web02.fireside.fm Sun, 05 Apr 2026 12:36:23 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Sustaining Craft - Episodes Tagged with “Chef” https://sustainingcraft.fireside.fm/tags/chef Wed, 19 Sep 2018 14:00:00 -0400 Sustaining Craft started in 2016, when Elizabeth Silverstein, a writer, found herself discouraged after a move and a divorce. To find a little encouragement for herself and others, she decided to talk to people building businesses in creative fields. en-us episodic The stories of those making a living with their art, craft, or passion. Elizabeth Silverstein Sustaining Craft started in 2016, when Elizabeth Silverstein, a writer, found herself discouraged after a move and a divorce. To find a little encouragement for herself and others, she decided to talk to people building businesses in creative fields. no craft, art, small business, local business, creative business, stories, storytelling, content, marketing, business stories, creative, art business, craft business, passion, passion business, painting, writing, drawing, henna, woodworking, animals, opera, singing, music, welding, metal work, books, novels, flowers, floral arrangement, photography, photos, nonprofit Elizabeth Silverstein hello@hewandweld.com Episode 9: Donnie Ferneau: Building Relationships with Local Food https://sustainingcraft.fireside.fm/9 452cb2fd-30f9-46d7-9d16-f248fc256fa1 Wed, 19 Sep 2018 14:00:00 -0400 Elizabeth Silverstein full Elizabeth Silverstein Chef Donnie Ferneau has learned a few things over the years. He shares some of his failures, his successes, and how he's adjusted his teaching methods after a move from Chicago to Little Rock. 35:47 no Ferneau is quick to point out that he has a good team. His method of management lines up with his own personal philosophy -- being able to learn from mistakes and move forward. “Competition is natural, and you always want to be the best, but I guess you have to be beaten down a bit or be born a little bit wiser to be able to take a step back and look at your failures, rather then brush them under the rug and say they never happened,” Ferneau said. “Something I’ll say to people, if they look at it through a peephole or somewhat of a closed mind, it will piss them off, but whenever I see somebody fail, and they come and tell me about it, usually complaining, I just ask them, ‘Did you learn anything? What did you learn?’ And sometimes, if they’re already aggravated, they’re quick to think I’m being condescending with them, but literally I’m asking a question. ‘What did you learn from this? Okay, it might have cost you x amount of dollars, but what did you learn from it?’ When my cooks burn something or they mess up a stock, or just little weird things that cost me money, I’m investing in that person right there. ‘What did you learn from this? It was an expensive mistake, so tell me you learned something. ‘Cause I just don’t want to just fire you.’ It took me a long time to get there. You have to put your ego in your pocket sometimes.” Special Guest: Donnie Ferneau. chef, restaurant, local chef, little rock, arkansas, arkansas chef, chef Donnie Ferneau, cooking with local food Ferneau is quick to point out that he has a good team. His method of management lines up with his own personal philosophy -- being able to learn from mistakes and move forward. “Competition is natural, and you always want to be the best, but I guess you have to be beaten down a bit or be born a little bit wiser to be able to take a step back and look at your failures, rather then brush them under the rug and say they never happened,” Ferneau said. “Something I’ll say to people, if they look at it through a peephole or somewhat of a closed mind, it will piss them off, but whenever I see somebody fail, and they come and tell me about it, usually complaining, I just ask them, ‘Did you learn anything? What did you learn?’ And sometimes, if they’re already aggravated, they’re quick to think I’m being condescending with them, but literally I’m asking a question. ‘What did you learn from this? Okay, it might have cost you x amount of dollars, but what did you learn from it?’ When my cooks burn something or they mess up a stock, or just little weird things that cost me money, I’m investing in that person right there. ‘What did you learn from this? It was an expensive mistake, so tell me you learned something. ‘Cause I just don’t want to just fire you.’ It took me a long time to get there. You have to put your ego in your pocket sometimes.”

Special Guest: Donnie Ferneau.

]]> Ferneau is quick to point out that he has a good team. His method of management lines up with his own personal philosophy -- being able to learn from mistakes and move forward. “Competition is natural, and you always want to be the best, but I guess you have to be beaten down a bit or be born a little bit wiser to be able to take a step back and look at your failures, rather then brush them under the rug and say they never happened,” Ferneau said. “Something I’ll say to people, if they look at it through a peephole or somewhat of a closed mind, it will piss them off, but whenever I see somebody fail, and they come and tell me about it, usually complaining, I just ask them, ‘Did you learn anything? What did you learn?’ And sometimes, if they’re already aggravated, they’re quick to think I’m being condescending with them, but literally I’m asking a question. ‘What did you learn from this? Okay, it might have cost you x amount of dollars, but what did you learn from it?’ When my cooks burn something or they mess up a stock, or just little weird things that cost me money, I’m investing in that person right there. ‘What did you learn from this? It was an expensive mistake, so tell me you learned something. ‘Cause I just don’t want to just fire you.’ It took me a long time to get there. You have to put your ego in your pocket sometimes.”

