♪ The finish line for a restaurant, it's harder than people think.

You are on it every single day, tweaking and making changes.

We're not happy with the paint above the windows.

Really awesome seeing everybody who's here.

Can't bring your staff in too early 'cause you can't afford them.

You have a week to train them.

That's it.

Everybody that is invited today works for our company.

Staff Appreciation Night is the best dress rehearsal.

Challenge yourself.

Push, grab, nicely.

Learn as much as you can.

We should've mise en place the table.

We want people to get their nerves out now, instead of having those when we open.

This was ran to table 16.

Is 15 waiting for it?

There's a printer error message.

They got an order mixed.

The numbers are not showing up at all.

Do you think we're ready?

Are we ready?

♪ 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.

♪ upbeat piano music ♪ Jamie Brown> It has been three years since we first started this project, and it's hard to believe we're finally approaching the finish line.

We're super excited to open Leluia Hall.

This is in an old building.

There's a great story to tell.

We've got incredible, fresh, really unique menu.

Our team is awesome.

♪ I know this place is so beautiful and so special, and I really wanted to show it off to the rest of the staff.

♪ Jamie Brown> Before we go to open a restaurant to the public, we like to hold a staff night where we invite all of our teammates to come in and enjoy a meal, and this gives our new team a practice run in service.

We take that night so seriously in terms of feedback.

These are food professionals.

They are anything from servers to food runners to line cooks to executive chefs.

So, we can get all these folks in here and we can mess up.

We can flounder, we will forget crab on a Crab Louie board, and this crew will be completely forgiving.

They won't be writing Yelp reviews, but they will also be very critical.

Jeff Tonidandel> Everybody knows what the expectations are.

It is the best dress rehearsal.

♪ Jamie Brown> We just opened up a few years ago, Supperland, ♪ It was in Bon Appetite's top ten restaurants in the entire country.

It was Esquire's number 15 best restaurant.

So the expectations for Leluia Hall are really high.

We know that pulling this off is going to require our entire team to be on top of everything.

♪ [sound of drill motor] We are just a handful of days away from having guests at our doors, but we're not happy with the paint that's up above the windows on the walls.

So we're going to go back to our original plan of doing a lime wash treatment.

So Bryce and I are here late at night to make this happen, because we've got our whole front of house team coming tomorrow to start training.

♪ ♪ Opening a restaurant, you feel like you have years to get it all ready, but really it comes down to the last few weeks before you open your doors.

You can do all of this planning, all of these preparations, but, you don't bring your team on because they're expensive until the last minute.

So, you have about a week to train them.

That's it.

Opening Leluia Hall, there's expectations.

They're set locally.

They're set nationally.

I like that pressure.

But I want to make sure our team rises to the occasion to be as good as we can be, as good as Supperland already is.

I want to be the, not just the best restaurant in Charlotte, but one of the best restaurants on the East Coast or in the United States.

Chris Rogienski> Excited to get some national acclaim and do some big things.

This is just going to be Supperland and even better.

We're going to have 80 people working in this building at some point in time.

Michael Klinger> This paragraph, there will be some fun facts about the wine.

Jon Rosenberg> I am building a group of people that have to be with each other, sometimes more than they're with their families.

The only way we can be great is if all 80 people work together as a team.

We all have restaurant experience So this is our next dish.

This is our spin on Lobster Thermidor.

I teach hands on the first month that I work at any place that I open.

♪ Everyday I go through each station and taste every single sauce, every single taco, just to know, like, what I am serving is exactly the way it should be.

Feel that black garlic?

It's delicious, filled with umami.

So it's got a lot of flavor.

Teamwork is essential to what we do in this kitchen.

In every kitchen in my opinion, you need to have a tight knitted group who really cares about food, who really loves food.

♪ ♪ [birds chirping] [indistinct chatter] Jeff Tonidandel> Jamie, thank you so much for visiting with us all the way from Canada.

We love these calls, as our lead curator for our music.

RX Music curates our playlists.

So we talk to someone one on one and tell her the vibe we're looking for.

It just sets the tone for the restaurant.

♪ Jeff Tonidandel> Our team here does a really, really good job of curating things for our customers like we would, we don't sell wine that's found in the grocery store.

We have that same feeling with the music.

I couldn't agree with you more on.

The music is really interconnected with the vibe and the space itself and what is presented.

I don't like anything that's played on the radio really.

Lindsey Robbins> We wanted it to sound fun, almost like you're on vacation, a little bit moody.

I started searching just like indie music with almost a coastal vibe or a beachy vibe.

I don't know if you're familiar with Jungle.

<Of course> [laughs] I feel that is the vibe.

♪ [bell ringing] ♪ Jamie Brown> All of our P.O.S.

needs to get installed and be set up to take orders.

What else are you feeling like are the big things?

Tasting stuff?

