Fork & Hammer

Bruce Russell> There you go.

All of these will be between 115 and 120 proof.

Colleen> Good morning.

Jamie> My brother Travis owns a restaurant in Atlanta, Server> Burger with cheese.

Jamie> And he's asked us to help him open a second.

When does your rent actually start?

Travis> Five months ago.

Reporter> Crepe Cellar here in NoDa is closing its doors.

Jamie> It was not an easy decision.

We had to turn from Crepe Cellar Kitchen and Pub over to Ever Andalo within five weeks.

Jeff> Looking at your drink menu holistically, how do you maybe get bourbon into a fun drink?

Colleen> This would definitely fall under the things you should never, ever try to do at home.

I don't know, I'm nuts.

Jon> Who's got the inside corner?

Jamie> We have a massive unloading day today.

Jeff> 17 more.

Jamie> I'm really excited to unwrap them.

Oh, I love it.

>> 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> This was originally the Crepe Cellar space, and there are only 11 tables in here.

Jeff> This is the old wall right here.

So this is the break point of... Jamie> That's right.

So this was our restaurant here.

We had this exact same format of tables, and there was a yogurt shop next door.

Jeff> You can see it with that wall there how tight everything would be in here.

Reporter> As more and more restaurants start to reopen, Crepe Cellar here in NoDa is once again closing its doors, saying it's just not sustainable to be open right now.

(Melancholic music) Jamie> We got hit so hard by COVID and it just did not recover.

Jeff> It's just tough in a little quaint spot to, do the kind of meals that we want to do.

And when you take everything off the tables, it's just not quite the same.

Allison Vaughan> When Crepe Cellar closed, it was definitely bittersweet.

It was my home for five years.

Jamie> When we closed down Crepe Cellar, one of the biggest things we didn't want to do was to lose the staff that we already had.

So we vowed to continue to pay them during the build out process.

Allison> Jeff and Jamie are just so thoughtful in making sure that they always remember what it's like to be a server or to be a bartender.

(music fades) (tool whirs) Jamie> We have all of these tables getting refinished, and they'll all be brought over to Crepe Cellar so that we can start transitioning the space.

(Energetic music) Jeff> We really wanted to invigorate it and add a lot of energy to it.

And we also knew that we've gotten better in every aspect of running a restaurant.

We just decided to go for it and reboot the whole thing and come up with Ever Andalo .

(music fades) Jamie> We had to turn from Crepe Cellar Kitchen and Pub over to Ever Andalo within five weeks.

(bright music) It's coming along.

Our inspection team is here.

Go look.

Do you like it?

Issac> Yes.

Jamie> It's cool, huh?

Jeff> The menu was really what held us up at the end.

We're trying to get open.

We're trying to train everybody.

And Italian food is really, really hard.

There's no extra ingredients to hide behind.

A lot of our dishes have 3 or 4 ingredients.

Chris and I were here doing food tastings eight, nine hours a day, straight.

And we would just be eating every single thing on the menu every day.

And we were just like, we are not ready.

We knew we needed to hit things really, really perfectly, when we came out of the gate.

Reporter> The former Crepe Cellar, born in the last recession, is now a new restaurant run by the same owners, launched during the pandemic.

Jamie> It was not an easy decision, though.

Jeff> Our kids are still mad at us.

Jamie> They're still kind of mad at us.

You create a restaurant and it's very special to you.

We had a lot of memories there.

It was our start and to have to scrap something that you've worked on for all those years and create something new, it broke my heart.

Jamie> It was just time.

(music fades) (indiscernible conversations) Server> Hi guys.

How are we tonight?

Guest> Good.

How are you?

Sever> Good.

Doing really well, thank you for asking.

Allison> I really enjoy making other people happy with, like, with food.

I mean, food is one of my biggest comfort things.

So if I can make someone happy by, by feeding them, I enjoy that.

Everything is phenomenal tonight.

I started as a food runner and then I started serving and then I started hosting just anywhere they needed me.

I was more than happy to be there.

It just felt like a home away from home.

