LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

To Whom It May Concern:

Our restaurant and Tena Payne have been working together for fifteen years.  She has the ability to take description of the product you want and make it come out just as you visualize, making her truly a master of her craft.   Mrs. Payne also provides us the opportunity to take a very hands on approach in our working relationship allowing the chefs to come to her studio and help in the creative process, not something you get to experience with most china manufacturers. Every piece is so unique, enhancing the visual aesthetics of our cuisines and adding a nice conversational piece for the guest at the tables. Her work ethic and dedication to providing a quality product that is durable and elegant is worth more than one can imagine and is greatly valued by our company.

Sincerely,

Idie Hastings
Owner and Director of Operations
Hot and Hot On Location Catering
Birmingham, Alabama

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January 11, 2016

“The blue (Sapphire) bowl is what we use for one of our most popular dishes, Ahi tuna poke. The artistry of these Earthborn vessels is second to none, and the durability is outstanding…not to mention, the deep, vibrant colors really make the food pop. Earthborn has helped us bring the visibility and beauty of our culinary offerings to the next level.

Chef J. Kent Thurston

Nick & Johnnie’s Palm Beach

207 Royal Poinciana Way, Palm Beach, FL 33480

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September 30, 2014

“The plates look great – I particularly like the blue ones. We’ve been serving flounder and fish collars on them, and they look fantastic.”

Chef Ryan Prewitt, Peche

James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: South in May 2014 & Best New Restaurant 2014.

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February 4, 2015

“I really enjoy using Earthborn dinnerware. The dinnerware is durable and beautiful; I use the pieces for everything from casual to fine dining events. I have gotten many compliments from guests who admire the dinnerware.  I need to add more our collection.”

Chef Johnnie Taylor, Wind Creek Casino

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I love the unique design and rustic feel of the Earthborn pottery for all of my catering excursions. Every piece is handmade, one of a kind, and truly accentuates the foods I serve. As a chef, I’m well aware that every great dish begins with the visual appeal, long before anything is tasted. With Earthborn, all of my dishes look their best right from the start. They take as much individual time to create great pieces of service-ware as I do in creating the food that goes inside. 

Chef Jon Bonnell, owner Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine

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March 31, 2015  “EARTHBORN pottery is a wonderful addition to our store. The Registry is a fine tabletop and gift store as well as a bridal registry.  The sidewalks of Historic downtown Franklin are booming with shoppers.  Within the first week of having EARTHBORN a bride registered for several of the bowls. Many  customers have purchased the small noodle and porridge bowls for that perfect hostess gift. The colors are fabulous and the sizes of the pieces are great for all occasions. We all have enjoyed using them to serve refreshments at our recent  linen and trunk shows.  And as I am writing this another bowl is purchased!”

Kathy Berry and Jane Dungan, owners The Registry 347 Main Street Franklin, TN 37064

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April 29, 2015

“Always the finest quality pottery, enhancing our ambiance. A magnificent medium for our cuisine.”

Chef Rob Minor, Beau Rivage

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Ref: Earthborn Studios

To Whom It May Concern:

As chefs we are always seeking out the best of all things to use in our operation. On the topic of china/plateware, this is one of the easiest referrals I can make mainly because all of the hard work has already been done by Tena & Wynn.

Earthborn’s products help define our brand in multiple outlets. From upscale/fine dining to a casual concept the plates visually standout while offering durability and value. One of the biggest factors that helped us decide to go with this line is that when the plates chip they actually look more rustic and natural.

Conclusion is that its an honor for me to work these plates and I put my reputation on the quality of these great products. If any further information is needed please don’t hesitate to contact me during normal business hours at 786.369.0353.

Sincerely,

Timon Balloo, Executive Chef/Partner

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July 26, 2014

“I have used Earthborn Pottery for over 10 years in everyday restaurant service & off premise catering and there is nothing more durable & beautiful out there.”

Chef Sean P Butler, owner Food Studio B

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   November 25, 2013

“We have been searching for a durable china option for years – with Earthborn Pottery we  have found durability, but also inspirational colors and shapes. The natural approach to this  china brings a refreshing element to our dining room and helps set the tone for a refined dining experience. I find myself storing our white bone china due to breakage and buying more of the Earthborn line because I know it will last.”

Chef David Bull, Congress, Bar Congress and Second Bar + Kitchen

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 March 22, 2013

To whom it may concern:

It is our pleasure to recommend the artistic talents of Tena Payne and her skilled artisans at Earthborn Pottery.  Two years ago we were introduced to the handcrafted works of art produced at Leeds, Alabama shop.  With her skilled hands and inspired heart, Tena has built a thriving small business in handmade pottery that is beautiful and functional to the extreme.

Our organization teamed up with Earthborn Pottery to produce exclusive, nature-inspired, food-safe pottery that works as collectible art or high-use kitchen ware. Each project recommended by Tena had an outcome beyond expectation for our customers and landed in our best seller category.

While our company has now determined an alternate path of product lines, we are certain that any future requirements for ceramic art and bake ware will lead us straight to Tena Payne. Please consider Earthborn Pottery as a quality manufacturer with top-notch service and partnership level business awareness.

We recommend Tena and Earthborn in the highest regard.