Jeff Tonidandel> We only have one or two things we really need to... Jamie Brown> You know, the menu looks really great.

Jeff Tonidandel> Working on the plating and that kind of stuff... When we do an opening, we are tasting every day for multiple hours a day, and we try to go through as much of the menu every day that we can, and we don't just visit it once.

So it's pretty intense process.

What do we got?

These are the Hawaiian rolls.

We've tasted them a couple times.

The things that we're seeing different here are we've scaled down the rolls, those 55 grams that we talked about last time.

And then the only other thing that we're looking at here is what vessel do we want for Jon to order?

Chris Rogienski> I have a pretty clear winner visually.

<Oh Okay> Jamie Brown> I think I have the same clear winner here.

Jeff Tonidandel> Let's, let's, let's see it.

I, I don't.

Jamie Brown> Okay, we go one, two, three and we point.

One, two, three, point.

[laughs] Jon Rosenberg> Good job, Jamie!

We're on the same page.

♪ Jamie Brown> Those last couple weeks, you are just on it every single day, tweaking and working and making changes.

Jon Rosenberg> The saffron honey chicken was next.

Chris Rogienski> I just wanted more sauce.

Nice, maybe drag a little.

Jamie Brown> Can't bring the ingredients in until you're going to open.

We can make, you know, small runs of items.

We have no idea how it's going to work in service.

Do we have enough prep space for the items?

Is there enough room in the fridge to hold the items overnight?

You just have to think through as many details as you can.

♪ Chris Rogienski> All right, so here we go.

<Ah> <Fish sticks> Last time we talked about taking the lobster out, making it a little more affordable and making them all smaller and then for the sauce, we talked about tartar sauce.

I just made, like, a really good tartar sauce, best way to put it.

<Okay> Jamie Brown> So we've got three plated here and four here.

Obviously they're different sizes.

Jeff Tonidandel> What's the weight difference between these?

Chris Rogienski> This is an ounce smaller than that one, ounce and a half.

Jon Rosenberg> I think maybe this plating on this plate.

Jamie Brown> That's what I was thinking.

Can we do that?

<Yeah> Jeff Tonidandel> Three of the little ones is not enough?

Chris Rogienski> I didn't think so.

Jeff Tonidandel> Let's eat it.

Jamie Brown> Let's eat it.

[sound of knife and fork hitting the dish] Mmm.

Jeff Tonidandel> The tartar sauce is really, really good.

This is a great fish stick.

Jon Rosenberg> I don't taste a ton of difference between the lobster version and the shrimp version.

I like being able to see the lobster inside of the mix.

Jeff Tonidandel> I just think price point wise, we need to have a few, <approachable> approachable things.

Jon Rosenberg> And make this one of those.

Yeah.

Jamie Brown> Does that mean smaller on the fish sticks, and I mean, would they even, can they be beside each other?

Jon Rosenberg> That actually looks very nice.

Jeff Tonidandel> We're there.

That's great.

Put it on the menu.

Jon Rosenberg> Final, on the menu.

Great job.

This is a very fun dish.

Jeff Tonidandel> You take the picture?

<I did> <Wonderful> ♪ [birds chirping] ♪ Lindsey Robbins> The day of staff appreciation, I got in an email.

Vince was putting in his notice.

It was definitely a shock.

It was not the best day to get that news.

Jamie Brown> Losing an executive chef is just, it's so hard, but it is so possible in this business on any given day.

The timing of losing Vince right now is super difficult because we are trying to forge ahead into this exciting new adventure of opening this restaurant we've been working on for years.

So, the timing is really tough.

Jon Rosenberg> When I heard that Vince was leaving Supperland, I take it, and I have to compartmentalize it.

♪ Supperland is my baby.

I've been a part of every major decision in that restaurant since we've opened, but my job now is Leluia Hall.

I think they work great.

[indistinct chatter] ♪ The first conversation I ever had with Jeff about working for him, I felt like I had found a good stable home to spend a good part of my career knowing like, this is actually like the end of my time with them was kind of surreal.

I'm going to be the culinary director for a pretty young hospitality group.

When the opportunity presented itself.

Yeah, it was not expected.

There was a lot of thought that went into the decision, and there was a lot to be done before.

I felt comfortable walking away from Supperland.

Supperland, when I got there, it was a great restaurant.

It was a fantastic restaurant, so making sure that at the very least, it was still a fantastic restaurant and in good hands when I left was a big priority for me.

Collards obviously are heartier... I think I've learned a lot from Jeff and Jamie.

Living in Charlotte for as long as I have and respecting the city that I watched grow like they don't want to destroy the history of the city.

They rather build up on it.

I think that's probably my favorite thing about them.

♪ Jeff Tonidandel> This is the best thing for Vince.

This is, you know, he, he needs to move on.

He needs to grow and take this opportunity while it's there.

