie really is one of the best at having an eye for pointing out those problems.

And she has no problem letting me know that, "Hey, this isn't right.

This needs to be fixed."

Jamie> Jeff seems to have been born with the innate ability to just let problems go through him, and he's instantly on problem solving mode.

I was never like that.

I was not brought up like that.

A problem that's this big could become this big if you allow it to be.

Jeff> That's, that's the eight inches I don't get.

Jamie> Working alongside Jeff, both in life and in work.

I feel like over time I've been able to learn how to be like that.

Jeff> When we're doing the patio, it was off by a few inches and I don't know whose measurement was off.

It doesn't really matter, but what matters is it's the difference between us being able to have a table and an aisle and another table.

In the plans, we have another eight inches till you get to the railing.

If you lose a whole row of tables, we probably would have been losing 40 percent of the revenue out there just because somebody was off on a measurement by a few inches.

So that gives you two feet for a table.

So you're at 4" and 4 and a half foot walkway.

Can we add 14 inches of concrete on the outside of this?

We operate on, you know, a percent, 2 percent margin.

So we need to make sure we have that extra two top We need to make sure it's filled.

Jamie> All of this is supposed to get inspected on Monday, but we'll just probably push everything back a couple days.

So... Jeff> That's a few more days.

Jamie> That's a few more days.

(music stops dramatically) Karen> Hi.

Jamie> Karen, how are you?

Karen> Good, how are you?

Jamie> Good.

Thank you.

Jeff and Jamie> One seafood tower.

This is the seafood tower, huh?

Karen> Yes.

Jeff> There's so many places that have a seafood tower.

And we have a seafood tower.

And it's also, it's the most expensive thing on the menu.

Karen> Drop that on top.

This fits nicely in here, so it won't slide around.

Jamie> Do you feel like weight wise that feels okay for staff?

Jeff> Hmm.

I mean it's actually going to be just very heavy, but... We got to spend a lot of time on it.

We spent a lot of time picking out the tower itself.

As we know these things are crazy expensive, right.

But we're ordering 30 of them, 15 thousand dollars.

Jamie> We both like different towers, but don't say which one you like.

Let's see what he has to say.

Jeff> This one, if you feel it, like the steel on this one is super solid and it comes apart, which is nice.

This, I think is a little more decorative and the oblong will fit better on a table.

Chris Rogienski> Just off the jump.

I'm gonna go with this guy.

Jeff> Okay.

Jamie> Yes.

Can we just plate this one to see?

Jeff> Oh, we'll plate Jamie's.

Jamie> Chris and Jamie's.

We both like this one better.

Chris> Our tower.

Jeff> The food on the seafood tower isn't that complex.

It's a lot of raw, barely touched, very special seafood.

Chris> So these oysters, they're black magic.

But we've been talking about it, that we always want the edge of the oyster pointed in.

It just looks better.

These are U-8 shrimp, super bright, clean.

And then the crab cocktail.

We have the alternate creamy dipping sauce, if you wanted to make it creamy, Chris> it's more elegant.

Jamie> I love that.

Jeff> What ceviche did you make?

Chris> It's Branzino.

Jamie> So this is not a seafood tower until we get flowers on it?

Chris> Yes, anyone could put a bunch of shellfish on the tower.

Ours is like we want to have it be extravagant and elegant at the same time.

Jeff> Well, let's start plating the winning seafood tower.

Jamie> The other seafood tower.

Jeff> I mean, the other seafood tower.

Chris> Like, I want that seafood tower to hit the table.

I want cameras out.

I want people oohing and aahing and, like, what would make people stop what they're doing and look at this seafood tower?

Jamie> What are your thoughts about which tower?

Chris> I think this has more potential for it to be luxurious and fun, and you could make that a $200 tower and still it won't feel squished.

(music stops dramatically) Jamie> The reason Chris was able to dedicate himself to getting Leluia Hall open is because we knew the other restaurants were in really good hands.

