FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 11, 2020 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 39
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‘Showing love, one bite at a time’:
The Pizza Cupcake donates to healthcare workers through Support NYC initiative
Courtesy of @Mariebonappetit
BY JOSE CARDOSO
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Hoping to bring people together during
these tough times, Pizza Cupcake, a
Queens based-small family startup, has
been supporting their community even as
it has seen a drop in business due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Since March 31, Pizza Cupcake has
donated their unique pizza cupcakes
through their initiative Support NYC.
Th ese cupcakes are donated to organizations
and healthcare workers such as
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
and NYU Langone Health, among others.
Th e eatery was founded by Michelle
Jimenez-Meggiato, a first-generation
Filipina-American, who came to New
York City in 2006 for school. Andrea
Meggiato, a native from Italy, has worked
in the food industry for many years.
Th ey got married in September 2018.
While Andrea Meggiato decided to take
some time off from the food industry,
it was a short-lived decision and he
returned.
“I decided to quit three years ago and go
back into the food industry, it’s something
I’ve always had a passion,” he said.
At fi rst, he created pizza cupcakes at
home. He showed his wife how to make
them as well and they shared their creations
with friends and family. Th e rest, as
they say, is history.
But what is a pizza cupcake?
According to the couple, the
best and fresh pizza ingredients
are put inside the
dough, which isn’t
traditional pizza
dough.
Instead, it’s a
dough combined
of pan brioche and
sourdough, which
allows the cupcake to have
a fl uff y texture that has a burst
of fl avor.
Th eir mission to help began when
a group of nurses asked if they deliver,
as they were customers from their
Smorgasburg location in Brooklyn.
“A few nurses actually reached out to
us,” Jimenez-Meggiato said. “Th ey really
loved the pizza cupcakes and they wanted
to see if we were delivering — that’s when
we launched our Support NYC initiative.”
Like many businesses, the Pizza
Cupcake has taken a hit in their business.
Th eir locations at the Smorgasburg and
Citi Field, home of the New York Mets,
closed due to the pandemic.
Th eir catering events were canceled.
Th eir distribution center also had to shut
down very suddenly. Th ey still had inventory
from Smorgasburg, and they asked
themselves, now what?
“Th ere was an opportunity with e-commerce,”
Jimenez-
Meggiato said.
So, they changed their website
and adapted an e-commerce approach
and relaunched on March 27. “It was
really successful,” Jimenez-Meggiato said.
“We did really well. For the next month
we did over 500 orders. We were then able
to give back to the community through
the purchases of the 24-packs.”
Th e success of the Pizza Cupcake didn’t
stop there, and as more orders came
in, the amount of donations — funded
by customer purchases — grew as well.
However, their biggest accomplishment,
according to Jimenez-Meggiato, was hearing
positive feedback from nurses, doctors
and others.
“Th e Pizza Cupcake really brought joy
and happiness and they were really excited
to taste something delicious,” she said.
“We want to share love, one bite at a time,
even with social distancing, that’s what
the Pizza Cupcake is all about — bringing
people together.”
Th ey are continuing to off er donations
and hope to expand and off er nationwide
shipping — they currently only deliver
in the East Coast. One thing the couple
is looking forward to as New York City
moves closer to reopening is being able to
interact with their customers, and “have
that human connection that we haven’t
been able to have for three months now.”
For more information or to place orders,
visit pizzacupcake.com.
/pizzacupcake.com
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