Jamie Brown> A part of my heart, I think is just broken that I know that he's leaving and in not much time.

He's been just integral to holding our kitchens together and training our team and putting out great menus and it hurts.

We will deal with this, but for now we've got to focus on getting this place open.

♪ [indistinct chatter] ♪ Tonight's Staff Night Dinner is a critical step in preparing our team for Opening Day to the public.

But we also ne ed to make sure that the public knows about this restaurant opening.

So we're beginning the day with a tasting for local media to get the word out.

We'll have some different bites and dishes and drinks from our menu.

♪ I always get nervous, especially before their content kind of starts to roll out.

I will be watching closely, just making sure everything looks right and that everyone's having a good time and understands kind of what we're putting out.

♪ Jamie Brown> When you're opening a restaurant, the biggest problem you can have is not having people in seats.

Have fun, take many pictures.

I thought... Having lots of voices out there talking about it is really key for us to get launched fast and effectively.

[indistinct chatter] Guest> I like what they've done with the menu.

Surf and turf.

You gonna get the fish sticks?

Jamie Brown> We don't know how this place is going to be received.

Guest> The lighting with the windows, you still remember that you're in an old church.

Jamie Brown> You put something out there that you've spent years working on, you just kind of have to hope that people will love it, that their feedback will be great, and that they'll come back again and again.

♪ ♪ Jon Rosenberg> Tie it long way, basically into the middle and then fold up.

The training process was one of the bigger things that I put together.

But the only real time to train is when guests get in the building.

Take your time with your tables.

Practice.

If you even feel like you want to say, I want to redo that, go for it.

Staff night is the first night for me to really get in front of our team and show them exactly what we're supposed to do.

♪ Today is about learning, growing, figuring out where the pain points in this restaurant are.

Everybody that is eating here today works in one of our kitchens, or works in the front of house and talks to our guests is the same position that all of you are.

So we should be able to practice in a free space and make sure that we really know what's going on.

There's so many steps to get to be ready.

So am I worried?

Yes.

Am I confident that we're going to get there?

Of course.

Jeff Tonidandel> Learn as much as you can, challenge yourself.

Do all the hard things to make yourself comfortable.

Jamie Brown> Last thing, just whatever it is that you do act with love.

Let's just work together as a team.

We all kind of have to act as one giant group to make all this happen.

[applause] There's always a worry when we do staff night, that we will be fumbling too much or that we're going to be way off.

Just so you know, I have notebook and pen to take all sorts of notes if you guys find anything you feel like we can do better.

This is a night for us to gather as much information as we can to make this place ready to get to launch.

♪ Jeff Tonidandel> A win for us is getting the food out.

It looks right.

Everybody's happy with it.

If we end up being 30, 40, an hour behind on staff night, you know we're gonna struggle when the real customers come in.

♪ Chris Rogienski> I do get nervous but I don't let it show.

There's a military saying, you never gripe down.

If I seem nervous or I seem not sure, that's going to trickle down to my team.

So I need to be confident and you know, be the pillar for everyone else.

♪ Jamie Brown> Do you think we're ready?

Are we ready?

♪ ♪ ♪ Jeff Tonidandel> It's so awesome having all our staff here.

It's having 100 friends here and just people enjoying themselves and it's really special for Jamie and I.

♪ How are we doing this evening?

Doing well.

The expectations, food wise, are much higher on staff night.

I'm the executive chef at Ever Andalo.

This group of people that's in here will know if it's not right.

I will grab that.

Thank you.

♪ Jon Rosenberg> Our team seems engaged.

They're asking the right questions.

Of course, I was nervous.

We'll see.

But it's an excited nervous.

The pressure sometimes feeds you to be better, to excel, and I don't want to be the person that's gonna crumble under the pressure.

So we need to figure out some numbers.

Lindsey Robbins> We have two kitchens, essentially.

We have the surf bar and the main kitchen.

We have three bars.

So my big job was to get things in the computer and make sure they're routed to print at the right place.

The kitchen is to make food and the partners make the drinks.

It definitely got a little hairy for a few minutes with this.

I will take a look.

Thank you.

POS errors are always going to happen.

Being able to react in real time and fix these, those are one of the major things that staff night's for.

[indistinct chatter] Jeff Tonidandel> How are the fish sticks?

He put a lot of love into the tartar sauce.

Jon Rosenberg> We've already got the rolls.

<Yeah> Proof correctly.

You like the pineapple flavor through those as well?

Sam Sheehan> The salinity inside of the roll.

It's like, feels a little bit under.

Jon Rosenberg> Okay.

Sam is one of those people that I trust to have a great palate and understand what this product is supposed to be.

Sam Sheehan> That's so tricky with sweet rolls sometimes.

Jon Rosenberg> It probably needs to proof more or we need to check the recipe a little bit.

