Brian Polcyn Biography

Award winning chef and charcuterie experts Brian Polcyn is nationally recognized for his creativity and vision behind Detroit’s most highly praised restaurants. Brian showed off his young skills at two of Michigan’s most prestigious restaurants, The Golden Mushroom with Certified Master Chef Milos Ciihelka and The Lark. Before opening Forest Grill in Birmingham, Michigan, he created four of Michigan’s most prestigious restaurants.

His cooking debut was in 1987 at Street Restaurant in Pontiac, Michigan. Within weeks, food critics from all over were throwing accolades at Brian and his team. In 1990, he premiered Chimayo, Michigan’s first restaurant featuring authentic Southwestern cuisine and three years later, he created Acadia, where chefs cooked over a variety of hard woods. Brian Polcyn then opened Five Lakes Grill in Milford.

Brian Polcyn has been featured in Michael Ruhlman’s book, The Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection which takes the reader through Brian’s demanding weeklong Certified Master Chef practicum and exam at the Culinary Institute of America. In 2005, Briand teamed with Michael to publish Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing. The book was nominated for a James Beard Award. Demand for Brian’s gastronomical expertise was at an all time high and upon his return to Oakland County, he opened his second restaurant in 2008 called Forest Grill. The location was perfect, with ideal timing for the Birmingham Forest Grill project. The Forest Grill in an American bistro providing fine food to its customers while incorporating elements of traditional European cooking mixed with a modern American cuisine.

Chef Brian has been featured in various publications including The New York Times, The Detroit News, Atlantic Monthly, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Playboy, Detroit Hour Magazine, The Detroit Free Press and Wine Spectator. He received three gold medals and silver from The American Culinary Federation, The Hiram Walker Corporation awarded him as the Rising Star in American Cuisine and he was first runner up in the semi-annual American Culinary Gold Cup Bocuse d’Or. His restaurant, Five Lakes Grill won best restaurant in 2005, and Brian was nominated for Best Chef Midwest by the James Beard Foundation. He has been a cook at several James Beard House dinners in New York City, participates at the Traverse City Epicurean Classic, and StarChefs International Chefs Congress. Brian Polcyn is also a teacher at Schoolcraft College and teaches charcuterie. He is available for hosting, cooking demonstrations and speaking engagements.

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