Inspired by Fei

There's something brewing in Dayton, something born from the grinding of two creative minds, and the honing of their craft. Something that is threatened by the consolidation culture of modern commerce. Something that is essential to the character of community. Another small business is incubating.

Rich and I were invited to be guinea pigs at a private dinner presented by our friends and local chefs Zack and Brendon, the whiz's behind Koji Burger and the former restaurant called Jollity. A week before the meal, Zack picked up a smattering of our fall vegetables and herbs. On the night of, we joined seven other people in a low-lit room, cloaked with velvet curtains at a candlelit table laid with coursed-out menus and golden paper swans. Music trickled into the room and Zack and Brendon introduced us to their new supper club concept called Fei. We progressed through multiple courses, gravitating from light to richer dishes that both epitomized the resplendence of fall harvest and expressed their very distinct virtuosity. The premise of sharing such a remarkable meal with perfect strangers is so antidotal in these divisive times. We were all invited because of relationships cultivated with Brendon and Zack, whether through partnership or patronage in their dining rooms. The magic of breaking bread, or in this case shokupan (Japanese milkbread), with people worked itself on us, weaving our common threads together. As the night wore on, I enjoyed the phenomenal food more because of the company. Laughing, storytelling, letting our guards down...did we just spend a week at summer camp together? That same special bonding effect was at play as the last plates were cleared and Zack and Brendon joined us at the table to wind down. The meal reminded me of my original inspiration to pursue a culinary career turned agricultural: the opportunity to bring people together through the common language of good food.

The supper club concept is not necessarily lucrative as restaurants go. You serve fewer people, for a longer, paced meal, as if they were in your home. I've always thought of it as more of a passion project than a business. But these two chefs have gamed the system and earned themselves the freedom to hatch Fei. With their gainful new Koji Burger which is simple, streamlined, fast-service, and sought after due to many pop ups over the last few years, they have designed themselves a way of life that provides for them heart, soul, and solvency.

Small businesses have the chance to grow stronger for swimming against the tide, building resiliency and muscle. And in a time when the majority of my conversations with fellow small business owners revolve around teetering wills to keep swimming, or downtrodden days and discouraged nights due to the various challenges we face, an evolution like that of Zack and Brendon's is a beacon of hope.

Small businesses feed the soul of a place and its economy too. They have skin in the town's game and are motivated to see it thrive. The prosperity of the community is mutually beneficial and indisposable for small business owners. In a capitalist society like ours, there's power in your spending choices. Boycotting a big fish who doesn't share your values, or choosing to support a local business who is providing something important to you and yours is power. I want to swim in a sea of Fei's and Mom and Pop's, local craftsman and generations-old contractor crews that do it right. Dare I include small farms and food producers who you can trust to provide fresh and safe food and when stitched together provide great food security ;)? Let's harness our power and wield it...because while so much is out of your control, it's helpful to make positive change by what is within it.

Thank you for reading.

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