Chef Lex is over at Haberdish , overseeing that.

We've got Sam Sheehan, the executive chef over at Ever Andalo and Growlers .

And then Vince Giancarlo is over at Supperland, our flagship restaurant.

Chris> All right.

Lobster fundido.

Jamie> Yay.

Chris> Try 45.

So what I did to upgrade this version is I chopped the lobster and I left the claw on top.

Just a perceived value.

We talked about having more in it last time.

Jon Rosenberg> That's more cheese already from last time?

Chris> Yeah.

I'll tell you, the cheese was this high and then just cooks that flat.

Jeff> I don't know when you know you've worked too hard at a dish and you just don't get it.

But lobster fundido is a great example of that.

Jon> Texture looks fun.

Jeff> String pull.

We, we tried that dish for months, and it's a hot cheese gooey dish, right.

Like it's supposed to be awesome.

Jon> Texture wise, we've had a constant issue of it being a little bit too stringy, or especially when it cools down, just seizing up.

Chris> The more American we add that helps with that, the more that we didn't like the flavor of that.

The cheese sauce kept breaking, and then as soon as it sat at the table for more than like a minute, it got like rock hard.

Jamie> So I'm just thinking about dips that I've enjoyed in restaurants that have had that creaminess, and a lot of them have cream cheese in them or something like that.

Steve Kuney> Honestly, fundido, it's just melted cheese in there.

Nothing else.

Jeff> Queso is more like a roux and like bringing it all... Cristian Medrano> We can still work on it.

We could potentially just not put it on the menu.

Jeff> I mean, for me, on that dish, it was just like it was never better than queso.

And I was like, if you can't beat queso, lobster fundido, then you're just not, you're just not on the menu.

Jamie> Great job Chris.

Chris> Yay!

It's hard sometimes, like it, when I'm giving somebody my food like, that's me.

Like it's my heart, my soul.

Like, here, something I really think I crushed, when people don't like it.

It hurts.

Jon Rosenberg> Next one is tacos with Vince.

Is that right?

Vince Giancarlo> Tiny tacos.

It was a labor of love, for sure.

It took a minute to even get, like, the foundation that we felt comfortable with.

Meaning, like the shell itself.

We felt very victorious when we figured that piece out.

And then it came to, "Okay, well, now you need six of these.

"They all need to be very different.

"They all need to be very swanky."

So the idea was to like, fill them with very high end ingredients.

Jeff> This looks nice.

I was a little nervous about the size, but now that they're filled up, this still could be two bites for some people, but you can eat it in one bite.

Steve Kuney> Oh, that's going down in one, Jamie> It feels very on brand as far as like colors and citrus and freshness.

Can we eat them?

Jeff> Yeah let's eat them.

(laughter) Jeff> Yeah, I'd like the tuna to shine more.

Vince> Yeah, yeah, maybe just like olive oil to kind of give it a sheen.

We don't want to overdo it with too many flavors.

Just need it to be a real nice ingredient, presented real nicely, Real clean.

Jon> All right.

Great tasting for Leluia Hall , guys.

I'm going to get all of our notes out to everybody by the end of the day.

More Leluia Hall stuff coming soon.

Thanks guys.

Jamie> Great job.

Jeff> Our family is a beach family And the closest city, the best town is Charleston.

We love the feel.

We love the weather.

Jamie> And having my sister down there doesn't hurt, too.

Jeff> One of the ways we stay inspired is by experiencing other restaurants.

Jamie> Hey cheers.

Everything is a winner.

Jeff> Seeing how incredible they are at what they do.

Kerry Brown> I'm excited that we got to take you here, because at this place as much as any here in Charleston is different.

Jeff> It is the perfect foil for Leluia Hall.

Kerry> Oh, it looks so beautiful.

Jamie Brown> We're working on this restaurant up in Charlotte.

It's in an old church and it's a steak and surf concept.

Jeff> What, what side have you done that's kind of pushed, pushed things forward?

