Biography
Josh started his career as an engineer, working in semiconductors, before moving to New York City to continue his family's 105-year-old culinary and cultural legacy. In 2009 Josh Russ Tupper took ownership of Russ & Daughters along with his cousin Niki Russ Federman, as the 4th generation of Russ & Daughters. In 2014 they opened Russ & Daughters Cafe (on Orchard Street, near where their great grandfather founded the business out of a herring barrel and pushcart a century ago). They have begun baking their own bagels, babka, and traditional Jewish breads, and in the Spring of 2016, they opened Russ & Daughters at The Jewish Museum (a kosher restaurant and appetizing counter on New York's Upper East Side).
Joel Russ, an Eastern European immigrant, arrived in America in 1907. He started his business from a herring barrel and then a pushcart, catering to the throngs of Jewish immigrants settling in New York City's Lower East Side. In 1920, he opened his store at 179 East Houston Street, after a few years of operating out of a storefront around the corner. He renamed the business "Russ &; Daughters,after his three daughters who joined him as the second generation in the business. It is the first business in the U.S. with "& Daughters" in its name. In the late 1970's Mark Russ Federman succeeded as the 3rd Generation, and for 30 years ran the shop along with his wife, Maria. They are now retired. Mark Russ Federman is the author of a celebrated memoir: Russ & Daughters: The House That Herring Built (published by Schocken/Random House). Russ & Daughters is owned and operated by the 4th Generation of the Russ family: Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper.
In 2014, upon the 100th anniversary of Russ & Daughters, 4th Generation Owners Josh Russ Tupper and Niki Russ Federman opened Russ & Daughters Cafe a restaurant on Orchard Street, the street where their great grandfather peddled herring from a barrel and a pushcart. In 2016, Russ & Daughters opened a new space combining a take-out appetizing counter and restaurant: Russ & Daughters at the Jewish Museum. 2016 also saw the launch of Russ & Daughters Bagels & Bakery, where Russ & Daughters makes all of its own bagels, bialys, shissel rye bread, pumpernickel, babka, rugelach, black and white cookies, challah, and other traditional baked goods. In 2019, Russ & Daughters at the Brooklyn Navy Yard opened: featuring a 18,000 square foot hub for the company's food-making, baking, and shipping, an event space, and a retail appetizing counter. The Appetizing Factory is open: featuring our bakery, which is on view for all to see, an appetizing shop where you can get your favorite classic bagels & lox or smoked fish by the pound, and our traditional baked goods right out of the oven, our expanded nationwide shipping hub, new kitchens, and an event space.
Niki and Josh Russ, and Russ & Daughters, have been honored with awards from the New York City Mayor's Office, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, The Foundation for Jewish Culture, and The New York State Senate, which passed a unanimous resolution “Commending Russ and Daughters upon the occasion of celebrating its 100th Anniversary.
Russ & Daughters has received praise in countless national and international publications, and the Russ & Daughters Cafe was named #2 on Pete Wells's New York Times list of “The 10 Best New Restaurants of 2014. Russ & Daughters has been featured in the PBS documentaries: The Jews of New York and The Sturgeon Queens highlighting the contributions of multiple generations of the Russ family during the past century. The Sturgeon Queens, an independent feature documentary by Director Julie Cohen, has received many outstanding accolades and has also been screened and honored at prestigious film festivals across the country and around the world.
