Antonia Joannides, Queen’s Room
Did you know that New York City has the highest number of women entrepreneurs in our neighborhoods? According to New York City Small Business Services, women across the five boroughs employ over 190,000 people and generate approximately $50 billion in sales. This month, we’re proud to present our annual Women’s issue—dedicated to all the innovative women chefs, food entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, bakers, mixologists and more who help feed the borough everyday.
Coinciding with the print issue (you’ll be able to pick up a copy soon!), every weekday throughout the month of May, we’re featuring a different Queens woman in the food industry. From Flushing’s dumpling maestro Helen You, to Long Island City’s Brazilian baker, Daniela Martins-Schwarzbauer and Last Dragon Pizza’s Nicole Russell in Rockaway, each woman reflects the diverse and independent spirit of Queens. Oh, and did we mention that our woman-owned magazine produced this women’s issue with a team of all-women writers, photographers, illustrators, designers and editors (save for our photo editor, Ed Lefkowicz)? No big deal.
Antonia Joannides, Queen’s Room
With over a decade of Manhattan restaurant and nightlife experience already under her belt, Antonia Joannides aimed to create an intimate, elegant, expanded living space for Astorians. And where better to stage it than on the ground floor of the Ditmars Boulevard building where her grandmother, mother and aunts resided after immigrating from Cyprus in the 1950s?
Certainly, the light-dappled space equipped with a marble bar and tin ceilings makes an appealing home base for whiling away the better part of the day. And it’s perfectly possible to transition from morning ’til night, with rose lattes, muffaletta sandwiches, wild mushroom risotto and cheese plates, showcasing ingredients from local suppliers and paired with creative cocktails, such as the Hail to the Queen, Off with Her Head, Long Live the Queen and the Queen’s Muse. Notice a running theme? It’s actually less an homage to the borough than a tip of the hat to the powerful women who raised Joannides, the queen she strives to be and the network of other female entrepreneurs she’s surrounded herself with, all making their mark in a largely male-dominated industry.
