Paul Polk and Nikki Gregory, owners of Charlotte’s Southern Deli and Tapas (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
After meeting a decade ago at culinary school, 28-year-old Newport News native Nikki Gregory and 32-year-old Paul Polk of Kilmarnock have been together in the kitchen — and in life — ever since. The chef-owners and avid Kendrick Lamar fans behind the charming Financial District eatery Charlotte’s Southern Deli and Tapas will celebrate one year in business in April. Their menu harmoniously blends the flavors of Virginia with other cuisines, boasting items such as jook (rice porridge) with pickled eggs or chicken galantine wrapped with Edwards ham and served with house-made tomato jam.
Richmond magazine: What is your culinary background?
Nikki Gregory: We met at Johnson & Wales in Charlotte, hence the name Charlotte’s. After graduating, we worked together at the Williamsburg Lodge & Conference Center and did an apprenticeship for about four years and then decided to venture out on our own. We opened at The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News for about seven to eight months and parted ways to become more accessible to friends and diners.
RM: Did you know what you wanted Charlotte's concept to be?
Gregory: We always knew we wanted dishes that looked like Grandma’s, with mismatched plates, and definitely knew the theme. We knew we wanted it to look like a place you could take a break from the office — as least commercial as possible.
RM: What was cooking like in your households growing up?
Paul Polk: Both my parents worked a lot, so we were members of the Stouffer’s gang — I lived on the lasagna and Hot Pockets. [Laughs] And when I learned how to make eggs, I made eggs a million different ways. I grew up watching my grandmother can things, and my granddad had a garden.
Gregory: My dad was actually an executive chef, but he worked all the time. People are always like, ‘Oh, so your dad taught you how to cook?’ And it’s like, ‘No, he was working all the time.’ [Laughs] He was definitely super supportive, [though] and would randomly [quiz] me, like, ‘What’s chow chow?’ He was who I could talk to about kitchen stuff, and it was cool having someone to relate to [with] the same issues.
RM: How has the journey to becoming a restaurateur been?
Polk: I don’t think there’s a level of prepared you can be. I stopped cooking for three years professionally. I needed a break.
Gregory: The industry gets a little political, and we were on the short end of the stick, being [passed over] for new positions. It’s a lot of stereotypes that we work really hard not to be. We wanted, for example, to have fried chicken, but you don’t want to just have fried chicken, so we did the galantine. Nobody tries to tell you what the real journey of opening a restaurant is. We’ve had ups and downs, and in Newport News, it felt like we were being blocked out or people didn’t take us seriously. That was what pushed us to come up here in 2017.
RM: What is it like being partners in life and business?
Gregory: People think it’s weird because we spend so many hours together, but my mom describes us as brother and sister, and we argue like it. It’s actually been pretty cool to be able to talk to Paul about stuff.
Polk: I’m not sick of her yet. [Laughs]
