Feeding the Conversation at forkheartknife

Forkheartknife, the newest addition to Over-the-Rhine’s burgeoning food and independent retailer scene, is more than just a catering business and eat-in kitchen. The new spot at the corner of Main Street and Liberty is really about taking advantage of an opportunity, doing something unique, and working to create a sense of community. 

Sierra Laumer, a 2005 graduate of Cincinnati State’s culinary arts program, enlisted lifelong friend, Leah Heiselgrande to put their eat- kitchen concept into action.The two grew up together in Winton Place, now Spring Grove, and had worked together. at What’s for Dinner?, Daveeds, and Arnolds.  Both made the move out West – Heiselgrande moved to Colorado after attending Ohio University – Laumer to Walla Walla, Washington with a boyfriend who wanted to learn how to make wine. Walla Walla’s bountiful restaurant scene provided the initial inspiration for Laumer to put her culinary degree to the test.

“It has an amazing food scene, tons of agriculture, tons of fresh produce and totally different than anything I had experienced here in the city. People cook differently, and eat differently.  It’s totally inspiring,” she recalls.

But Laumer wanted to start her own business and knew she would need the support of family and friends, and much more affordable market to make her mark in Cincinnati.

“There are a lot of other transplants [in Walla Walla] and things are way more expensive,” she says. “I wouldn’t have been able to have that kind of support out there.”

Laumer says her sister Jenna, who had also moved to Walla Walla, helped hatch the plot to open her own place.

“She was a lot of the inspiration, always involved in the food part of this. There was a lot of dreaming together on what would be the ideal place,” she says.

That place, turned out to be Over-the-Rhine and how Laumer and Heiselgrande ultimately arrived there is equal parts bittersweet and inspirational for the pair.

After returning from Washington, Laumer’s sister Jenna began working for Urban Sites and kept her sister apprised about the resurgent development in the Gateway Quarter.  Not completely new to the neighborhood, Laumer and Heiselgrande had been working at Coffee Emporium.  The Coffee shop’s ‘center of the universe’ vibe made an impression on the business partners.

“There’s so much community support in OTR, so many great interaction with other business owners, 3CDC, Urban Sites. Everyone is really supportive of each other. We fell in love with it because of that.”  It also fit in nicely with their idea of an eat-in kitchen to complement a catering business.

“Its’ a big part of what we want to create with the new space is a sense of community,” Heiselgrande says.

Laumer’s sister Jenna was diagnosed with cancer in April 2009, and she spent the last past year cooking for her sister. She says food played a pivotal role in making things more bearable for Jenna and her close knit family while dealing with the endless visits and sterile environs of hospitals.

“The food would change the way we would experience the place,” she would recall.
So, inspired by the power of food to bring people together, she started planning for the type of restaurant she could open when Jenna recovered.

That was not to be. Jenna died this past January, and Laumer says losing her sister made her realize how precious time is and, armed with the knowledge and support her sister gave her, put her plans on a fast track.

“I’m not going to sit around and cry about this,” she recalls. “I’m going to do something.”

Appropriately, it was Jenna who convinced Sierra to move to Over-the-Rhine to live when she returned from Washington, and ultimately Jenna’s boss at Urban Sites, Greg Olsen, who would help Laumer and Heiselgrande identify  the perfect spot on Main Street in a space previously occupied by Take the Cake to start their new venture.

In three months time, Laumer and Heiselgrande, with the unending help of family and friends, began setting up shop in their new storefront. Laumer acknowledges her sister’s passing put her on an accelerated timeline.

“It’s a big part of where the action part of this took place. That’s it.”

Now open less than one week, the business plans to evolve naturally according to Laumer.

“We’re going to use it as a catering kitchen and whatever eat-in happens is going to be something we think will be fun, we have food ideas for,” she says.

The catering part of forkheartknife will take up the majority of their time, but they plan to use social media and word of mouth to keep their customers up on when the kitchen is ‘open.’  Heiselgrande says their hours will evolve based on what their customers and neighbors’ wants are and what the small shop can accommodate.

“We want to figure out what’s needed first. People here need lunch, breakfast dinner and late night. We’d like to tap into what is happening but we’re only going to answer a piece of it.”

The pair plan do plan to be open for Second Sundays in OTR, offering muffins and tarts, and have another tapas idea for upcoming Final Fridays.

Part of the novelty of forkheartknife will be the absence of a set menu. Laumer says they’ll stick with small plates and street food inspired by the produce they source at Findlay and local farmers markets as well as from a friend’s farm in Oxford, keeping its simple and straightforward.

“I love eating food as tapas, having a few little bites and making it last a long time. It transforms really easy to street food. We’re putting them in to-go containers so people will take them,” she says.

Heiselgrande agrees and says it was always part of the plan to capture that sense of community they both enjoyed out West that will make forkheartknife unique.

“Things that bring people together, color, flavor and eating with your hands the whole idea of slow-eating as well,” she says. “Having it be an experience as opposed to just nourishing yourself,”

And Heiselgrande hopes forkheartknife’s customers are ready to trust Laumer – she certainly does.

“Sierra is intensely creative when she’s cooking. Getting bogged down with a menu that doesn’t change is hard for a chef, this is their art, so we’d love for it to be the kind of thing where customers are ready to eat whatever she’s preparing. We’re really asking for their trust.”

The cozy eat-in kitchen offered a soft opening this past weekend. Their open kitchen occupies most of the space, and hand crafted wooden benches and tables – made from  old materials from the former Clark Montessori school that Laumer’s father gave her, and handcrafted by another ‘family’  member, Jenna’s boyfriend, Timmy Carlin – was inspired by similar set ups in Take the Cake and Slims. Friday night’s offerings – hand written on brown paper wrapping – included ‘quickles,’ Laumer’s overnight pickles, speared with root vegetables on a kabob, bocadillo sandwiches with prosciutto and manchego cheese, and roasted crispy potatoes. The kitchen was packed with friends, family, and many of the kitchen’s new, curious neighbors stopping by. Sunday, they held a special sold-out Mother’s day brunch with egg tarts and fruit gazpacho, and a flourless chocolate cake – a favorite of Laumer’s ‘chocoholic’ mother.

Heiselgrande might be Laumer’s biggest fan.

“Sierra’s cooking is unique. I’ve experienced firsthand what it’s like to show up in her kitchen and be handed a plate of food. That’s really what sold me on this concept. The food is so good, and creative, and it makes you really happy.”

It’s a mutual benefit society according to Laumer.

“It makes me really happy to cook. I need to watch you eat it because that makes me happy,” she says.

And Laumer says the possibilities in her new neighborhood for other entrepreneurs are endless.

“If someone has an idea and talk to whoever owns the building and see if they can do something.  They want people here and not every neighborhood wants adventurous people.”