Best Regards,

Willow House Inc. Butch Bell Senior Vice President

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March 25, 2013

Tena,

We had the opportunity to bestow the first Spirit of Sustainability Award to the former Office of Sustainability Director, and we made the presentation in front of the President’s Cabinet meeting of about 30 people this morning.  When I got to the actual award itself, explaining the thought behind it, that the eagle stamp was created by you and is unique to our awards program, the symbolic colors of blue (representing the dominant color of our planet) and green (the color that has become associated with sustainability) and talked about our collaboration with Earthborn, there were numerous audible “oooooohs” from the group.  And Lindy Biggs, the award winner, loved it.  I can see people doing projects in an attempt to get one of these bowls.

What a huge success!  Thank you so much.  I will look forward to seeing you sometime in April to pick up the other 11 bowls.

Regards,
 
Mike
Mike Kensler, Director
Office of Sustainability
Auburn University
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August 10, 2012

“The plates are great, not only do they look amazing and unique, but their durability is impressive too. Their handmade quality brings out the beauty of our artisanal fare, and presents our guests with a truly exquisite and delicious experience.”

Chef Daniel Doherty, Chef de Cuisine of Duck & Waffle, London

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May 23, 2010

To Whom It May Concern:

I have had the pleasure of working with Earthborn Pottery on a couple of projects and can not express how pleased I have been with the product they produce.

We recently had an event at the resort for 175 people and they were looking for a WOW for their formal dinner.  After showing them samples of our menu and the dinnerware it was served on the client jumped at the chance for the meal and the dinner service.  With a 3 week turn around Earthborn was able to complete the order on time and to a standard of perfection that I have become accustomed to from them.

The pottery is relevant, durable and very much a talk about around the dining room.  I have no hesitation in recommending Tena and Wynn Payne as solid partners in my resort.

If you have any questions or if I may be of further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Chris Townsley
Director of Food & Beverage
Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa

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April 11, 2011

Dear Tena,

I continue to be amazed and impressed by the tableware you made for our Sugarcane restaurant.  Besides being unique and beautiful, they are remarkably durable.  As you can imagine, our dishes and bowls see a lot of use from our 300+ daily guests, and both beauty and integrity remain intact.  In addition, I am pleased that you will be providing the tableware for our new London restaurant venture. I am sure your designs will enhance the vision for our restaurant.  Looking forward to working with you again.

Sincerly,

Shimon Bokovza
Sushi Samba
Miami, Las Vegas, NYC

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To Whom it may concern
Letter of reference

I can confirm that we are very satisfied with the lifespan of all our Earthborn products. The good quality also convinced us, Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas, to expand our items list. We can sincerely recommend this very creative company and are happy to give you further feedback.

Best regards,

Simon A. Fricker
Director of Food & Beverage
Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas

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As owner of Bird in the Hand, I am grateful to say that this is my fifteenth year in business with almost one third of that time being involved in the ordering and selling of the beautiful and organic pottery by Tena Payne and Earthborn Pottery.

I suppose my store could best be described as a gallery/boutique gift shop.  We sell handcrafted works by artisans which are either one-of-a-kind or parts of a limited edition.  Our customers have grown to expect our offering them only the best and most unusual items of style, quality and timeless design.  Earthborn Pottery is high on the list of sales and popularity with both female and male customers from around the country.

Although, like the rest of America, our overall sales have been a challenge in these strained economic times, we continue to sell 12 to 60 or more pieces of Earthborn per month.  And, although these figures increase dramatically closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas, we do not consider it a seasonable product line.

We have found that the more we have, the more we sell.  Customers are drawn to our display and we strongly encourage them to mix glazes and sizes while choosing place settings.  By having a large selection in stock, our customers know we are committed to offering a product from an established company which can always be expected to produce the highest quality product.

Working with Tena and her staff has always been a pleasurable and supportive partnership in being able to offer our customer the best and most unique pieces in the marketplace.

Ann Benton
Bird in the Hand
Salado, Texas

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January 23, 2007

Dear Tena,

I wanted to send you a quick note to thank you for the beautiful pottery you made for our restaurant Trappers Tavern.  We received our shipment the first week in August and immediately put it into service.   I can not recall a day since then that we have not had a comment about how unique, interesting, and beautiful the pieces are.  In fact we have made up cards with your company name and website due to the enormous demand of inquiries regarding your products.

When our owners saw your product at the Miami show, they fell in love with it!  However I was skeptical of the durability. I had to consider these dishes would be used over and over and had to be able to withstand high temperatures of a commercial dishwasher not to mention the not so delicate hands of the man operating the dish machine.  I have to admit that we abused the samples you sent us. We washed one of the bowls non-stop for four days, we banged them into dishes, we banged other dishes into them, and we put them thru every scenario we could think of.  We could not believe how well they held up in a commercial setting.  To this day, almost six months later, I am still very impressed with the durability of your product.  Our customer satisfaction is up and our breakage is down. I couldn’t be happier with your products. Please fee free to have any non-believers contact me for a true testimonial.

Julie Williams
General Manager
Copperfield Inn
Upstate New York

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October 29, 2007

I met Tena Payne at IHMRS post Katrina, November 2005. I was looking for new products  for our new restaurants.  Tena’s line caught my eye instantly.  In February 2006 I was working with my colleague Martin Heierling at Sensi at the Bellagio and immediately recognized Earthborn pottery. Then and there I decided to use Earthborn in Jia, our new Asian concept at Beau Rivage. I used bowls, plates and platters in red, opal and sage green. They made a stunning statement and compliment the food. They are extremely robust and durable.

Tena had a successful trunk show in the shopping promenade in October.  We hope to have her back in the spring.  I highly recommend Earthborn handcrafted pottery for restaurant or home use.

Joseph C. Friel
Executive Chef
Beau Rivage Resort & Casino

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