North Fork, NMU's Teaching Kitchen
North Fork, NMU's Teaching Kitchen
North Fork, NMU's Teaching Kitchen
A Student-Run Restaurant in the Heart of Campus
North Fork, NMU’s Teaching Kitchen, is a dining laboratory developed, staffed, and operated by NMU’s Food Service Operations and Hospitality Leadership students. This full-service restaurant, event space, and classroom provides unique opportunities for our community, students, and industry to come together. While the restaurant is continuously used for student education, we are open to the public based each spring semester.
This unique dining opportunity evolves with our students' goals and aspirations as they lead our menu creation and service style each semester. While operating the Teaching Kitchen, students gain experience developing and managing a fine-dining kitchen, dining room, and service staff in a hands-on environment.
When guests dine at North Fork, they actively participate in educating tomorrow's hospitality leaders. While we train for guest satisfaction, the Training Kitchen's overall goal is to advance our students' education.
RESERVATIONS & UPCOMING EVENTS
We are once again proudly partnering with NMU Theatre & Dance to bring you Dinner & a Show: A Streetcar Named Desire on Friday, February 20, 2026. Guests are invited to join us for dinner in the North Fork restaurant with a performance of "A Streetcar Named Desire" to follow put on by Theatre & Dance. Additional information including ticket sales will be announced shortly.
The North Fork restaurant will be open for the Winter semester beginning Thursday, March 12, 2026. Reservations open mid-February and are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays until Thursday, April 2, 2026.
The Main Event will be making a grand return on Saturday, April 18th, 2026. More information to follow.
Thank you to all who supported us during the spring of 2025. During our six weeks of operations, program students served over 350 four-course meals, expanding their technical and personal skill sets.
You can follow The Jake at NMU on Facebook to follow along with events and happenings throughout the school year.
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Our Students are the Leaders
Thoughtfully Curated Menus
The first two years of the Hospitality program are spent largely in the kitchen learning the foundation of professional cooking. As students grow in their education and build upon this knowledge, they're given the support, guidance, and freedom to explore these new concepts and confidently express themselves with the dishes they create.
Our students are the stars behind the menu of each restaurant menu. Through careful curation, trials, and collaboration, the students thoughtfully design each menu to ensure a gastronomic journey for our guests.
Menus are developed as part of our coursework. Our menu is entirely created, tested, and finalized within our first seven weeks of class. The program takes pride in this significant accomplishment from our student body and prioritizes this educational accomplishment.
An Unforgettable Dining Experience
The students are at the helm of the front of the house as well. Their leadership skills are on full display as they expertly coordinate the dance between the kitchen and the waitstaff, allowing the restaurant to hum along as they work with grace under pressure.
Our students are able to anticipate guests' needs and expertly describe each deliberate choice made with the menu, decor, and theme. Their education builds to these moments when they work as a team to build each event from the ground up, the greatest reward earned when our guests are enjoying their hard work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are you located?
We're located in the Northern Center on NMU's campus in room 2217. Visitors may park in the Lee Drive parking lot or the West Kaye parking lot. For detailed instructions on our location, please see this map.
What is your tipping policy?
While tipping is never expected, guests who wish to leave a monetary thank you are welcome to do so. Any funds provided beyond the cost of a guest’s ticket are considered donations to the program rather than gratuities for individual students. All contributions are pooled into a shared fund to ensure fairness across our classroom, program, and university.
Donations directly support the student body through investments that enhance the classroom experience, reflect current industry trends, and strengthen the community within the hospitality programs. Students collaboratively select, research, and finalize how these funds are used—making meaningful investments that benefit current learners and future generations of alumni.
Donations may be made at any time by cash or check, or by credit card during North Fork service.
What's the dress code at North Fork?
Do you have a cancellation policy? What if I'm running late for my reservation?
North Fork cancellations must be placed five (5) business days in advance by contacting NMU Ticketing at tickets.nmu.edu or 906-227-1032 in order to receive a reservation deposit refund. Cancellations made less than five (5) days in advance are non-refundable.
Guests arriving late will be provided a grace period of 15 minutes. Arriving past this grace period may result in being seated at the bar or loss of reservation.
Program events will have individual cancellation policies based on event type. Specific information regarding these policies can be found on the event's NMU Ticketing webpage.
Program Links
- Mailing List
- Reservations
- Student Application for Articulated CTE Credit
- Hospitality Leadership Advisory Committee
- North Fork Map
- Student Handbook & Uniform Policy
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Contact Information
Contact Information
North Fork, NMU's Teaching Kitchen, is located in the Northern Center Room 2217 on Northern Michigan University's campus, 1401 Presque Isle Avenue in Marquette.
Faculty & Staff
Loganne Glendening | Associate Professor
Phone: 906-227-1958
Email: lglenden@nmu.edu
Alden MacDonald | Assistant Professor
Phone: 906-227-2601
Email: agriffus@nmu.edu