By Jenna Aurelius

Babe & Butcher owners Lindsay Anvik and Robert Henricks. Photo by Jessica Gaddy

From the neon lighting over a greenery wall to their stunning charcuterie boards, Babe & Butcher is Pinterest come to life. Babe & Butcher is a build-your-own charcuterie and grazing table company owned by Lindsay Anvik and Robert Henricks. After opening their first storefront in Camp North End this past June, the two have been attracting the eyes of many around the Queen City. They specialize in creating artistic charcuterie, dessert boards, and grazing plates.  

As Northern natives, Hendricks and Anvik have always been in the hospitality industry. Hendricks has more than 20 years of restaurant management experience, while Anvik has been in creative roles in entertainment, music, and marketing. 

“Prior to Babe & Butcher, I had my own marketing company and spoke all over the world to business owners about how to scale a business, how to market it, and how to make a profit while doing it,” Anvik says.

Now, she’s putting that experience to use with her own business. Anvik initially got the idea for Babe & Butcher while hosting an event for the 24 Foundation. 

“While I was there everyone was asking me who catered the event,” she says. “It got the wheels turning on whether or not this could be a business.”

From there, Babe & Butcher was created. Initially the pair started the company with the intention of just making it a side hustle. “We were both delivering boards in our two-seater convertibles,” Anvik says. Within a month, Anvik had to upgrade to an SUV to transport all the boards. They’ve grown from one employee to five full-time employees, several part-time employees, and a fleet of drivers in less than two years. 

However, a year ago, the pandemic had them worried they would have to close their doors. Their business was based on gathering and people being close to one another. The couple quickly pivoted and decided to reimagine the way people see take out. 

“We always knew we wanted to create mini boxes, but we never had the time because the catering side of the business was so busy,” Hendricks says. “The pandemic forced us to look at our business model in a completely different way. It was the perfect testing ground to see if our boxes were something Charlotte would enjoy.”

Some of their most popular boards include the Take Me To Europe box (manchego, brie, truffle cheese, marcona almonds, olives, manchego dusted chips, and jam) and the Babe Box (cheddar, garlic and herb cheese, manchego, cucumbers, olives, pickles, manchego dusted chips, blackberries and marcona almonds). However, each board is customizable, and catered to your preferences. You can order the boards online, or in person at the new shop.

The two are now expanding their wholesale business. They hope to get back to large-scale catering, as their passion lies in creating those photo-worthy displays and grazing tables. 

“We’d love to expand and have other locations, but for now we are so happy to be in front of our customers and enjoy walking them through the process of creating something fun and custom for their taste buds,” Anvik says.