♪ Jamie Brown> My job is basically just to go around and find anything that we can improve upon.

We should have mise en place the table with tongs.

I am talking to our team as they're dining.

You guys getting enough?

And finding out about service.

Guys Don't hesitate to let us know anything.

Did they say it was three part salt to one part sugar?

<Yeah> Okay, that is correct.

They will know that something wasn't cooked properly.

The garnish seemed to be missing or that our service points are off.

You let us know any feedback you have, though... Did glassware get placed down right?

The dishes come out in a timely manner.

How long did it take for entrees to get to the table?

I just take notes the entire night.

[indistinct chatter] Jeff Tonidandel> Hey, how's everything going?

People are just kinda casually talking and taking it all in and then ♪ a few drinks go by and it just becomes super loud and chaotic.

♪ People going back and forth, table to table.

We can't really control anyone while we're trying to do all of our steps of service.

♪ Jon Rosenberg> More people are coming into the restaurant.

There's a new sense of, "I don't know what to do."

We want people to get their nerves out now instead of having those a week from now when we open.

[indistinct chatter] Michael Klinger> This was ran to table 16.

Is 15 waiting for it?

Server> I didn't want to say anything, but, yeah... Michael Klinger> Do we know who ran that?

Jamie Brown> I'm seeing people bring the wrong dishes to the wrong tables and it's happening all over the dining room.

Jon Rosenberg> He's gotten one drink.

♪ Our servers have never done this table number before.

♪ They don't know what these are.

They learned with role playing.

We are going to have people that have never used the system before.

They don't know how we ring things in.

I can't make sure that I'm at every single table, every single time.

We need to be good at trying again.

Michael Klinger> Drop that drink.

I'll show you how to fix them in POS.

♪ Chris Rogienski> We're running into some issues.

The team is not used to working together the way that I am used to running a kitchen.

Push, grab, nicely.

This is like shredded.

See if there's some in there.

We are very communicative and we're saying we're going up on tables and people aren't listening, So it's getting a little frustrating.

One risotto, one fried mushroom, ♪ We had to speak with some firmer words, but, seems like they're getting the hang of it back there.

♪ Jamie Brown> Hold on just a moment.

We didn't mise en place the table.

Two sets of tongs and a serving spoon.

How are the eating tongs working for you?

Sam Sheehan> They're great.

<Good> I love these little things.

<Okay, good> Jamie Brown> We dropped back the ceviche portions.

I don't know if they are actually weighing it out, but we ought with the fish.

♪ ♪ What's up?

How's it going?

How you doing?

Hi.

Chris Rogienski> When Courtland came in to eat, I expected a real review of my food, and he was the only person that will actually give me that.

Courtland Bradford> The Wagyu Tartare needs a bit of work.

The Wagyu was kinda chewy.

Chris Rogienski> He knows my standards and knows the things I'm trying to do.

Courtland Bradford> Those creamed onions, ♪ Good.

Really good.

We've been cooking together for about eight, nine years now.

It's kind of crazy.

Working with Chris has been a blast.

Man, I consider him as my brother.

Two big guys that really love food.

We love disc golf.

Trash.

Chris Rogienski> We have a very like, back and forth sort of dynamic where we just kind of mess with each other all the time.

Courtland Bradford> Definitely going to be a different vibe around here a little bit.

Yeah.

Gonna miss him.

[indistinct chatter] You know, no matter what we do, we're always going to like intertwine somewhere and you know, still kick it off.

♪ [indistinct chatter] Jamie Brown> Staff Appreciation night was everything it was supposed to be.

Jon Rosenberg> I feel good.

<Feel tired> I do feel tired.

Jamie Brown> Our team was so happy to come and dine and get to be a part of something special.

It was also a gigantic punch in the face.

We learned so much and so many things that we need to improve upon.

Jeff Tonidandel> We had, you know, difficulties we got to work through.

We had a few flaws on some of the food.

Jamie Brown> I'd love to get a steak and see how it comes out.

They've been overcooking a lot of them.

Jon Rosenberg> I have a list of notes to fix.

We have a couple days now to make sure that we are moving forward in the best way that we can.

Jamie Brown> It's going to require the efforts of this whole new team.

Jeff Tonidandel> Great.

Thank you.

Could you take that?

Thank you.

♪ Opening a place for us, it's not some divine act that just happens.

It really is a process.

The flavors went really well together.

Like each dish is interesting and different.

So many hundreds of decisions takes years and years to get to where this place is ready to open.

Jon Rosenberg> There's a theme, there's a service, there's a story to tell that works really well.

♪ Jamie Brown> This has been a lot of work to get here, but now comes our biggest test yet, opening our doors to the public.

Jon Rosenberg> Cheers.

Jeff Tonidandel> Anybody ready for a nap?

♪ ♪ ♪ 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 any time 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.