FORREST – A FOOD STUDIO Everyone knows what an artist’s studio is, but what about a food studio? For Forrest and Nicole Moline, it’s a creative hub for the culinary arts. Swap out paintbrushes, canvas, and a gallery showroom for chef’s knives, a stove, and a dining room, and you have the same concept — simply with different mediums and materials.
By Janice Binkert Continuing that analogy, just as an artist’s studio can be home to various art forms, Forrest – A Food Studio offers a variety of enticing options in the realm of food (and drink). “We started our business with private chef services but quickly adapted to cooking a wide range of menus and accommodating many different dining and dietary requests with an expanded palette of unique, personal, and memorable culinary experiences,” says Nicole Moline. Among these experiences, Forrest and Nicole Moline just announced the return of Friday and Saturday dinners to the Food Studio, beginning this New Year’s Eve (see sidebar). And on Thursday nights, they will continue to host walk-in guests for small plates and wine pairings. They also manage their own in-house natural and organic wine shop from noon to 6pm Tuesday through Saturday, take carry-out orders for Forrest’s house-made pasta, and still have a high demand for their private chef services. And through it all, these hard-working and talented young entrepreneurs exude calmness, efficiency, and genuine warmth. Forrest, originally from Southern California, and Nicole, who grew up in Midland, met 15 years ago when they were both living in Cleveland. “I was finishing my
MS in nutrition and dietetics at Case Western Reserve University, and Forrest was cooking at three different local restaurants,” says Nicole. “We lived in the same neighborhood for about a year, but we had never met because we had very different schedules. Then one day, we crossed paths at a local wine bar, and Forrest offered to come over to my apartment to cook for me sometime. We’ve been married now for nine years, and we still share the same passion for great food, culinary adventures, and hospitality!” Nicole spent the majority of her postcollege career working for start-up wellness companies that were later acquired by large corporations before moving to Traverse City, where the two launched Forrest – A Food Studio in 2019. A TRUE PARTNERSHIP While the business bears its chef ’s name, Forrest will be first to tell you none of its multiple facets would be possible without Nicole. “As a former senior manager of operations at a Fortune 500 company, she brings invaluable expertise in accounting, organized scheduling, customer service, and corporate management to the table,” he says. While Nicole does help with some tasks in the kitchen, she primarily drives the business side of the Studio and leaves the cooking to her husband, the chef. “We have
12 • november 29, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly
very different strengths and skills, so there is a clear and easy definition of roles and responsibilities,” she says. Among his long list of culinary credits, Forrest has worked with Iron Chef Michael Symon in two of his restaurants, as well as with renowned Detroit chef/restaurateur and James Beard Award-nominated cookbook author Brian Polcyn. Forrest describes his style of cooking as seasonal with an innovative Californian influence and says he especially enjoys creating sauces, cooking fresh fish, and making pasta from scratch. A sampling of recent and upcoming Thursday small plates offers a glimpse into the kind of food that one can expect to come out of Forrest’s kitchen. Each month’s menu always includes a meat dish, a fish or seafood dish, a pasta dish, and a vegetable dish. November featured beef short rib with ricotta gnocchi, truffle jus and chives; crab and avocado toast with garlic focaccia, artichoke, spinach, lemon, and basil; buttercup squash agnolotti with burnt cream, lemon and pine nut crumble; and a medley of Second Spring Farm cauliflower, roasted, pickled and pureed, with zhug sauce, seeded crackers, and microgreens. For December, the menu will be a grassfed beef cutlet from Up North Heritage Farm, with green peppercorn sauce and pickled chili; black cod with parsnip, roasted mushroom,
Clockwise from top left: Forrest and Nicole Moline, owners of Forrest - A Food Studio (photo by J.Zevalkink); Second Spring Farm white puréed cauliflower, yellow roasted cauliflower, red beet-pickled cauliflower, zhug sauce, seeded cracker, and spicy microgreens; Culurgiones, Up North Heritage Farm pork-rib-stuffed dumplings, pork rib brodo, parsley oil, and microgreens; seared scallops, stewed cannellini beans, salsa verde, tomatillo aguachile, and brûléed avocado; the food studio, on Union Street in Traverse City’s picturesque Old Town district; and tuna aguachile, chili-lime vinaigrette, cucumber, and avocado with cilantro oil.
and Blis Sherry; ricotta agnolotti with veggie Bolognese sauce; and rutabaga with poached pear, gingered yogurt, and fresh herbs. FROM THERE TO HERE “Nicole and I always had the intention to open some sort of food business,” says Forrest, “and when we moved here, we saw this building and said, ‘Someday we’re going to have that space.’” Their vision came to life in March 2019, when it finally came up for sale. The couple began renovations immediately — doing almost all of the work themselves. “From the start, we knew we wanted the Food Studio to feel like home, both for us and our guests,” says Nicole. “A place that would allow Forrest to have a safe and healthy environment to dream, practice, and create masterpieces, and a place for our guests to feel welcome and comfortable.” The kitchen — like any commercial kitchen
