Nicole Russell, Last Dragon Pizza
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.
Nicole Russell, Last Dragon Pizza
There’s a constant pizza party going on in Nicole Russell’s Arverne home kitchen. She’s slinging inventive rounds that have won the admiration of the most renowned experts in the city, such as Scott Weiner from Scott’s Pizza Tours and “A Slice A Day’s” Adam Kuban. They’re not the only ones to be bowled over by her heart-shaped, jerk-chicken-topped and Asian-barbecue-sauced creations (which can be picked up piping hot or shipped, frozen). Russell was awarded a grant and first-place win in 2017 by the Queens StartUp! Competition, which provides small business owners with mentoring, funding and skills development.
It was a crucial leg up for the graphic designer, who worked from home so she could help care for her sister, after a stage IV cancer diagnosis in 2013. Spending more time at home encouraged her to ramp up her cooking game, and pizza unexpectedly emerged as a signature dish, earning raves from family, friends, neighbors and even the contractors who worked on her house. It also nabbed her a nickname, “Daddy Green,” after a black character with a penchant for making pizza in the kung fu film Last Dragon. But what began as a tongue-in-cheek joke proved a prescient observation; Russell is definitely the pizza ninja master of the Rockaways.
