Bringing a big city experience into East Texas, there’s a combination restaurant and woodworking company that’s creating a unique destination.

Within the same storefront in Jacksonville, you can visit Food & Table and Forrest Design Company that combine high-quality food with exquisite woodworking. For us in East Texas, it will feel almost like pure luck that we can now enjoy what they have to offer.

Owners RJ Moore & Bud Farmer, met as children and even graduated together in Jacksonville, but went their separate ways as adults, both moving to different states. Come 2018, Farmer starts his own woodworking shop but doesn’t quite have the space to display the works, and Moore has been at culinary school and later living in California before moving back to Jacksonville. Farmer even said, ”We still talk about it today, like how crazy it is to be working together in business. I honestly never would have guessed we would have been back in Jacksonville together.”

Neither one felt like they could justify taking up an entire building for their business, and one fateful day when Farmer’s wife, Anne, spoke with the previous building owners, and before too long, both businesses had a home. “She was like, ‘You guys should do this together, you know, like kind of open this whole thing up.’ And that’s when the wheels just started spinning,” said Moore, while Farmer added, “We kind of decided to give it a go and made an offer.”

One of the most unique aspects of Food & Table is their Omakase Experience. If you’re not familiar with the term, Omakase is a Japanese phrase that means “I’ll leave it up to you.” This is a much more intimate dining experience that is open each Saturday at 5:30 PM & 8:00 PM, with no more than 10 people at a time, having typically 10 or more courses (paired with drinks if you like!), and features ingredients from all around the world. Each week, the courses change so no two experiences will be the same.

• You can see more about the Omakase Experience here

“It’s like a history class, you know, like you get in and out of all the courses, you see him preparing them. You can jump in there, ask questions. He’ll explain where the fish is coming from, what he’s doing, how he’s preparing it,” said Farmer.

During the week though, you can enjoy lunch Monday thru Friday from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM with Friday dinners from 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM. These are made from scratch in-house meals that feature more local products and provides a rotating menu of items to enjoy. Moore prides himself on his burgers, so whether you’re up for an adventure or something more familiar, you’ll be in for a treat.

“I have like a French culinary background, but then also been submerged into sushi for almost like 15 years,” said Moore. “It comes from pretty much everywhere, simple places that I eat, books, YouTube, pretty much researching as much as I can, and then just seeing kind of what everyone’s doing, but then making it my own, like my own little flair.”

While Moore is in charge of the food at Food & Table, Farmer is the mastermind behind the woodworking pieces you’ll see throughout the space. Right when you walk in the door, you’ll see many pieces of custom woodworking that Farmer has done himself available for purchase. Even the tables you see within the restaurant were made by Farmer and can be purchased! 1% of all sales for Forrest Design Company products go to environmental causes along with the planting of 2 trees.

“The whole thing with the showroom was to be able to offer the products, let them come in and kind of see it, put their hands on it, feel it, kind of see the quality,” said Farmer.

One thing that both Moore and Farmer are passionate about is providing a high-quality experience for their customers, and that’s exactly what you get when you visit, whether you’re dining at Food & Table or perusing the woodworking pieces from Forrest Design Company.

“I‘m a big believer that if people can see your excitement and your enthusiasm, you know, that’s going to translate through to the products,” said Farmer. “And so, that’s kind of what we wanted to create is just a place, an atmosphere, where everybody’s welcome and whoever it is can come and enjoy a good spot.”

You can visit Food & Table and the Forrest Design Company showroom Monday thru Thursday from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM & Fridays has lunch from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM, dinner from 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM, and the bar open from 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM. Saturdays are reservations only with the Omakase Experience.

You can learn more about Food & Table by visiting their website, or keeping up with the Facebook & Instagram pages for food updates. Visit Forrest Design Company’s website to see all the products they have, or visit their Facebook & Instagram pages for a closer look.

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