A dream fulfilled: Local woman buys the corner store ‘in the heart’ of Riverhead

The classic “corner store” on the corner of Northville Turnpike and Elton Street has a new owner.

Longtime Riverhead resident Nadia Chiaramonte has purchased the delicatessen from Charlie Klein, who owned and operated the store as CK’s Deli since 1996.

Chiaramonte has renamed it “4Cs” — for her four-person nuclear family: her husband of 22 years, Anthony and her sons, Anthony, 19 and Alex, 15 — and, of course, herself.

Chiaramonte has always fancied the idea of owning a deli. Her father-in-law was the longtime proprietor of the Polish Town Deli on Pulaski Street. She and her husband, who is now a salesman with Riverhead Building Supply, helped him run the deli. Her sons practically grew up there, she said. But when her father-in-law wanted to sell the deli, she said, “It just wasn’t the right time for us to buy.” The mother of two young children couldn’t make the kind of commitment needed to run a deli, so it was not to be. But she never stopped dreaming about it.

“I really missed it,” she said.

A couple of months ago, she got a call out of the blue from Klein, who was ready for a change in his life and heard through a mutual friend she might be interested in buying his building and business.

It didn’t take Chiaramonte very long to think it over. She was on board. But she wasn’t sure how to break the news to her husband. As it turns out, she didn’t have to. Klein did it for her.

“Charlie told the whole town,” she laughs.

“It’s sort of the last of its kind,” Chiaramonte said. “It’s Riverhead, through and through. It’s right in the heart of the community, in the middle of a working class neighborhood that really hasn’t changed much over the years,” she said. “We still get the same people here, who’ve been coming here for many, many years — people who’ve watched it change hands over and over.”

“It’s a real local, community place.”

Chiaramonte grew up a “military brat,” living in different places around the world. The family settled in Calverton, her mom’s home town, after her father retired from military service. She was 13 at the time. She attended Riverhead High School and graduated in the Class of 1980. She went to work at Riverhead Town Hall and eventually served as deputy town clerk under longtime town clerk Irene Pendzick. She left town government in 1997, nearly three years after her older son was born.

Today, her firstborn works in construction and plans to spend weekends helping at the deli. Her younger son, a student at Riverhead High, will work there after school, she said. Her husband will help out on weekends, too.

“It’s a real family affair,” Chiaramonte said. “They’re very supportive of this venture.”

Chiaramonte said she’s excited about her plans for the place, which include expanded hours (“We’re considering opening Sundays” and closing later during the week) as well as stocking grocery-store staples (bread, eggs, milk) and offering prepared dinners-for-two. The deli menu will also offer classic Polish (pierogis!) and Italian fare, as well “some all-American specials like burgers and fries and specialty build-your-own dogs,” she said.

She’s already taking orders for Super Bowl Sunday. 4Cs is offering a game-day special: a three-foot hero, pot of chili, tray of wings and three pounds of salads for $175 plus tax. It feeds 15-20 people.

For now, at least, the deli’s hours will remain the same: 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Chiaramonte is thinking about closing later on weekdays, she said, to accommodate people who want to stop in to pick up a prepared entree or grocery staples after work.

Klein’s collection of old photos from around Riverhead  — a neighborhood favorite display that adorns the west wall of the establishment — will be going to him, though Chiaramonte said she will be scanning them and plans to display the digital versions of those images in a countertop photo frame.

“It’s all about the community,” Chiaramonte said. “That’s just the kind of place this has always been.”