In Corona del Mar, community often grows in simple but meaningful ways — over coffee on a neighborhood walk, conversations at the farmers market, or around a table shared with family and friends. For local resident Nicole Wilson, those moments of connection have become both a personal philosophy and the foundation of her business, Poppy Street.

 

A Corona del Mar resident and mother of two daughters, Bentley and Reese, Nicole is the founder and CEO of Poppy Street, a culinary and hospitality company that blends baking, food education, and community-centered experiences for children and families. Through after-school workshops, seasonal camps, pizza pop-ups, private events, and cottage bakery offerings, Nicole has created something that feels distinctly reflective of the village-like spirit of Corona del Mar.

 

An Orange County native, Nicole returned to Newport Beach in 2013 after attending UC Berkeley and building a career in investment banking and private equity in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Although her professional path began in finance, she found herself increasingly drawn to the world of food, restaurants, and hospitality.

 

That passion eventually led her to San Francisco, where she trained in pastry and worked at acclaimed Michelin-starred restaurants Quince and Cotogna. After moving back to Orange County, she continued honing her culinary experience at Pizzeria Mozza and Studio at Montage Laguna Beach, while continuing her hospitality education through the WSET Level 3 sommelier program.

 

Many locals first became familiar with Nicole during the pandemic through her popular @poppystreetpopup pizza experiences and her flourishing vegetable garden beside Five Crowns and SideDoor. At the time, Nicole and her family were living in the nearby cottage while her daughters’ father served as Executive Chef before later becoming CEO of Lawry’s Restaurants.

 

Her slow-fermented pizza dough quickly developed a loyal following, along with her seasonal salads, giant dark chocolate & sea salt cookies, savory granola, and lemon almond polenta cake. Many of the recipes were naturally gluten free or vegan, built around thoughtfully sourced organic ingredients and garden-driven flavors.

 

But for Nicole, food has always represented something larger.

 

“At its core, Poppy Street is about leadership, entrepreneurship, creativity, and connection,” she says. “Hospitality is one of the most undervalued forms of leadership in modern life — and something that can be learned from a young age.”

 

That belief has become central to the experiences she creates through Poppy Street Prep™. Whether leading after-school programs like pH & Pea Flowers: A Culinary Science Lab, encouraging entrepreneurship through kids-only pizzeria nights and bakery and restaurant camps, certifying young pizzaiolos at birthday parties, or curating farmers market tours and picnics inspired by seasonal ingredients and global food culture, Nicole approaches food as a vehicle for confidence, creativity, leadership, and community-building — even for picky eaters.

 

Her daughters, Bentley and Reese, have been deeply involved from the beginning and continue to inspire much of the business today. From contributing sketches for the Poppy Street logo to helping test recipes and workshop ideas, the girls have grown up alongside the company.

 

“Poppy Street has become a reflection of all of us,” Nicole shares.

 

Bentley, now 10, has always shown natural leadership qualities and loves mentoring younger children during workshops and camps. She also participates in competitive musical theater with Center Stage Studio and is an accomplished swimmer, earning last year’s Newport Beach Junior Guards Monster Mile title. Reese, 9, brings her own creative energy to the family business through her love of cooking, food demonstrations, and dance. She dances competitively with The Aim Dance Studio and is known in the family for her remarkably refined palate.

 

This past year, the girls transferred from The Pegasus School to Harbor View Elementary, a transition Nicole says has helped them feel even more connected to the local community and friendships growing around them.

 

Beyond Poppy Street, Nicole is passionate about food education and sustainability initiatives throughout Orange County. She previously served as a diplomat for The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano and recently traveled to Sacramento as part of the School Garden Coalition, advocating for expanded access to school gardens and hands-on food education programs.

 

Her long-term vision is ambitious yet deeply community-focused: to eventually see school gardens at every school throughout Newport-Mesa Unified School District and beyond.

 

When the Wilson family is not cooking, teaching, or hosting community events, they enjoy spending time outdoors, skiing, traveling, and exploring great food together — especially throughout Sicily, where many family traditions revolve around gathering around the table and slowing down enough to be fully present with one another.

 

Closer to home, some of their favorite local traditions include Third Thursdays, visits to the farmers market, afternoons at Ruby Beach, and spending time with family on Balboa Island.

 

“We chose Corona del Mar because it truly feels like a village,” Nicole says. “Walkable, connected, and centered around community.”

 

It’s a sentiment many neighbors would agree with — and one Nicole continues to nurture through every pizza, workshop, and gathering created through Poppy Street.

 

And of course, no family story would be complete without Sterling and Swarovski — the family’s two adopted cats whose names, Nicole jokes, “we knew we never would have come up with them ourselves.”