Looking is all Nicole Nocella has ever done professionally. So, she was confident when she purchased a Dover restaurant space and began renovating it in 2019. The grand opening of Stalk Restaurant in January 2020 was the realization of Nocella’s long-held dream of finally owning her own restaurant.
The first year of business, however, would be nothing like she imagined as the pandemic closed dining rooms across the state in March. Still, Nocella wasn’t going to back down. “I’m not really one to quit,” she says “Finally doing this for myself was a huge step on its own. I wasn’t about to let my dreams fail.”
During the pandemic Stalk pivoted to takeout and later reopened for outdoor dining. Each day Nocella would try to make the best decisions she could. “It was just about waking up every day, trying to make the smartest financial moves you could while not making money,” she says.
Luckily, she was good at being frugal, she says, keeping costs and waste minimal. That helped her weather the pandemic and thrive in its wake. Between 2022 and 2024, gross sales rose 55% and are continuing to climb this year, Nocella says. Bookings have grown at a similar rate, she notes.
At first, name recognition was challenging. For the first three years, customers would come in trying to order a burrito, because the location was previously home to a Mexican restaurant, Nocella says. But now, Stalk is well known for its casual fine dining, which Nocella describes as “a modern American bistro with global flair.” Stalk serves plenty of meat and fish, but vegetarian and vegan options are always on the menu too.
The success of the restaurant has allowed Nocella to grow not only as a chef, but as a business owner. She’s hired a kitchen manager, a 21-year-old who reminds Nocella of herself. That’s allowed Nocella to pour more attention into running the business, rather than working on the line.
“To step away from being just a chef and teaching myself to actually be a business owner has been the biggest turning point in my career,” she says. “I literally do everything: payroll, bookings—you name it, I do it.”
Being in the front of the house more often has been rewarding. “Meeting guests has been huge for me,” Nocella says. “It’s really really nice to be the face [of the restaurant] sometimes, and have those face-to-face [interactions] with the people who have been supporting you for five years.”
Many of those customers are asking Nocella whether she wants to expand Stalk. She has some renovations planned, like refinishing the floors and upgrading the kitchen, but doesn’t want to increase the footprint. Yet she doesn’t rule out growth in the future.
“There’s always a possibility of a second location,” she says.
