Jeff Tonidandel & Jamie Brown Making Charlotte the “City of Hospitality”

Fell Into Food Podcast - Jeff Fell

Jeff Tonidandel and Jamie Brown of Charlotte's thriving hospitality scene discuss why they believe Charlotte is becoming the 'City of Hospit

Key takeaways

• Charlotte's identity as a 'city of hospitality' stems from both its welcoming culture and the influx of people from northern U.S. cities who bring warmth and family values.

Main topics

• Charlotte's identity as the 'City of Hospitality'
• Culinary diversity shaped by regional influences

Notable quotes

"We serve over a thousand people a day… every once in a while you get one that's not quite perfect. But I at least hope all those people know that we care about them."

Conclusion

Charlotte's rise as a hospitality hub is rooted in authentic community values, geographic

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Hospitalitychain.com, the world's first online hub designed for the hospitality, culinary, and catering industry. From leading food and beverage brands to professional food service equipment, hospitalitychain.com makes sourcing simple. Search, select, buy direct, and save, all in one global marketplace. Speaker 2 (0:27) Jamie and Jeff, thank you so much for taking the time to hop on the podcast today. They are down in Charlotte, North Carolina. You've got to look them up. They, oh my God, restauranteurs, TV personalities in my eyes from what I'm watching. So I couldn't thank you both enough for taking the time to hop on today. Speaker 1 (0:48) We are so glad to have this time. And I've got two Jeffs, so you guys are going to keep it real easy for me. We'll Speaker 3 (0:53) make it nice and confusing. And it's always nice to be on a podcast that you listen to regularly. I love your podcast. I check it out. I love learning about the dry aging stuff and the koji. I'm really into it right now. So I appreciate the guests that you bring on and all the knowledge you bring. So thank you. Speaker 2 (1:12) From our conversation today, for everyone listening. What do you hope the biggest takeaway is going to be? I hope that people get how Speaker 3 (1:20) passionate we are about this business and how much we love it and how much we care about hospitality. We know that, you know, we serve over a thousand people a day in our restaurants and, you know, we get a lot of really good reviews, but every once in a while you get one that's not quite perfect and something we didn't nail. But I at least hope. All those people know that we care about them and we want every single person that comes into our places to really know that our staff is trying. We are trying. We are working really, really hard to do everything at the highest level possible. And I just hope people know that we really care and we try really hard. Speaker 1 (1:59) Well, ditto on that, for sure. But I think also just I'm sure you have a lot of people listening who are in the business as well. And just maybe to walk along with us and know that we're on their side and understand what they're going through because we face all the same challenges they're facing, whether it's, you know, COVID from a handful of years ago to supply issues to, you know, personnel hiring, labor issues that we're on the same path. It's not like some magic sauce that we have here that everything's perfect and glowy and all that stuff that that we're going through the same stuff as them. And I love what you're doing. It helps everybody to be able to learn and continue to grow and keep getting better. So, yeah, Speaker 2 (2:40) it's a small it's a big, small industry, small, big industry, as we say, and we got to help each other out. Now, Jeff, I just watched on I think it was on your guys's podcast. You have proclaimed Charlotte is the city of hospitality. That's right. Yes. Yes. Okay. Speaker 3 (2:54) I'm going to keep going with that. Speaker 2 (2:56) Charlotte is the city of hospitality. Hit me with that. Where's the reasoning? Just give it to me. Well, part of it is that. When you think of Speaker 3 (3:07) Charlotte, what do you think of? Speaker 2 (3:08) I think of, which is kind of ironic to be on because I was just down there. So I was just down there for a conference at the conference center. And I actually stayed at an Airbnb just down the road, which was very nice. But when I think of Charlotte, like from when I went about 15 years ago, maybe 20 now to now, completely different. But I just thought of like smaller, big city, like Indianapolis type with, you know, a conference center. And a basketball team. I didn't really think a whole lot other than that, to be honest. Speaker 1 (3:38) So we did not nail it for your bed, did Speaker 3 (3:41) we? Yeah. Well, you got the Windy City, right? I don't. They're also very much a restaurant city. Yeah. You guys have a lot of stuff and a lot of history of like beef and cattle and all that stuff. And in the Midwest and Midwest produce. And you guys have a lot of fun, you know, fun stuff going on. We are. A new city. We are, you know, one of the fastest growing cities in the country. We have over 100 people moving here every day for 15 straight years. What do we have, 20,000? No, Speaker 1 (4:14) it was 20,700 people just last year moved here. Speaker 3 (4:18) Moved here. So it's Speaker 1 (4:19) pretty wild. Speaker 3 (4:20) Yeah, we're a pretty dynamic changing new city. So as we go to brand ourselves, I am really pushing for the city of hospitality. It is a lovely town. When you're driving on the roads, people look out for each other. You get the Speaker 1 (4:34) friendly toot on Speaker 3 (4:35) the road. We let other people in and it's not quite as hectic and crazy. Life still is a little bit easier here. You can kind of get around and do things and maybe get a dinner reservation in one of our places. And yeah, so that's what I'm going for. Our staff really exudes that. We try and the restaurant scene here too. is really cool. I think you see that we're the city of hospitality when you see us all get together as restaurant owners, that we all like each other. We're all friends with each other. It's not, you know, a competitive landscape. It's a fun, fun group. And we're all kind of out for the same thing. Well, Speaker 1 (5:14) and I think building on what you said, the whole notion that so many new people are coming here from potentially Chicago or New York or Pittsburgh or Detroit, Cleveland. A lot of people are moving here. And I think what that does is you're finding a lot of people who are looking for a home. Speaker 3 (5:30) So Speaker 1 (5:31) you've got a lot of those people in the hospitality business, too. And so there ends up creating kind