Photo: Mark Finkenstaedt

She hails from California, earned a law degree from New York University and worked for Senator Barbara Mikulski. He’s a Detroit native, has a master’s in public health from George Washington and works for the Service Employees International Union.

All formalities aside, Diane Gross and Khalid Pitts are the coolest twosome this side of 14th Street. The couple married last May and popped open Logan Circle’s Cork Wine Bar (1420 14th St., NW; 202/265-2675; www.corkdc.com) eight months later. Their mission? To create an inviting neighborhood space where friends and family can meet and mingle.

She’s a Rhône girl; he’s into sparklers—together they’re a smash hit. Here, the pair chats about D.C.’s wine-bar craze and their success:

Have you worked in restaurants before?
Pitts: We spent a good two and a half years educating ourselves about the business, about wine and securing the money. There were things we thought were going to work a certain way, and they didn’t, so now we’re figuring out how things work in actuality.

What’s been the most pleasant surprise of Cork?
Pitts: The diversity of the crowd. We’ve done no marketing. In terms of a crowd that would come to a wine bar, we didn’t know what would happen; we were looking for a demographic, not an ethnicity. Wine is a universal thing, though, so early on I saw a diversity here, and I’m really happy about that.

Are you crazy restaurant owners yet?
Pitts: Yesterday someone called in sick. We were short a busser, so last night I bussed, washed dishes and worked behind the bar.

What’s in the future?
Gross: I think we are driven by what the neighborhood wants, and that’s why our next project will be brunch. Our landlord wants us to take over the whole building, put a lounge upstairs, and for me and Khalid to live on the top floor. I was like, “Oh no, we are not living over the store.” But we could use a bigger office.

Do you see another outpost of Cork anytime soon?
Gross: No, I don’t think so. I think we want to develop the wine part of what we’re doing, to add wine tastings and classes, but not anything too structured. We just want this to be great all the time, to be the best it can be without diluting it. That is what we’re striving for. Our goal is to maintain that as long as we possibly can.

Any best-sellers?
Gross: A lot of Burgundy and Bordeaux. We pour a lot of Negroamaro (Italy, $9) at the bar, and once we do people are hooked. The Sola Fred ($8) from Spain, is 100 percent Carignane and a big wine with a lot of spicy pepper to it that people really like. Also the Llicorella ($12), another big wine, primarily Grenache. It’s a pre-rot from a new hot region in the northeast corner of Spain. We sell a lot of Marcillac because it’s the cheapest wine on the list but then people taste it, and they say, “Wow, this is really great. I never had a Marcillac before.” Same thing for the Saumur, a chenin blanc, not usually a popular by-the-glass wine, but they are going for it here. A lot of chardonnay, but white burgundy, not oak chardonnay. We have two less expensive, fun sparklers, Blanquette de Limoux ($7) and Prosecco ($8), and we can’t keep them in the house.

Favorite food?
Gross: The chicken-liver bruschetta, the french fries, the house-cured trout is flying out, which is nice because it is a more delicate dish. And it’s yummy. Once people get it, they love it. The duck confit with mushroom polenta. The pan-roasted chicken. It’s very light. And the fried calamari.

How much can a diner expect to spend?
Pitts: About $35 to $40 per person, which is great. It’s exactly where we wanted it to be. You can come in and spend twenty bucks or a hundred. It’s the guest’s decision, and we put that power into their hands. We don’t do coursing; the menu items are meant to be shared. They are not forced to spend a certain amount of money, but if you have the right atmosphere they’re going to say, “I like it here, I’m going to stay a little longer.”

Any unpleasant experiences yet?
Pitts: Guests have expectations when they come here that we’ve been here for five years. Working out the kinks while doing the volume of business we’re doing is hard. You can’t be all things to all people. We need to concentrate on the few things we do and do them well, and people will come to understand that we don’t course things here. The fries may come out before the kale.

How have things changed since you first opened?
Gross: We had to add to the cast to handle the demand. We started with four people in the kitchen, six servers and four behind the bar, not including prep, and I think that has now all doubled. The servers are educating each other about the wines. They have to know 41 wines by the glass and 130 bottles and flights that change every month. Now we have someone just polishing glasses because we go through so much glassware, much more than we thought. The volume is great, but we have to keep up. It amazes me how much wine we’re going through. I ordered twenty-three cases on Friday for the weekend.