Special Guest: Donnie Ferneau.

]]> Episode 1: Tom Brown Creates: Feeding the Masses with a Miniature Kitchen https://sustainingcraft.fireside.fm/1 0f2032ef-f2b0-46f7-82f1-08c9ac408caa Thu, 12 Jul 2018 18:30:00 -0400 Elizabeth Silverstein full Elizabeth Silverstein Tom Brown started making tiny functional items as a kid, whittling objects out of twigs he found. When he went to college, he made a small working kitchen, and started Feeding the Masses. Giving away food to strangers, he began to build a sense of wonder and community, all based around tiny meals. Now, he continues to cook while making tiny functional items like knives, tongs, ceramic cups, and snow shoes and hide them around Calgary for his other project, Finders Keepers. 26:36 no Brown's first performance was for friends, and he called himself Pizza Tom. “I gave myself the moniker Pizza Tom because pizzas were a recognizable object,” Brown explained. “It’s difficult to serve a miniature soup that’s kind of formless. Pizzas have this really wonderful aesthetic side to them. A pizza is visually quite beautiful. And a pizza is recognizable. I can also just give you a slice of pizza in your hand and you can eat it.” And they loved it. “The reception was absolutely wonderful,” Brown shared. “People were thrilled to see me invest so much time and energy into a project.” Brown changed his identifying name from Pizza Tom to Tom Brown Creates, calling his performance on the streets Feeding the Masses, and giving away the food for free. Strangers were just about as receptive as his peers. “It does really produce a sense of comfort with people when I have the kitchen out on the street and I’m doing the performance,” Brown said. “People are willing to try the food and sit with me and have a conversation and share a little bit about their own creative journey with me.” But he’s doing more than just Feeding the Masses–he’s building community in another way with his second project, Finders Keepers. Special Guest: Tom Brown. making a living with art, cooking miniature food, miniature tools, chef of tiny foods, creative business, art-based business, canada chef Brown's first performance was for friends, and he called himself Pizza Tom. “I gave myself the moniker Pizza Tom because pizzas were a recognizable object,” Brown explained. “It’s difficult to serve a miniature soup that’s kind of formless. Pizzas have this really wonderful aesthetic side to them. A pizza is visually quite beautiful. And a pizza is recognizable. I can also just give you a slice of pizza in your hand and you can eat it.”

And they loved it. “The reception was absolutely wonderful,” Brown shared. “People were thrilled to see me invest so much time and energy into a project.”

Brown changed his identifying name from Pizza Tom to Tom Brown Creates, calling his performance on the streets Feeding the Masses, and giving away the food for free. Strangers were just about as receptive as his peers. “It does really produce a sense of comfort with people when I have the kitchen out on the street and I’m doing the performance,” Brown said. “People are willing to try the food and sit with me and have a conversation and share a little bit about their own creative journey with me.”

But he’s doing more than just Feeding the Masses–he’s building community in another way with his second project, Finders Keepers.

Special Guest: Tom Brown.

]]> Brown's first performance was for friends, and he called himself Pizza Tom. “I gave myself the moniker Pizza Tom because pizzas were a recognizable object,” Brown explained. “It’s difficult to serve a miniature soup that’s kind of formless. Pizzas have this really wonderful aesthetic side to them. A pizza is visually quite beautiful. And a pizza is recognizable. I can also just give you a slice of pizza in your hand and you can eat it.”

And they loved it. “The reception was absolutely wonderful,” Brown shared. “People were thrilled to see me invest so much time and energy into a project.”

Brown changed his identifying name from Pizza Tom to Tom Brown Creates, calling his performance on the streets Feeding the Masses, and giving away the food for free. Strangers were just about as receptive as his peers. “It does really produce a sense of comfort with people when I have the kitchen out on the street and I’m doing the performance,” Brown said. “People are willing to try the food and sit with me and have a conversation and share a little bit about their own creative journey with me.”

But he’s doing more than just Feeding the Masses–he’s building community in another way with his second project, Finders Keepers.

Special Guest: Tom Brown.

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