From Wall Street to the corner deli

Richard Tedesco

For Kal Gullapalli, moving from a position as a Wall Street investment analyst to owning a delicatessen was a dream come true.

Gullapalli, 31, who owns the Fork & Cleaver deli at 738 Hilliside Ave. in New Hyde Park, managed a Little Caesar’s pizza restaurant while attending high school in his home town of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. 

He subsequently graduated from the University of Michigan as an economics major, and then worked at Merrill Lynch in lower Manhattan in investment banking for two years and as an investment analyst focusing on retail business for four years.

“I always wanted to get back in it,” Gullapalli said of the retail food business. “I always wanted to create my own concept.”

So two years ago, he bought a deli in Malverne, the first Fork & Cleaver in a chain he hopes to grow.

Last year, he got acquainted with Joe Picciuca, who owned and operated Joe’s Meat Gourmet Deli at the new Fork & Cleaver location in New Hyde Park. He spent time working behind the counter, got a sense of the customers – “a lot of good people” – and realized what a solid business the deli had before he bought it last fall.

“I just wanted to build on what Joe did. I took over a strong business. It’s my job to maintain the standards,” Gullapalli said.

Fork & Cleaver maintains a butcher shop and deli. The only new wrinkle he’s added is a full-service catering business offering hot and cold foods. So far, he said the barbecue platters he offers are the top draw for the catering side of the business.

Gullapalli said his short-term goal is simply to maintain the two delis he’s currently operating. Eventually, he said, he wants to expand his business to become a chain of delis in Nassau County.

“I like the customer interaction. I like making people happy,” he said. “People take food very seriously. When someone tells me they had a good meal, that makes me happy.”

Gullapalli is a member of the Greater New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce and looks forward to becoming involved in other community organizations.

“I like to be part of the community as much as I can,” he said. 

Married for three years, he and his wife, Priya, live in Rockville Centre.

When he’s not keeping tabs on his two businesses or spending time with his wife, he enjoys an occasional game of golf.

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