Then my personal favorite this evening is our pasta feature, which will be our Gamberetti alla Rigatoni.

For Ever Andalo dining service, there's definitely more time to build up a rapport with your table, kind of get them to feel I'm not just a body just serving them food.

I genuinely care about them and want them to have a good experience.

Guest> It's my favorite part.

Allison> I agree.

It's my favorite part too.

(both laugh) Harry Ewell> Table two carbonara.

It is so important to have the right chef At Ever Andalo.

It's an extremely challenging job.

Chef Sam is definitely proving himself.

(food sizzles) (bright music) Sam Sheehan> I'm from Johnson City, Tennessee.

I grew up definitely blue collar.

My grandparents, they came from a generation where they had to know how to cook themselves as sort of a life skill, and I think they passed that along.

The first restaurant I ever worked at, it's called The Firehouse Restaurant .

It's a family owned barbecue restaurant that's been open nearly 40 years.

I started there when I was 14 years old.

The beauty of it for me was that from 5:00 until 10 p.m., all you had to do was give your best effort.

And as long as you had good people supporting you and you ran a good service, at the end of it all, you had a great cathartic experience, sort of like we did something.

We fed every single person that came here.

We gave everyone a good experience, and I think I connected with that, and I carried that with me now more than anything.

Sweet.

Eggs are done.

I'll go ahead and pull those.

There's something else.

Moriah Glenn> I think it's easy to, like, grow in the restaurant industry and kind of forget what it was like to be like a, an hourly employee that's just getting your kicked every day during service.

He doesn't forget that he remembers what it's like.

I brought my resume into Haberdish , and I walked into the kitchen and handed it to Chef Chris, at the time.

Chris Rogienski> He was just super hungry.

He always wanted to learn.

I really enjoyed his attitude.

He didn't get flustered easily.

Sam> Chris Rogienski was exactly what I wanted to be as a chef whenever I worked for him.

Incredibly charismatic, incredibly funny, but he was also very serious.

He was very good at his job.

He was very organized and he had a wealth of knowledge.

He was the first person to give me a cookbook to read, and I will never forget that.

Chris> The book is called Pro Chef.

It's the book they give you when you start C.I.A.

It's just like everything from how to dice an onion to make a really complicated sauce, and everything in between.

It's like this thick.

Sam> I started as a line cook at Haberdish.

I was able to learn a lot of different skills.

Moriah> He treats everybody like they're their own special person.

He cares if your kid is sick, or if you're having trouble paying your rent, or if you have three jobs and you got off work at 3 a.m.

and then turned around and came into Ever Andalo at 8 a.m., and he just gives people a lot of grace and patience and just makes it really fun to work with him.

Sam> My next promotion was to be the executive chef of Haberdish, and that was truly a terrifying thought for me at the time, and I couldn't have imagined myself being in charge of the whole operation.

I'm now the executive chef of Ever Andalo .

Guest> This is one of my favorite restaurants in Charlotte.

The Calabrian Pasta is one of my favorites.

Guest #2> The staff is amazing.

A great selection and the specials are always wonderful.

Jeff> Is that something that you guys can handle during the week or?

Sam> Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

And we can fabricate things like beef tenderloin and do like a filleto, for example.

Moriah> He's just unlike any chef I've worked with before.

Sam> Thank you.

Jamie> Beautiful.

Sam> I love my job.

(music fades) (truck engine roars) Jamie> We have a massive unloading day today as we bring all of the banquettes in, all the boots in, for both the bar area and throughout the dining room.

Jon> Who's got the inside corner- Jeff> I'm gonna grab that.

Jon> Okay.

Jeff> As soon as- Jamie> All together, all of these pieces, about 18 of them, until we've got eight of us out here trying to move all of them in.

And hopefully it won't take too much time, because I'm really excited to unwrap them.

Jeff> Pivot.

Jon> Pivot.

Jeff> 17 more.

Jamie> Oh, I love it.

You guys okay with two?

Jon> We're great.

We're almost finished.

Jamie> This is our last one Jeff> And spin.

>> Is it done?

(Jamie laughs) Jason Loughlin> We're having fun.

