Custom template file for custom view mode on site front page I'm trying to style a view a certain way on the front page (using a custom front page, page--front.tpl.php) of my site, and here are the steps I've taken using Entity View Types and Views modules:

1.) Created content type called 'Recipe'
2.) Created View Mode called 'Front Small'
3.) Created a view and called it 'Front Feature One'
4.) In the view settings, I've set the format to 'Content', and selected 'Front Small' view mode for display
5.) In my template.tpl.php file I've put in the following:

if ($variables['view_mode'] == 'front_small') {
    $variables['theme_hook_suggestions'] = 'node__' . $variables['type'] . $variables['view_mode'];
}


6.) I tried creating a file called node--recipe--front-small.tpl.php to style the node in a custom way but it never gets used. The standard node.tpl.php file is being used instead.

Can anyone tell me if I'm naming the file incorrectly or if something else might be wrong? When I spit out the $view_mode variable in my node file it shows "front_small" only. I've also tried removing 'recipe' from that file name to see if it would make a difference, but to no avail.

Note: I am using a custom front page styled in the page--front.tpl.php file. The view mode above that I'm trying to style should be appearing on this front page, so I'm not sure if there are other things I am missing.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
First of all, tell me where do you put that code? what is its function? node_preprocess? 
besides that It doesn't make any sense to define a specific view mode for your view then trying to theme it using views! I recommend you to define fields as view mode, select your fields and theme it in the theme hook suggestion.