In culinary school, 92 percent of Dana Epstein’s class said yes, owning their own restaurant was their life’s dream. She was a part of the 8 percent who said no.
Today, she and her husband, Phillip, own and operate The Grey Goose restaurant in Phoebus, as well as the Baker’s Wife Bistro across the street.
When she’s not working, Dana sings with a group called the Liberty Dolls and with her church. “It keeps me out of trouble,” she jokes. “I firmly believe you need to have a hobby outside of work so you don’t resent your work.”
In college, Dana pursued a degree in musical theatre. After her degree, she wanted something more solid. For her, cooking wasn’t some childhood hobby that morphed into a fairytale dream. It was working in restaurants while in college that brought her to the culinary world. She says, “The restaurants were always there for me.”
Working in chain restaurants performing serving and manager positions, Dana learned a variety of perspectives and ideas on how “things” operate. When it came time to open her own place, she was set.
It wasn’t the life she originally envisioned. “I always joke, I’m living the dream,” she says with a sarcastic, sardonic tone. However, it was a natural progression for her. Diving head first into that career “just made sense,” she says.
With Dana being raised in Hampton and Phillip from Norfolk, the two have been local to the 757 their entire lives. While working for two different companies with mutual employees, both Dana and Phillip’s staff boasted about their boss to the other. After several bumps and nudges from their match-maker staff to introduce themselves, the two hit it off.
While perusing the local newspaper one day, Dana saw an ad for a restaurant for sale in Hampton. When the broker shared the name of the restaurant, that was it.
“I literally could not believe it,” she says. “I had grown-up next to the owners of that restaurant and it was not even a half a mile from my house, and I thought this was meant to be.”
It was The Grey Goose, which had been open 25 years prior to the Epsteins purchasing it. The couple chose to keep its name, not for any personal sentimental value, but for its value to the community.
“When you’re buying something that’s been in existence for 25 years, it did not make sense to change the recognizable name because everyone knew it,” Dana says. “I loved the place.”
In April, after a collective 43 years in downtown Hampton, the Epsteins moved the restaurant to Phoebus. She jokingly tells people “It’s either my best idea or my worst.”
For the Epsteins, the opportunity to move The Grey Goose made sense. With their additional business just across the street and the structure of the city changing, she says, “We had just outgrown our space.”
Logistics aside, Dana’s family had its own roots in Phoebus. “My great grandfather started a business in Phoebus in 1908, just one block away from where I am now,” she says. “My grandfather ran that business and my father ran that business, so now I’m a fourth generation business owner in Phoebus — that’s wild!”
When they first took over The Grey Goose, the restaurant served only lunch six days a week, which made sense for its time. However, the Epsteins knew that it needed more to fit the needs of their community. Now there’s a lunch and dinner menu, as well as space to accommodate large events and catering services. They also host special events including “Trivia Night.”
The master baker behind The Grey Goose’s elaborate dessert menu is none other than Phillip himself. Making everything “from scratch,” his work is also preservative free.
One bite at a time, the Epsteins are honing the essence of keeping home right where the heart is — in their local community.
TO THE POINT:
The Grey Goose
Address: 10 S. Mallory St., Hampton, VA 23663
Contacts: Dana and Phillip Epstein, owners
Phone: 757-723-7978
Email: greygooseHampton@gmail.com
Website: greygooserestaurant.com