of niceties. You know, we're in a southern city and this is the Bible Belt. But it's, you know, so you've got some inherent, you know, southern hospitality there. But on top of that, there's a lot of new people, I think, who are looking for that home and bringing warmth to that. When Speaker 3 (5:51) Jamie runs our marketing and when, you know, I present, I can't really present to her like the city of Livermush. You know, city, city, city of the city of Midwesterners that have moved south. Like it just doesn't. So city of hospitality is what we're going for. You like it? Yeah, Speaker 2 (6:07) I feel like you felt it when you were here, didn't you? No, I definitely did. So that's what I was going to kind of piggyback off of. I didn't get a I was in and out for a conference, so I wasn't there very long. But when we did go out to dinner, I can't remember the name of the place we went to. It was some Italian steakhouse. But the hospitality was excellent, right? The food was good. Don't get me wrong. Food was great. But the hospitality was exceptional. They were very personable. And it felt like they were. trying to actually have the relationship with the guests more than just, hey, I'm going to give you hospitality and be nice to you. Like we were cracking jokes back and forth because we had some some folks from New Orleans with us. So they had that Southern touch as well. And it was just a really good time. And then, you know, even just little coffee shops and stuff that I was able to, you know, hit up just before the conference. Yeah, it definitely felt homey, like. I like that. I lived in north of Indianapolis for a little while, and it had that same type of feel to me where it's got some more pizzazz. It's got personality, but it's not so big that it's just like, goddamn, like trying to get around the city. Like, I love Chicago and all, but getting around it is a pain when somebody's like, oh, we're going to the city. I almost say no thanks. Like it's just it's so much work. And so Charlotte really surprised me with, you know, how much has been and there's a lot of construction going on. There's a lot happening down there right now. Speaker 1 (7:26) There sure is. And I think, too, like because of the people that it's attracting, it is attracting a lot of northerners and a lot of Midwesterners. Maybe there are those Midwestern values that are really Speaker 3 (7:37) planting Speaker 1 (7:38) themselves here that are. warmth, family-friendly, kindness, generosity to others and all that. Jeff's actually from Cleveland and I'm from Pittsburgh. And so we're two examples of that too, you know, just pretty, pretty simple upbringings and bringing those kind of home values, family values down here too. So that could be a part of it too. Speaker 2 (7:59) Now, Charlotte didn't have Michelin Guide or Bon Appetit or any of that when you guys started. Two-part question. What was the city already doing food-wise to kind of bring people? And then once it kind of got that established, do you think that's part of the reason, too, that it is attracting some other folks where it's not such a big market where they could potentially make a name for themselves and not have so much competition that it's really hard to do? Speaker 1 (8:25) Yeah, I think we've been doing a few things really right here in Charlotte. There are a handful of restaurateurs besides ourselves that are doing. Awesome local concepts. And you find their names on that Michelin guide as well. So Joe Kindred, for instance, he's got a couple of restaurants. Andres Keffer is another one who does. John Dressler has. And, you know, they were already here. You know, it's kind of the whole thing. You know, when Oprah discovers a bakery, it's not like the bakery hadn't been there for a dozen years. It's just finally being seen. And I think that's what has happened is there has been a really great local scene. of restaurateurs, and that made it worthwhile for Michelin to come here to the southeast and rate this area for the first time. So we were lucky to have three of our restaurants end up on the Michelin Guide. not as starred restaurants, but as recommended restaurants. The style of food that we have doesn't lend themselves so well to having a star. We do more of a family style type of menu at each one of our places. So they're not necessarily as coursed menus that typically call for a star. But we are so glad to have them rate this area, you know, including the surrounding areas of Greenville and Columbia, Atlanta, and so forth too. And the other... big piece was Top Chef was here. as well for their season 23. And that was an incredible experience. We got to be a part of episode three. And so we had here, we had these absolute, you know, icons in the food world in our restaurant separately and enjoying food around the table with us. And those kinds of things, they just bring more eyeballs to Charlotte. But it's not like those beautiful food stories weren't here already. It's just the light started to get shined on it this past year. I Speaker 3 (10:12) think one. You know, one thing that happens with Charlotte is we're this crossroads. So we're kind of in this spot where culinarily we're not, like we don't have that like signature thing. We actually, a local newspaper person just kind of wrote, what's our signature thing? And we're this crossroads where we're an old Indian trading post, but it's kind of where the Piedmont, you know, comes in, the low country from, you know, Charleston and all that, you know, meets here and then Appalachia. So it's kind of where you have. all three of these different cuisines meeting in the same spot. And so culinary, yes, we're not known for anything, but we have all this like a big breadth of stuff to draw on. And we have a lot of really cool farms. We also have a company here called Fresh List, which aggregates 200 farms from Asheville to Charleston. And they're based here. So it's like a really awesome starting point too for all the chefs here where, you know. Every Sunday you're getting texted what's really cool coming out from all the farmers. And, you know, you place your order on Monday and it's at your place, you know, Wednesday. And it's just a it's a great system that we have this like, you know, integrated right into our workflow. So it's pretty cool. Speaker 2 (11:27) Yeah, that farm, that true farm to table, because, you know, while you can do it, you know. in places like Chicago or elsewhere. It's a different level to me of freshness when, to your point, the farms are only within a 50 mile radius or 100 mile versus where we're calling local 250, 300 miles. I'm like, we're basically getting stuff from Indiana, Kentucky