Jon> Great job.

Jamie> And, so we have booths.

Jamie> My brother Travis owns a restaurant in Atlanta, and he's asked us to help him open a second.

Isaac> Jamie> Travis has a Chiringa store in Alpharetta, and then he has a new one that he's opening up on the Beltline, which is a super hip, popular area in Atlanta.

We basically want to see where he is in the process and see if there's anything we can do to help him.

He's also got some new menu items that he's putting on there, so we're going to get to check those out.

Jeff> It's crazy, when you open a restaurant, there's so much food going out everywhere except into your mouth.

Jamie> So true.

Jeff> All for everybody else.

Jamie> That is so true.

Server> Burger with cheese.

Travis> This is Chiringa in downtown Alpharetta.

We're a casual, elevated beach food concept.

Serve fresh fish sandwiches, fish tacos, guacamole, fresh squeezed juices for all the cocktails.

We're expanding to store number two, and we plan to replicate what we do up here down at the Beltline.

Beltline is extremely active.

The number one tourist destination in Atlanta.

So we're thrilled to be down there with all the activity.

(music ends) Jamie> Guys, you see all the buildings up ahead?

That's Atlanta.

You see.

Issac> I knew it was big, but I did not know it was that much bigger than Charlotte.

Isabella> Yeah me too.

Travis> I am very fortunate to have my sister Jamie and my brother in law, Jeff, coming to town to help me in this process.

Producer> Travis> She can be... My sister is very good at giving advice.

She's rarely wrong, right, coming from her younger brother, annoying younger brother, but no, I tremendously value her opinion.

She's been in the business for a very long time, knows what she's doing.

Well guys, welcome to Chiringa, unfinished Chiringa.

Jamie> It is very unfinished.

When does your rent actually start?

Travis> It started five months ago.

Jeff> Okay, so you're holding that down.

Travis> So, every day, every day is costly.

We are both counter service and full serve.

So you walk through the front door.

You order at the counter here, you get a number, and then you go sit down in that area or on the patio.

Right over here is where we'll have POS one and POS two.

Here's the kitchen, which is a lot bigger than what we are accustomed to Jeff> Whoa!

Travis> Back here is the prep area.

Jeff> For every station you got back here, you're going to need an employee prepping, dishwashing, doing things.

Jamie> And it also seems like you've got enough room here that you can expand and have more people to put out more food, as you guys grow too, Travis> Absolutely.

Jamie> which will be helpful.

I think there's a couple things that we really have to look at for you is setting the table up in a way so that both the guests and your service team are set up to win.

So the table is mis en placed with if you want ketchup on the table, salt, pepper, whatever it is.

Then the second part is that service piece.

Jeff> The big goal is thinking about all the things that your guest is going to need, and having it there before they need it, not after.

And we're so ingrained that when we do tastings, as we're doing the tasting, someone's like, "Okay, we're going to need an oyster fork for that."

And you know, or hey, we're going to need hot towels or whatever.

And it goes like, right into the service notes.

Jamie> At Supperland , for instance, if you watch the dining room set up, you will see servers going around with measuring tape, and they will measure the distance between the table to the back of the pew.

And the reason is because it creates standards for our team when we're not there or a manager's not there, or "Hey, we have turnover, and there's someone new", they know this must be 18 inches from here to here.

The plate is set down within a couple of inches, as well.

So it sounds anal, but it's really about making sure your team is set up and you're getting to deliver exactly what you want there at the table.

Travis> Yes.

Jeff> Um.

Jamie> Were you just laughing at me?

(laughing) Jeff> He was like, "Yeah, Yeah, yeah.

Travis> When you said anal, I just- <Jeff> -Yeah.

Travis> It was just, "Oh, shoot."

Jamie> I said anal.

Jeff> Yeah.

Jamie> I am a little anal.

I gotta be honest.

Jamie> Me.

Can you imagine?

Travis> Can I be mature.

Jeff> Be mature.

(upbeat music interlude) Travis> All right, guys, so just envision a busy Saturday afternoon on the Beltline.

