CHARLOTTE — Times have certainly changed for restaurateur Jamie Brown, her husband and business partner, Jeff Tonidandel, and their team of hundreds.
“We started in restaurants in 2009 — it was the recession,” Brown told Channel 9’s Elsa Gillis. “We opened up a little place called Crepe Cellar, Kitchen and Pub right here on the block in NoDa, and to see how far our team has come over the years is pretty crazy because we started with just 11 tables.”
They now own six concepts across Charlotte and are about to share a piece of their journey on the small screen through a PBS docuseries.
“Fork & Hammer” focuses on the ups and downs of bringing their newest restaurant to life housed in an old Dilworth church.
“Over the course of those 10 episodes, you’ll see the unfolding of the build out of Leilua Hall,” Brown said.
Jamie says she had the idea to document their progress via video.
“It’s from 1915,” she said. “It’s one of the oldest suburbs in Charlotte. There’s so many stories there.”
Brown says she hopes the success of the show starts to shed light on Charlotte’s vibrant culinary scene.
“There are chefs across the city doing amazing work,” she said. “We have amazing food and drink in this place, not only for people who live here, but for people to come and visit.”
The Carolina Theatre will host the “Fork & Hammer” series premiere at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The series airs Oct. 13 on PBS across the country. Brown told Channel 9 they’ve already started filming season two.
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