Eucepe Puntriano> My carrot dish, we do a slowly braised carrots, charred, tossed in with the pine nut, carrot top gremolata and then a parsnip pudding and then finish it off with a little bit of herb oil.

It was just something to it.

You guys should try it.

Jamie> And you have that on the menu tonight?

>> Yes.

Jamie> We are getting that.

Server> We have carrots.

Jamie>-make room.

Do we have room?

We have to make room.

Jeff> The carrots.

Server> That's all right.

Chris Skowlund> There's nothing better than a full table.

Jamie> I would like a carrot.

Jeff> Thank you.

Everything looks so clean though.

And, and lovely.

Like really well done.

I think the sides really defines the steakhouse more than anything.

The carrots are wonderful.

Jamie> You guys picked a good spot to bring us.

Chris> It's one of our favorites.

Jeff> We're gonna open in just a few months.

What advice do you have for a steak and surf place that's trying to push the envelope?

Eucepe> When we went through our tasting phase, we all make the dish and look at it and say, it's great, it tastes amazing, but then we always have to look and think to ourselves, well, how do we make 100 of these?

How do we make 50 of these, right?

You know, like you say, detail oriented, and that falls on us.

And that's what we need to take pride on every day.

(wind whistling) (machine whirring) (hammer pounding) (machine whirring) It's a lot of late nights in here.

Jeff> Put the kids to bed last night and then came and, printed these out.

So it's nice having this wood shop here a block away that we can come here, fabricate something.

If it doesn't work, we can just, do it again.

(upbeat jazz instrumental) Jeff> I brought it.

Paul's got it.

We decided to mimic the molding that we have around the windows downstairs, and follow that upstairs behind the new bar that we've built.

(Jamie laughs) Jeff> Right.

(music ends) Jamie> Jason's been on our team for, I don't know, probably 6 or 7 years.

And he started out as a bartender for us over at Growlers Pourhouse .

Another long piece that just go straight across.

Jeff> When COVID hit, we were trying to build out Supperland and had a bunch of construction problems and didn't have a whole lot of workers.

>> Jeff approached me because I told him that I had building experience and knew how to put things together, knew how to work with wood, used power tools.

Get these two up.

Pack it in real quick.

Jamie> Okay.

Jeff> And level.

Jason> And then we'll measure, and level Jamie> And then you get the... Jeff> higher... lower, lower, higher.

Jamie> Stop.

Don't listen to him.

Jason> And eventually I said to Jeff, I was like, you need me here.

You don't need me bartending.

And he went, "Yeah, you're right."

(upbeat music) Jeff> That doesn't look level.

Jason> Can you hand me the gun?

Jeff> I can, but you're going to have to redo this.

Jason> It's level to the earth.

There's a lot of trust like they trust me to do what I say I'm going to do or the things that they ask me to do.

And I trust them to be there if I need them.

Bang on.

That's level.

Jeff> He kind of jumped into a world, and I think he just, he just took that in stride and just kind of became part of the group and his personality came out.

Jason is a wild card.

You never know what you're going to get.

Jason> Remember when you said that, that wasn't straight?

Jeff> I know That's straight.

That is super straight.

Alright.

I'll give it to you.

Jason> Thanks, coach.

(music ends) (indiscernible conversation) (tool whirring) (tool grinding) Jamie> He is an actor, and being an actor in Charlotte is not an easy thing.

I would rather be performing live on stage, but this is amazing.

I get to use my hands and create things that didn't occur before.

(bright music begins) Jason> I've called this the Standing Bar.

There have been other iterations as to what people call it, but I still call it the standing bar.

Don't care.

Normally when you build something like this, they're going to give you technical drawings and say, "Here's what I need.

"Here's the dimensions", all of that.

I only got the architect's drawings, so I had to do all of this drawing.

Jamie> Are we doing the same kind of molding on this side?

Jason> So this is going to continue to this edge.

Jamie> Okay.