We're packed, a lot of people are here.

This area right here is another POS station where we can control and flank and use where needed for a drink only line.

Jeff> That's genius.

Because I- Travis> Thank you.

Jeff> I, Well, if I make a list of the weaknesses of counter service, the biggest frustration for me is how do you get that second beverage out to a table?

How do you get them beverages, quicker?

(jazz instrumental) Jeff> Alcohol sales are a cornerstone of our business.

Colleen has been with us probably the second or third longest of any team member that we have.

Colleen> I just never stopped trying to get better.

It was like, okay, I've mastered classic cocktails.

What's next?

I'm going to start our first cocktail, which is the Chatham Artillery Punch.

Okay.

Now I'm going to master, like farm to table, fresh, seasonal, local.

It's jam and juice, It's strawberry jam and settler's gin and Cointreau and sparkling wine.

And next I'm going to master advanced molecular mixology because I don't know, I'm nuts.

Jeff> She's also in Charlotte, help build that and produce that cocktail industry, let people know what cocktails are, teach people about different spirits.

Colleen> The 1820s to the 1900s were referred to as the Golden Age of cocktails.

Jeff> The number of drinks that she sold to this town it has had an effect, and has been a big part of what we are.

Colleen> I just sit around and make really, really fancy cocktails.

(music ends) Travis> You know, staffing is always a challenge in the restaurant business.

What do you guys do?

Jeff> I love finding smart people that maybe don't have the experience.

Jamie> When we're hiring for teammates, you'd think we'd want people who have these really concrete, hard skills, but a lot of times in hospitality, we're just looking for people who have a positive attitude, who are passionate about hospitality, who have a willingness to learn.

We look for people who have the ability to solve problems and also find people who can work well with others.

The harder skills are ones that we can teach.

Jeff> We try to tell a story about what we want to accomplish with our people.

We try to build that.

This industry, actually, you can have a career in it.

Jon> Hey, how are you?

I'm Jon.

Max> Jon, nice to meet you.

I'm Max.

Jon> Nice to meet you as well.

Welcome to Leluia Hall .

Max> Thank you.

Jon> We're going to go into some questions I have, but I do love to keep the interviews conversational.

I have been with the company for a little bit over four years now.

I am really looking for hospitality driven people that can help make this the best restaurant in Charlotte.

Max> Awesome.

Jon> How do you bring hospitality to guests?

What are those experiences?

Max> I think hospitality, overall is, is sort of defined by what they need from you.

Jon> I love that.

Jon> Showing the table that you're there for them and not, it's not transactional.

You're not rushing around the restaurant.

Jon> What do you like to do outside of your work?

Who are...?

Who is Max when you're not in a restaurant?

Max> I'm a huge football fan, and I mean that as in the European version of football.

Jon> That's good.

Max> So I spend a lot of time supporting my team.

Jon> Who's your team?

Max> Newcastle United.

Jon> Okay.

I'm a Tottenham guy.

Yeah, I know.

Max> I didn't know that.

(Both laugh) Jeff> I feel like I'm at the beach when I'm here.

Travis> Sure.

Jeff> And maybe in December, January, February.

It doesn't quite feel like the beach outside.

So how do you attack that?

And I think you need to look at what do people drink at the beach super late at night.

Jamie> A spirit we love to work with that helps with attracting that later night customer is bourbon.

Colleen> I would consider this to be the most overengineered, old fashioned that I've ever done.

(Customers laugh) Jeff> Bourbon is so important to our cocktail program that we'll even select our own barrels.

Every few months, Colleen and I get to go taste a whole bunch of different barrels.

It's always a blast and we love doing it.

Bruce Russell> Welcome y'all.

We're in a warehouse from 1894.

Every barrel is unique, so each of these whiskeys is going to be very different.

You might have one that's really fruity.

You might have one that's really earthy.

Just whatever you're feeling, that's the one that you should go for.

All of these will be between 115 and 120 proof.

Colleen> Good morning.

Jeff> And we always whenever we buy a barrel we always get kind of a different number of bottles.

How many, how many bottles are you expecting?

