Downtown Pensacola’s Asian-fusion restaurant, 86 Forks Bar & Table, is named that way because, you know, you’re supposed to “86” (get rid of) the forks and use the chopsticks or even your hands and fingers for some plates.
When new head chef Mia Harman, just weeks into her position, brought us out the grilled amberjack with a black garlic marinade, hard-seared broccolini, grilled mandarin and rich and flavorful sauces, along with bulgogi egg roll with a kimchi aioli and an Asian pear green papaya salad, I was tempted to 86 common decency, shove my face into the plate, and lick the sauce up afterward.
That wouldn’t have gone over well, particularly after all of the hard work by 86 Forks’ owner, Aimee Nicholas.
“We’re making everything a little bit more elevated,” Nicholas said. “We have a new chef and we’re really fine tuning the recipes and kind of curating the menu. The menu was a little bit larger, and so we’re taking off some dishes so we can really focus on the dishes that will shine.”
86 Forks is located at 11 Palafox Place and closes on Tuesdays, but is open for lunch and dinner on the other six days of the week.
The kitchen has recently undergone a redesign with new equipment and rearrangement of previous equipment, while the back patio will soon get new tables and seating.
Nicholas said part of the interior redesign, which is still ongoing, includes moving the expo window to the center where the restaurant will introduce a special chef’s tasting menu so patrons can watch the chef and staff prepare a five-course meal.
“That will probably cost around $75 to $100,” she said. “Guests will be able to sit down and enjoy watching the chefs cook. We want guests to be part of that experience.”
Nicholas said it’s part of a plan to reclaim 86 Forks’ original vision.
“I admit, I think it lost its identity a bit,” she said. “I wanted to take the reins back and brought in a chef who could really put my vision out there. She has a lot of experience and just elevates the food. She’s bringing more structure to the kitchen. We’re getting fresh seafood from Maria’s (Maria’s Fresh Seafood Market on Cervantes) and she’s teaching the chefs different things like how to break down a whole fish. She’s really elevating the dishes.”
Harman previously worked as a sous chef at a Hilton property near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, as well as a lead line expeditor at the prestigious Medina Country Club, famous in the golf world for hosting five major championships, as well as the Ryder Cup in 2012 and the upcoming Presidents Cup in September 2026. Those are just two of the many dining establishments where she has honed her skills.
The chef, who is from the Chicago area, frequently visited Northwest Florida beaches on vacation with her parents as a child. When her parents moved to the area recently, she relocated as well.
Nicholas and Harman met through a job posting on Indeed, an internet job search site.
“I did a blind ad and didn’t necessarily say what the place was, I just said it was downtown and that a new concept was coming because I wanted to see the chefs out there and the kind of person who would apply. We did a phone interview, and she said her style of cooking and what she gravitates toward is Asian fusion, which is exactly our brand identity.”
Harman said she feels at home in her new position.
“I loved the direction they wanted to take this place and how they wanted to elevate it,” she said. “So, I was ready to get my hands in and it’s been an incredible experience so far.”
Nicholas, a Los Angeles native, is a successful entrepreneur who founded an import/export business in the late 1990s and also worked as a systems analyst for a government contractor. She moved to Pensacola in 2012 and soon worked on the business side at both the Tin Cow and Hopjacks, two former Palafox eateries.
She opened her first restaurant, Pot Roast & Pinot in 2013 on Cervantes Street, moving to the Palafox location where Nicholas now operates 86 Forks in 2018. Then COVID hit.
“I just wanted to reset the concept,” she said. “I’m part Asian—my mom is from Thailand—and so I just kind of pivoted to that with small plates and noodle bowls and new flavors.”
Pot Roast & Pinot closed and in 2020, Nicholas opened 86 Forks.
“As a kid, I would go to Thailand for the entire summer,” Nicholas said. “I speak it fluently and I’ve been there dozens of times.”
She said you can see the popularity of Asian food and Asian fusion in many restaurants that use those cultural influences in some dishes and specialty menus.
“I want to present that in a way that everyone would be proud,” Nicholas said. “So many restaurants have some kind of Asian spin, because people love the flavor profile.”
86 Forks is known for its small plates and noodle bowls, as well as many appetizers and entrees.
While the menu is being refined and more focused, certain items can never leave because of their popularity.
“We do lobster rangoons, which are very popular,” Nicholas said. “A lot of places do crab rangoons so we’ll definitely keep them, and we do a dish that’s barbeque spareribs with like a sticky ponzu sauce that people love. They’re like ‘Please don’t take that off.'”
The restaurant offers a variety of noodle bowls, from grilled chicken and shrimp rice to tofu and chasu pork belly as well as small plates that include miso glazed salmon, togarashi-spiced pork loin, and more. 86 Forks also serves a variety of bao buns, including ribeye kimchi, Korean barbecue pork belly and more.
“We’re looking for these big, colorful flavors,” Nicholas said. “We really want to elevate everything about (the restaurant).”
Though she runs the show, she is receiving assistance from her husband, Jerry Nicholas. The couple married in February. He’s helping with the interior remodeling and has been a longtime fan of his wife’s cuisine, dating back to Pot Roast & Pinot.
A Chicago native himself, he’s excited about his wife’s new direction and the addition of Harman as chef.
“She has these new recipes and these Asian fusion flavors,” he said of Harman. “She has great presentation on plates and brings structure to the kitchen.”
For Aimee Harman, she hopes to return to her original vision.
“I think we kind of shifted away from that,” she said. “But that’s what we want to get back to. Real flair and flavor.”
For more information on 86 Forks Bar & Table, including menus, go to www.86forks.com.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Palafox 86 Forks revamps for more elevated flavors, experience
Dining and Cooking