Jason> And then up top it's going to be the same pattern.

Jamie> That you have here?

Jason> Just shorter.

Like there was, every step was a different problem.

And every step was like, I gotta do this before I can do that.

And then when I do that, I can do this, but I can't do that other thing until I do these three things.

(tool whirring) Jason> Oh, look at that.

It's like it was almost meant to be.

I just got to the point where I was frustrated and I was like, I can't not do it well.

I have to do it well.

(tool whirring) Jason> It was a pain.

It was a pain.

Jason> I am.

I, the fact that I got this done, I'm an actor.

What the hell am I doing, building this?

But no, it worked out.

(music ends) (machine engine running) (dramatic music) (music ends) (machine engine running) Jeff> We are a few minutes away from our historic meeting.

Jamie> Yeah, it's been since February.

We've got to get the door, entryway, stairs and the patio all through today through the Historic District Commission.

Every time we've been in front of the Historic District Commission, there's been some sort of modification, and we get pushed back and getting pushed back at this point, when we're really trying to move toward opening, we are basically stuck.

We cannot progress forward unless we get a yes today.

Jeff> Right.

The delays really make or break the whole project.

And so having us sit here, waiting on decisions is extremely difficult.

Here we go.

(chime) Connecting.

Commissioner> And this is, I believe, only the fourth owner, the Spratt you know to door close, to Dilworth, Dilworth road west side.

They're two story.

Jamie> My heart is racing out of my chest.

(dramatic music begins) Comm'r> Brick...what was there, done in 1970 (indiscernible conversation) Comm'r> So we felt like siding was the appropriate.

Jamie> Okay.

We're moving.

Comm'r> Well, we appreciate it.

Thank you.

Jamie> Oh.

Comm'r> I'm sorry we went five minutes over.

So this application is for site work.

at 1829 Cleveland Avenue.

Jamie> Is your heart being faster now?

Commissioner> All right, let's vote.

Commissioner Whitlock?

Comm'r Whitlock> Yes.

Comm'r> Commissioner Taylor?

Comm'r Taylor> Yes.

Comm'r> Commissioner Berardi?

Comm'r Berardi> Yes.

Comm'r> Commissioner Barr?

Comm'r Barr> Yes.

Comm'r> Commissioner Sullivan?

Comm'r Sullivan> Yes.

Comm'r> Commissioner Lindberger?

Comm'r Lindberger> Yes.

Comm'r> Commissioner Hawkins?

Comm'r Hawkins> Yes.

Comm'r> Vote to approve, passes 7-0.

Jamie> We did it.

(bright music begins) Jeff> I thought somebody was going to say no.

Jamie> We did it.

Jeff> Just for fun.

Okay.

Done.

There we go.

Jamie> Okay.

Jeff> All right.

Boom!

Jamie> Let's go build that patio and stairs, and door.

Jeff> Yeah.

Jamie> Our plans have been approved.

Now it's time to get to work.

So we're having to redesign this front area.

So along with removing these pieces on the side to make that wider door, we're going to have to redo the stairs, as well.

And my heart is aching because I don't want to lose these stained glass pieces.

My original vision was to have these here, and I wish we could keep them, but we can't.

And that's one of those things I'm just trying to be flexible with and work through as best as I can mentally, in here.

(music fades) (tool whirs) (resonating music) Jamie> I love making things that are kind of special, a little bit bespoke for each one of the restaurants.

A lot of people just come to eat, but some people notice, and for some of them it makes it a little bit more special, a little bit more unique, a little bit more like, like, like nowhere else you could be in the world.

A beautiful experience for people.

(bright music begins) I love working with local artisans because they're in it, because they, they love what they do.

They love making something.

I'm thinking something like a flower vase, but a large one.

I love layering the story and just make it, making it something that you can't find somewhere else.

Christian Hunter> This glaze right here, I developed it from some spent ashes that I, that I got from one of the restaurants I worked with.

