Show Notes
Jeff Tonidandel and Jamie Brown are the husband-and-wife owners of the Tonidandel-Brown Restaurant Group (TBRG) in Charlotte, NC — six restaurants (Supperland, Haberdish, Ever Andalo, Growlers Pourhouse, Leluia Hall, Olivelli Deli), three of them Michelin Guide American South recommended. They co-host the podcast Jeff and Jamie Feed and the national PBS series Fork & Hammer, recently nominated for a Daytime Emmy in Outstanding Culinary/Cultural Series. Jamie's first book, Eleven Tables: A Wild Ride Through Food, Failure, and Figuring It Out, is out now.
Jeff Tonidandel and Jamie Brown left corporate jobs at the peak of the economy, backpacked across Europe and Asia for eight months with paper maps and a burner phone, and came home to the 2008 recession with an idea and no restaurant experience. They found their first space in Charlotte's NoDa neighborhood because of a pink slip taped to the door — an unpaid gas bill. That eleven-table crepe shop is now Tonidandel-Brown Restaurant Group: six concepts, three of them Michelin Guide American South recommended, a national PBS series (Fork & Hammer, just nominated for a Daytime Emmy), a weekly podcast, and Jamie's first book.
In this conversation, Jeff and Jamie talk about why Jeff is campaigning to brand Charlotte the "City of Hospitality," what the city's food scene was already doing right before Michelin ever showed up, and what it actually takes to turn a 100-year-old church into a working restaurant kitchen. They get honest about the harder calls too — closing a thirteen-year, still-profitable restaurant to become Ever Andalo, and retiring their doughnut shop after one too many equipment failures. Plus: running a 330-person team across six kitchens, two shows, and three kids, and what's next — dry-aged fish, a new commissary, and hotel projects on the horizon for 2029.
Website: tonidandel-brown.com Podcast: Jeff and Jamie Feed PBS series: Fork & Hammer Book: Eleven Tables — Amazon / Barnes & Noble
Restaurants: Supperland Haberdish Ever Andalo Growlers Pourhouse Leluia Hall Olivelli Deli Wyatt's Superfine (coming soon)
Chapters 0:00 Welcome, Jeff & Jamie 1:01 The one thing they want listeners to take away 2:29 Why Jeff is campaigning for Charlotte as the "City of Hospitality" 5:03 Transplants, small-city warmth, and Bible Belt hospitality 7:48 What Charlotte's food scene was already doing right before Michelin arrived 10:02 Charlotte as a culinary crossroads — and the 200-farm network behind it 12:07 Turning churches, a clothing store, and a general store into restaurants 14:25 Supperland's 14-foot fire grill, and blending old-school with tech 17:30 Why they closed a profitable restaurant to become Ever Andalo 20:22 The 82-square-foot doughnut shop that broke one too many times 23:02 The eight-month backpacking trip — and the pink slip that found their first space 27:05 Where the entrepreneurial fortitude actually came from 29:15 Jamie's six years working a day job to fund the dream 32:56 Running six restaurants, two shows, and three kids with a 330-person team 36:26 How Fork & Hammer landed on PBS — and just picked up a Daytime Emmy nomination 42:08 Jamie's book, Eleven Tables 43:58 What's next: dry-aged fish, a new commissary, and 2029 hotel plans
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