The dream of restaurant ownership continues for local chef Peggy Walker. 

After competing in Own Your Own, a statewide competition that allowed budding restaurateurs the chance to compete for their own restaurant in Burgaw, NC, she has decided to make her restaurant concept a reality for Fayetteville, NC. 

Walker shared that she was encouraged to compete in Own Your Own by members of the community, which was a starting point in the creation of her future restaurant. 

“Two of my Facebook friends saw the article somewhere and they tagged me in it and were like ‘You should definitely do this!’ and I was like, ‘Heck yeah!’” shared Walker. “People have been telling me over the years like, ‘Peggy you should be on Cake Wars, you should go on Chopped.’ But the thing about me is, I have never been a competitor ever, I never I never just had a competitive spirit about me whatsoever.” 

After her journey with Own Your Own came to an end in late October, Walker was in the top 24 and invited to Burgaw to compete for the community. Despite not being chosen to move forward with the competition, Walker shared that she was determined not to let her business plan for Anniegirls, developed for the competition, go to waste. 

“The thing is, I’ve always wanted to do Anniegirls. I always wanted to open up my own place, but I wanted it to be the right time, and of course even though I didn’t have access to certain resources, and things at that time, these ideas were forming in my head,” shared Walker. “And so, when I saw the competition, that’s what made me move forward. Getting to the top 24 required me to do business plans, profit and loss statements, so much research on staff and demographics. The questions that they asked exposed me to things I wouldn't have thought about on my own.” 

Walker has more than eight years of experience in cooking and baking, opening her successful businesses Gimmie Sugar, LLC in 2014 and later adding Gimmie Gourmet, in Fayetteville, Walker has expanded her talents to include crafting exquisite wedding cakes and orchestrating comprehensive event catering.

Now she’s able to take all of that experience and what she learned competing and move into the next stage of business. 

“I didn't have a counselor or someone guiding me or advising me on what to do when it came to opening a restaurant, so certain steps and certain stages in the competition just instilled in me like ‘Okay, you already got everything you need to open up a restaurant in Burgaw,’” shared Walker. “I had already told myself and my family and friends that no matter what the turnout to the competition, whether I get picked or not, I need to be in a position to move forward with where I live and to bring Fayetteville something that they need.” 

Now, Walker shared that she has already begun scouting for locations, trying out logos and really starting the process to open Anniegirls to the community. Currently, Walker shared that the vision is to have Anniegirls be a fine dining brunch and dinner location for the Fayetteville area comparable to something guests might find in Charlotte or Atlanta, GA. Walker also shared that she would like the space to double as an entertainment venue and include things like live poetry and other artists to perform. 

“A lot of people, when they want to go out and they want to do upscale or they want to do fine dining or they want to have a place where it’s a vibe and it’s like, why not bring that here,” shared Walker. “How can I bring that upscale environment to Fayetteville? And so that's my dream to have an upscale food spot and then at a certain time, turn it into fine dining where it's a place everyone can enjoy.” 

Walker plans to have her location open within the next few years, hopefully sooner, but invites the community to stay updated on her main Facebook page here.