Jamie> We have a restaurant, Supperland , We have a 14 foot fire grill, and we do almost entirely all fire cooking.

So when it comes to ash, we have plenty.

Do you know what it would look like?

Christian> This is actually an ash glaze.

Jamie> Okay.

Christian> And this is actually an ash glaze.

Jamie> Okay.

Christian> I think it'll look somewhere in that spectrum kind of an earth tone.

Jamie> Mmm Hmm.

Jamie> We don't totally know how the Supperland ashes are going to play with colors.

Right.

Christian> Right.

Jamie> So that's a little bit of a trick but it might work beautifully.

I think that's just a part of creating and making things is that you just have to try.

If you have an idea, you get out there and you see if you can create something new that seems interesting or valuable, that it could be part of the story.

Christian> We originally, were going to try to do a white glaze.

I got some ashes from Supperland .

I had some issues with it.

It ended up turning purple.

Jamie> This is from the Supperland ash?

Christian> That's from Supperland .

So what I did was I reformulated a glaze based on your color scheme here, and wound up going with the pink instead.

Jamie> It looks awesome.

Christian> Surprise.

Jamie> I love it.

I love it.

It is not at all what we planned on, but, this pink color is great.

It looks perfect with the wallpaper and those little tiny berries in there.

And I know it wasn't exactly what we were expecting to do, but it turned out awesome.

Christian> I'm glad you like it.

I think it was a happy accident.

Jeff> You, you think that the building's done and we're about ready to go.

But for this place, you know, we were under construction for two years.

We had so many changes and change orders and it's three weeks just to get through all of those final inspections.

Jamie> I think one of the biggest things it takes to finish a restaurant is acceptance.

We have to look at the big picture and say, "Okay, good enough, it's time to go."

(music intensifies and fades) Colleen Hughes> Thank you.

Server> You're welcome.

Jamie> We're always looking at keeping everything else the same, like, you know, hold the line on all the other restaurants as we pursue forward.

Vince> How are you feeling?

Jeff> With us being a week away from opening Leluia Hall , I get a text from Vince.

Hey, can we, can we grab a coffee?

Server> What's going on Vince?

Vince> Hey, how are you?

Server> Amazing.

Vince> Good.

Jeff> And it wasn't, I want to have a phone conversation.

It was, like, "Hey, I need to sit down and talk with you."

So I knew.

I knew something was up.

Vince> Can I have a hug?

Can I hug you?

Server> How are you?

Vince> Everything's all right.

Jamie> And we get a bomb dropped on us.

Jeff> What's up, pal?

Vince> How are you?

Jamie> That our executive chef, Vince is leaving us.

Jeff>...all your, your stuff.

Vince> Thank you.

Jeff> When I get a free moment, we will.

Vince> Yeah.

Jeff> Figure it all out and put a plan together.

With us being a week away from opening, and I find out that he's leaving Supperland .

Vince> Yeah, it's bittersweet for sure.

I hope you all know that, like.

Jeff> Yeah.

Yeah Jamie> Losing an executive chef is like losing an arm.

We are trying to forge ahead into this exciting new adventure of opening this restaurant we've been working on for years, but you're also thinking.

Oh, what are we going to do, because this part of our business is now on shaky ground.

Jamie> Yeah, just let us know any feedback.

Vince> I will for sure.

Jamie> Okay.

(indiscernible conversations) Major funding for Fork and Hammer is provided by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina , the proud partner of South Carolina ETV and South Carolina Public Radio with the generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations.

The ETV Endowment of South Carolina is committed to sharing entertaining and uplifting stories and series like Fork and Hammer .

>> Thank you for watching Fork and Hammer This series was brought to you by Trust20 a nationally accredited food safety training provider offering accessible digital training at anytime and on all devices Learn more at Trust20.co >> Charlotte, a city shaped by storytellers, dreamers, and makers becomes a living canvas.

There's much more at Charlottesgotalot.com >> Fork and Hammer is brought to you by Biltmore Estate Winery .