Kings take over at Island Deli
James King and Gina Powers-King met 25 years ago in San Francisco. Although they currently live off-island, James grew up near Pine Island, he said, having gone to elementary, middle and high school in Cape Coral.
His mother, a retired Pine Island Elementary School teacher, brought it to the couple’s attention that the Island Deli was for sale. He said acquiring it happened fairly quickly after that.
The restaurant business is nothing new for either of the Kings, as they have been in the industry for over 30 years. Gina’s family owned a diner while she was growing up and James owned Table 209 in Punta Gorda, and Opus Fine Dining, also in Punta Gorda.
“We had a great deal of success and it was a lot of fun,” King said of the experience with both restaurants.
Just days before moving back to Southwest Florida, James was a corporate executive chef for a restaurant group in Tampa, where Gina said he would oversee and problem-solve for a number of restaurants within the group. After all the corporate work, James admits he’s missed the soul of a restaurant.
“We always talk about her grandmother’s little place and making ties — Gina makes great soul food. We wanted to get something where we could express ourselves, instead of someone else’s corporate identity,” James said.
“We’ve done a lot of high end, fine dining kind of food, which is great, but it just doesn’t have the soul,” Gina said.
Preparing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of food for hundreds of people is something with which the couple has grown very familiar and now they are looking forward to bring more of a home feeling to their menu at the little island deli.
“We want to get back into the community. One of the best things about this business is feeding people. That’s what it’s all about. At the end of the day if we can make someone’s day better, than we’ve done our job,” James said.
Although the Kings don’t want to make any abrupt changes, they are understandably looking forward to adding their own flavor and style to their new business. One change that came without their consent, they said, is that Boar’s Head is no longer delivering to restaurants.
“We are here to feed you. Come on in and try new things,” Gina said.
“I want to say thank you. A lot of people have come in and been really encouraging and excited to introduce themselves and welcome us into the community. I’m looking forward to being part of this after all the corporate stuff. We’re home, so let’s have a good time,” James said.
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