Fork & Knife restaurant in Hudson specializes in freshness

At The Fork & Knife in Hudson, everything is made from scratch in small batches with tender, loving care.

At this micro kitchen restaurant, in a tiny space tucked back in the lovely Evaporator Works retail complex in Hudson, working small is the key to quality control for delicious food, said owner Kim Graham.

In her 850-square-foot restaurant, Graham makes small batches of food several times a week for a small menu of dinners Tuesdays through Thursdays and lunch fare Tuesday through Saturdays.

"It's just easier to control it. We always know everything is super fresh," Graham said.

She has a regular lunch menu of soups, sandwiches and salads and then enjoys playing around with both dinner specials three nights a week and Saturday breakfast specials. Her rotation of dinner entrees changes weekly, normally posted on social media by Monday for the week and with reminders each morning.

Earlier this month, my husband, Steve, and I enjoyed a late-morning breakfast as first-time visitors at The Fork & Knife. We sat at one of the restaurant's two indoor tables, considering it was too chilly outside for our taste that morning to sit on the lovely front patio, which seats 18.

This little eatery seats nine inside, between two tables and three counter seats. Steve and I agreed we'd love to return to experience eating on the patio, which sports delightful-looking chartreuse chairs and flower boxes.

I ordered a healthy, tasty lemon Parmesan salad with chicken, which features arugula, kale, romaine, roasted chick peas, delicious shaved Parmesan and refreshing lemon vinaigrette ($15 with chicken added). Steve went for the breakfast special, a hearty breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, shredded pork, potatoes, cheddar jack cheese, scallions, cilantro and delicious crema to top it off ($12).

I just had to experience two bites of Steve's breakfast, considering the wow factor of this rich, thickened Mexican cream.

When we arrived, we each tried a sample of the restaurant's mini lime cupcakes, which I was tickled to learn were made by my old high school friend, restaurant employee Amber Bjerke Kramer. After that yummy tasting, we made sure we ordered some scratch-made baked goods to go with our entrees — a delectable little lemon meringue tart ($3.50; good things DO come in small "packages") for me and a super-moist blackberry muffin ($3.25) for Steve. 

After placing our order, we went next door to the huge Heartwood Coffee Roasters, where Steve got an Americano coffee for $2.25 and I got a hot chai tea latte for $4 to bring back to The Fork & Knife.

Graham, who opened the restaurant in 2016, focuses on locally sourced ingredients, with as many organic ones as possible. She gets her lettuce from Vigeo Gardens at Canal Place in downtown Akron as well as at Free Leafy Greens in Hudson.

The eggs for a recent scratch biscuit, gravy and and egg breakfast special came from Brunty Farms in Bath. And the chicken in Graham's sandwiches and other dishes is all-natural and local.

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Graham started sharing the scratch-made dinners she was used to feeding her family after moving to Hudson in 2002 and joining the Hudson Newcomers, signing up for meal trains for folks who had babies or were hospitalized. The response was so enthusiastic, Graham started emailing close friends about dinners she was cooking twice a month from her home, which she would deliver to those who ordered.

That became too much to keep running out of her home, so she found her current restaurant space, starting out with three employees and a lunch menu of salads and sandwiches. Graham, who now has six part-time employees, later added dinners, which she offers Tuesdays through Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m.

She also tries to do at least one vegetarian meal per week, which a couple weeks ago included a black bean beet burger. Once she posts her dinner specials each week on social media, she starts getting calls on Tuesday mornings for dinner orders for the three nights.

Some of the most popular items on Graham's seasonal menu are the chicken Parmesan burger made from ground chicken with fresh mozzarella, arugula, radicchio and marinara; and her lasagna with Italian sausage, whose fresh pasta she rolls by hand. Of course, she makes her own sauce.

Most popular sandwiches include roasted chicken salad sandwich with fresh tarragon, and the grilled veggie sandwich with seasoned portobello mushroom cap, herbed goat cheese, pan-seared zucchini and roasted red pepper relish on focaccia.

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Interestingly, Graham makes her bagels from scratch, which is a 14-hour process. She offers rosemary, sea salt and everything bagels, making two dozen on Thursdays to serve Fridays and Saturdays.

Steve and I couldn't resist taking a handmade rosemary bagel home for later. It was the most fragrant, delightfully fresh herbed bagel I've ever tasted.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Details

Restaurant: The Fork & Knife

Address: 46 Ravenna St., Evaporator Works, Hudson

Hours: 11 .m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Information: 330-653-3765 or www.theforkandknife.com

Social media: Facebook @theforkandknifehudson, Instagram theforkknife, Twitter @THEForkKnife