Bruce> Probably about 150 to 175 bottles.

This whole thing is called a bung.

It's made out of poplar wood.

It makes a nice seal.

What you want to do is just beat on either side of it.

You're going to pop it out, just like this.

(bang) Bruce> Boom.

This is a whiskey thief.

It's called a thief because you're stealing whiskey from the barrel, you know.

Colleen> When you're smelling, it smells different where it is on your face.

So if I smell it here, I get something, if I smell it here.

If you smell the bottom of the glass, you tend to get, like, a little bit more of like the mash.

If you smell at the top, you tend to get more of like the spice notes.

So it's just bringing it kind of all around your face to get sort of the total package of what, what it is you're tasting.

We are looking for food accessible whiskey.

This needs to pair up with your restaurants.

I always seem to find some type of cinnamon.

This one is really prevalent and it's really like that.

That's Ceylon cinnamon and it just is really bright and spicy.

But yeah, there's a little bit of fruit.

Jeff> I love thinking about getting this in January or February or, you know, like those times a year and having, having those flavors Bruce> We're going to walk down a little bit, Watch your heads.

Jeff> Can I take a few hits?

Bruce> You can if you like.

Jeff> Oh yeah.

(banging) Bruce> There you go.

Look at that pro.

Jeff> That was fun, dude.

I like it.

Colleen> Oh no.

Bruce> You did lose your bung.

Colleen> You lost your bung.

(laughing) (bluegrass music) Colleen> I get a little bit more of the mash bill, like you're tasting a little bit more of the cereal grain.

The spice is a little bit more subdued, and it's got a really nice sort of honey characteristic to it, which I love.

I think that's delightful.

Thank you.

It's a little sweeter.

Jeff> Just a touch.

Colleen> It's a little sweeter.

It's a little, I think it's got a little bit more nice.

It's a little bit more balanced to my mind.

I can see this really pairing up with so many types of food.

Jeff> Do you want to try that one, one more time, or are you good here?

Colleen> I think I'm good here.

That is a great barrel.

But yeah, I think we're good here.

Bruce> You got, a nine year old barrel.

(music fades) (bright music) Jeff> What is Beltline hospitality?

Somebody walking down the Beltline, what, what do they need?

They need a bathroom.

They need a place to change their, their baby's diaper.

They need a place to charge their phone.

Like these hospitality things, you can just attack them using this active walkway.

I think you have so many opportunities.

Travis> Absolutely.

Jamie> We've seen the same kind of thing in NoDa.

We have so many people walking around the streets and everyone has different needs because everyone is there for a different reason.

Our job, being in the hospitality business is to care for those people and give them whatever they need.

They might be coming out for music followed by drinks, or maybe they're there for a full dinner and a performance.

We are there to serve them.

We provide them with the best hospitality we can.

(music ends) (resonating music) Travis> Where do you think we are in this process?

Jamie> It looks to me like three months before you can open, because I just what I see is tile, floors, like all the unfinished beautiful things that are not here.

Travis> Yes.

Yeah.

(Jamie laughs) Jeff> Finished stuff.

Opening a new restaurant is incredibly challenging.

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Jamie> There are so many things to think about.

So many things to get right.

How does that look, guys?

A restaurant is a place where people come together to enjoy food and drink and time together.

Jeff> It's a place to curate and share new experiences.

Colleen> My job is just so hard.

Jeff> Or a place people can start a career.

Jamie> A restaurant can be where an entrepreneurial dream comes to life.

Jeff> Opening a new restaurant is never an easy road.

Jamie> You got it?

Jeff> Yeah, Jamie> But it is a beautiful road.

One step at a time.

So, frankly, these look a lot like our plans.

They are messy.

They have been beaten up.

They are highlighted.

They are scratched out.

I love that because it's such an iterative process.

And I think you start out with this plan, but then you have to be flexible.

We know that certainly from being in old spaces, you open up a world, and you do not know what you're going to find.

And you know the same kind of thing with a new build.

Jeff> And your wallet needs to be flexible.

(all laugh) Travis> Absolutely right.

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 .