By Charlie Pogacar

When A.J. “Auggie” Russo, owner and operator of Tiny Pizza Kitchen, received a text message from somebody claiming to be talk show host Stephen Colbert, he was sure it was really just his friends messing with him. 

Never mind the fact that Russo’s neighbor is a hair stylist on the set of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and had brought some of Russo’s Fennel Bourbon Hot Peppers to Colbert for him to try. Never mind that Colbert had reportedly personally requested Russo’s phone number. For Russo, who is as self-depracting as it gets, there was no way Colbert would be texting him, wanting to chat. 

“So he asks me if I have time for a call,” Russo said on the latest episode of Peel: A PMQ Pizza Podcast. ‘And I said, ‘I definitely have time for a call.’ And so then he FaceTimes me. Which is insane, because I figured he’d just call me—but he FaceTimed me.” 

Related: How a Man Who Has ‘Never Been Good At Anything’ Became Great at Making Pizza

Russo began pacing around his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, trying to find the most presentable place he could take the video call. He was suddenly very aware of the fact that his hair was “probably standing on end,” and that he was not in the most presentable condition. But he picked up the call anyway, and there was Colbert, in a formal, butter-yellow sweater, wanting to chat about including Russo’s hot peppers in a cookbook he was creating with his wife, Evie McGee Colbert. 

Colbert relayed to Russo—now in a state of total shock—that his editors were claiming the recipe was too complicated to be included in the cookbook. Colbert asked Russo if he could simplify the recipe. Where somebody else might have complied, Russo stuck to his guns: The recipe was the recipe, and there was no way to dumb it down. 

“If somebody wants to make it, here it is,” Russo said. “It takes a long time. It’s difficult and annoying. I find it fun, but I have major mental problems.” 

Stephen Colbert remains one of Auggie Russo’s most dedicated customers. (Submitted Photo)

Colbert ended up going to bat for Russo, and the recipe was included in the final copy of the cookbook. It was a huge moment for Russo, who had already come a long way since the outset of the pandemic. He had done so based on his own personal vision, but also, he would be the first to tell you, with the help of some very powerful people, like Colbert.

Russo, who had worked in pizzerias in the 1990s but then spent two decades in postproduction film work, was pulled back into the pizza industry by the pandemic. He launched his own pop-up, Tiny Pizza Kitchen, and quickly established himself as one of the most unique pop-ups in New York City during an era when pop-ups were a dime a dozen. Russo mostly operated out of his backyard, in a tiny space—hence the name—where he’d churn out pies with unique toppings, like pomegranate, radishes and obscure-sounding cheeses (mimolette, anyone?) 

It was a Pete Wells review of pizza pop-ups in the New York Times that turned Russo’s notoriety up a notch. That connection, Russo believes, was made due to his relationship with Scott Wiener of Scott’s Pizza Tours

Russo’s Fennel Bourbon Hot Peppers were an invention he dreamed up as an alternative to Mike’s Hot Honey, and they have taken on a life of their own. 

“Before I was making [the chiles], I was making a hot honey,” Russo said. “But everybody else was using hot honey, it was everywhere… but it wasn’t big money and everybody else had that at the end of the day, so mine was really unique. But I knew I liked that sweet-and-spicy combination, and that it works great on a pizza. So I started [messing] around with chiles.” 

The chilies, Russo said, work perfectly on pizza, but are versatile enough to be used in things as wide-ranging as ice cream sundaes and a steak sandwich. 

To hear more of Russo’s story, listen to the latest episode of Peel: A PMQ Pizza Podcast. 

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