Nicholas Forte

The Climb

Pastry training at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas set the base layer for Nicholas Forte before the pace of service and production took over. Early work as a cake artist at High-end catering company called for control over finish, proportion, and presentation—the kind of labor where clean edges and steady hands matter as much as flavor. In 2016, the work moved into the kitchen at Joel Robuchon restaurant at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, first as a pastry cook at Joel Robuchon restaurant at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (from 2016), then as sous chef at Joel Robuchon restaurant at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (from 2016). The shift from decorating to line responsibility widened the scope, but the discipline stayed the same: precision, repetition, and attention to detail. Texture and finish became the focus at Encore Boston Harbor in Boston, where Nicholas Forte served as chocolatier. The role brought pastry technique into a narrower register, one defined by restraint and control. From there, the work expanded again into corporate oversight, where pastry is measured not just by one plate or one room, but by how consistently it can hold across properties and teams.

Today

At Tao Group Hospitality, Nicholas Forte serves as Corporate Pastry Chef, overseeing pastry operations across twelve West Coast properties. The job is as much about standards as it is about desserts: keeping a single voice intact while recipes move between kitchens, service styles, and levels of scale. He crafts innovative desserts and leads global recipe development, placing his work at the center of how the group builds and repeats its pastry language. "I started as a cake decorator in high school and now work as a Corporate Pastry Chef for a renowned hospitality group." The line is plain, and that is part of its usefulness. It marks the progression from early practice to corporate responsibility without dressing up the labor that made the progression possible. Membership in Club Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie Team USA places Nicholas Forte within a competitive pastry field that values precision under pressure.

Signature

Nicholas's signature dishes include Heeler house cake and duck cake. In pastry, a signature has to do more than name a style; it has to hold technique, finish, and intent in the same frame.

In Their Words “I started as a cake decorator in high school and now work as a Corporate Pastry Chef for a renowned hospitality group.”

Recognition

Recognition for Nicholas Forte sits in the work itself as much as in the title. Club Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie Team USA marks him as a pastry professional operating at a level where competition, standards, and consistency all matter. In that context, the career reads as steady accumulation: training, line work, chocolate, and then the broader responsibility of shaping dessert programs across a large hospitality group.