Today we’d like to introduce you to Olivia Genthe.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Mine is one you might not expect! But we’re passionate about it so I talk about it a lot! I come from a long line of Food Chain workers. I’m from a very rural party of Ohio where you either work on a factory line or on a farm. My grandparents met mucking onions in a field when they were 11. I make a point of this that farm laborers are not the same as the way we think of farmers. My Dad worked on a factory line for Cambpell’s Soup when I was born. We ate a lot of bologna sandwiches growing up.
A crescendo of my father’s story is one I talk of often. There was this night before he took a job at the Honda plant, and he decided not to take the job(everyone thought he was crazy). It was incredibly othering for our family who had stuck themselves out to get him this job, but my Dad’s a dreamer and knew if he took that job that’s where we would be forever. They hated being away from their family. So for years later I saw my parents work tirelessly from the warehouse where we lived running their businesses. I love seeing them outrageously prosper from the boundaries and standards they set for themselves and never backing down. They moved us to Cleveland when I was 15 and that’s where my love for food came from. I’ll never forget the first time I walked into La Cave Du Vin in Coventry, completely lit by candles, serving craft beer in a wine before it was ever a thing. I learned the romanticism and punk-ness of craft goods and hospitality from the best. I credit a lot to that place.
My husband and I met in Cleveland – he’s from Detroit and was working for the Ritz. I was working at the restaurant attached to it in Tower City. We had barely known each other but a few months and he invited me to move to Texas with him for a job he was taking. I felt the thump of the glass ceiling of Cleveland and took a chance. Not long after we moved we broke up, he moved to Austin and I stayed in Dallas. The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing. Years later after selling my food truck here in Dallas I went to Austin to celebrate and we met on a street corner and the rest is history. We are the parents of two young boys.
After giving birth to Eli last spring, Ryan was running Sassetta and I left my job because our work life just wasn’t good enough for our family. I give a lot of thanks often to the woman that Eli made me because it took a lot of bravery again in my life to ask Ryan to start another business with me, haha. We owned a catering company when we lived in Austin called Native Family that did a lot of field cooking, butchering & consulting, using Whole Foods as a form of education for people. We have a deep romanticism for intentionally made & transparent foods. The way we gather around them changes the way we interact with each other and the world. It’s in each of our life’s work to connect with people over food this way. Ryan left January of this year and we haven’t looked back. We are opening Fount in Uptown in the old Crooked Tree space, holidays of 2019, this year, and we couldn’t be more excited for this new doorway we’ve walked through with our family. We create this magic with Whole Foods with and for them.
Has it been a smooth road?
Never! I always tell people I am more thankful for the doors that have closed for me than the ones that have opened. We’ve had to do tremendous amounts of self-work to put ourselves honestly on the table. And it hurts sometimes when God tells you “not right now”. Fount has taken an immense amount of faithfulness to our crafts and a good throw up of the blinders when people don’t understand your voice or what you are doing. We’re in an incredibly new food space that takes a lot of education too. The cheese and charcuterie thing is so big right now, but Fount’s dialogue has always been about the intention of the table.
The other night I was installing at a wedding and a woman comes up to the table and complains about how the Grazing Table thing is so big right now and it’s just something for all their Mom friends to do. Not the first time my craft has been called a hobby PS. How incredible! A seriously stunning table, one of our best yet, and this woman is so blinded by her internal dialogue about women! I am a better businesswoman because I am a Mother and am only as successful because of them. I see women and mothers starting these food businesses too, I try to best to help them because I know I’m one of the most prominent and I get it all the time, even after being in the business for 12 years.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Fount Board & Table story. Tell us more about the business.
Fount Board & Table specializes in grazing boards & tables, and experiences at the table with an emphasis on whole & cultured foods. My favorite flavor has always been fat. A good and well cared for the animal has undeniable quality of fat. It’s where we live. It’s impossible to replicate in any form. A good cheese, the marbling on the charcuterie, they are lines of a poem. Past the epidermis and unique in every way. We specialize in artisan and travel-inspired foods in this way to tell our stories, to touch wires with people.
We curate the best-cultured butters, sourdoughs, varietals of grapes, oysters, caviar…anything you can dream of putting on the table. It’s in my blood to work with foods with my hands. We often tell peoples stories for life events, or in a way to honor them and each other. We’re probably most known for our baroque style edible tablescapes of Whole Foods. We love collaborating on many styles and color schemes of foods but what inspired me most when starting Fount was these Caravaggio still lifes and Dutch Baroque painters. I lived near the Cleveland Museum of Art for some time and it’s my favorite place in the world. This mental image has bubbled in my work life for some time.
I’m most proud of our unwavering dedication to quality and each other. We love each other, we create magic for our children, we compost, we do our best to do as little harm to the earth and others. We are our most authentic selves. We’re doing just what everyone else is doing, and that’s the best we can.
My favorite quote that sums up our work is from Beth Clark, “People who really want to make a difference in the world usually do it, in one way or another. And I’ve noticed something about people who make a difference in the world: They hold the unshakable conviction that individuals are extremely important, that every life matters. They get excited over one smile. They are willing to feed one stomach, educate one mind, and treat one wound. They aren’t determined to revolutionize the world all at once; they’re satisfied with small changes. Over time, though, the small changes add up. Sometimes they even transform cities and nations, and yes, the world.”
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Ryan and I are big travelers, and at the root of all roots, I am a storyteller. We love connecting with different foods, people, making ourselves uncomfortable, and being good stewards. We have plans for Fount to grow outside Dallas & Texas in other cities that tell good stories.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2414 ROUTH St, Dallas, TX, 75201
- Website: www.fountboardandtable.com
- Phone: 214-699-7455
- Email: fount@fountboardandtable.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/fountboardandtable
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/fountboardandtable
Image Credit:
Heather Thompson – dark tables
Matt Conant – Cowboy tables
Emily Stoker – chicken
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