(Photo courtesy of Nik R. Cole)
Nik Cole is an executive chef and storyteller who turned her passions into successful businesses. What started out as a small dinner party, turned into two booming entities: Fried Chicken & Caviar and The SpeakEasy Detroit Storyteller’s Edition. With the help of her co-owner and business partner Chi Walker, both businesses were born in 2018. Fast forward to present day, the dynamic duo plans to once again to bring their services and talents to 4th Annual ‘The Take Over’ holiday event, set to happen in Detroit on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022 from 4 p.m. – 9 p.m..
The holiday event, also brought to you by What’s the Current and The Perfect 10, will not only be a festive evening in Detroit where the community can come out and celebrate each other, but all donations will go towards the iDentify Your Dream Foundation. The event will be held at the Detroit City Distillery, 2642 Riopelle St., Detroit, MI, 48207.
Cole shared her inspiration behind the event and what drives her passions.
What was the inspiration behind becoming a chef?
I think my earliest memory of loving food was when my grandfather would go to the market on Saturday’s and he would take me with him. I remember he would be bartering with the people for collard greens or even a plant. There was just so much hustle and bustle about food and all this freshness with people trading. I was like, “I love it here.” I loved watching [him]trade fresh produce, taking them home and watching him cook things. He would hand me green beans to snap and that was my earliest memory of when I first knew I was going to be cooking for the rest of my life.
As a storyteller, can you tell us a story that always resonates well with the crowd at the SpeakEasy Storyteller’s Edition?
Over the years, I’ve switched up the way we tell the stories. Of course people would come and they would always want to tell a sad story. The audience would be in shambles and to me it’s really just not that much fun. So, I do mix the stories up and I let people tell different types of stories. Some people tell these really powerful inspirational stories and some share funny stories, and those are my favorite. My friend once came and told a story about dating and she gave the 10 rules of what men should not say to women. Things like, “good morning queen.” Or when [women]go on a date, what [type of]men to avoid, for example a man who eats a well done steak. I thought it was a really cute story and the audience was really interested.
How do you want people to prepare for the event?
I just want people to come and have a good time, fellowship, and remember that we are doing this in the name of charity. This is our fourth year doing this, but last year we donated the money to COTS (Coalition on Temporary Shelter) and this year is iDentify Your Dream. We are all doing it just from the bottom of our hearts.
