The New Sushi Truck on the Block

Streamline Sushi wraps up first summer in TC

By Art Bukowski | Sept. 12, 2026

Drive down Eighth Street these days and you might catch the sun gleaming off a vintage Streamline trailer parked next to Cordwood BBQ’s brick-and-mortar location.

Inside is the sushi man. We’re talking about Eric Kolden, who has a long history of slinging this classic Japanese staple around town. He started Red Ginger’s sushi program (and was executive sushi chef there for several years) before running the popular White On Rice food truck and restaurant for almost a decade.

Now, he’s back in the saddle with Streamline Sushi, his latest endeavor into a food category that he is incredibly passionate about.

“I love its simplicity and cleanliness, and it gives you an overall flavor experience that is unmatched—I don’t care what cuisine you’re eating,” he says. “It’s just so different.”

Kolden initially trained directly with Japanese chefs and has since spent years rolling up the good stuff. Between his training and experience, he’ll put his sushi up against anything else you might find in the region.

“If you’re going to eat sushi in northern Michigan, I’m the one,” he says. “I’ve been doing sushi for a very long time…and I’ve trained so many people in town. People get an extension of what I was taught, which was from a Japanese chef who didn’t mess around.”

Northern Express sat down with Kolden to learn more about why he started Streamline Sushi and what folks can expect from this new truck, which opened only a few months ago.

The Truck

White on Rice started with a food truck at the Little Fleet before eventually establishing itself in a brick-and-mortar location on 14th Street. The business never really recovered after COVID, Kolden said, and it closed in early 2023.

Kolden recently helped open The Pretty Penny Steakhouse downtown, where he served as executive chef. But something just didn’t feel right. He wanted to own his own operation again, for one, but he also wanted to be doing what he loves the most—sushi.

So he acquired the old Streamline and struck a deal with Cordwood to park in their lot for the summer. He worked hard to make the Streamline the perfect kitchen for killer sushi.

“I think I did it in five weeks from striking the deal of purchase to serving the first sushi roll,” he says. “You get so excited to open and then all of the sudden you actually are open, and you’re doing the thing you really want to be doing…it feels like you’re back in the saddle again.”

The Streamline is a much better fit for cooking than the old White On Rice truck, and being at the social district along Eighth Street is amazing, Kolden says. The energy and people are fantastic, and the neighbors (among them Tank Space and Oakwood Proper Burgers) can’t be beat.

“I really, really love being in this district,” he says.

The Food

Streamline Sushi has a relatively streamlined menu. This is by design, so Kolden can make a few things, but make them really well. You can’t go wrong no matter what you choose, he says, because he makes sure the key ingredient is perfect.

“No matter what roll you get, it’s always going to be awesome because the rice is so well taken care of by me,” he says. “Sushi means vinegared rice, and if that’s the ingredient that’s in all of it, then it has to be the best. If you have gummy rice, or cold rice, or dry rice—we all know it, we’ve all had it—it’s going to be bad sushi.”

He does have his favorites, of course, including the shrimp tempura roll.

“It has fresh black tiger shrimp that’s tempura fried, avocado, spicy mayonnaise, green onions,” he says. “Eight pieces with crispy topping and more of the spicy mayonnaise and green onions. It’s an umami bomb—just awesome.”

He’s also quite fond of the katsu curry.

“It’s fried pork over rice with brown sweet curry sauce, Japanese style,” he says. “The katsu curry is an entrée and the shrimp tempura is an eight piece roll, so they’re different in size and cost, but you really can’t go wrong with either.”

Although there are a lot of bread-and-butter classics on the menu (California roll, anyone?), Kolden is always trying to keep things fresh.

“I'm in a situation where I’m kind of experimenting with some new ideas,” he says. “I don’t want to be using asparagus anymore, for example. It’s not in season. So I’m switching over to stewed shiitake mushrooms that I’m doing in-house.”

He’d like to at some point expand the menu, but he’s in no rush.

“I’d like to add ramen, bao buns, and pot stickers as well as other things, but for now, I think we’ve got a really great mix and I think we can appeal to everybody,” he says. “And the coolest part about being in the district down here is if I don’t have what you want, you got so many other options that are really good, from barbecue to burgers and beyond.”

So far, people have seemed to dig what Kolden is offering.

“I’ve seen people from the glory days, be it White on Rice or even before that at Red Ginger saying, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s great to have you back. We’re so glad you're producing again.’ Stuff like that. Or, ‘We didn’t know you were here. We’ll be back,’” he says. “I’ve had a really nice reception from the community so far.”

Find Streamline Sushi at 1125 E Eighth St. in Traverse City. instagram.com/streamlinesushi