Three Fabulous New Food Books to Celebrate Pride

A history of queer food in America, a survey of queer restaurants, and a sweet collection of recipes I can't wait to bake.

This Tuesday, Pride Month kicked into high gear for queer food lovers. Three new tomes hit bookstore shelves with a similar thesis: food can facilitate community and serve our revolution.

I know that you’re here for the recipes, so don’t fret. I have a bevvy of new ones in the hopper for the next few weeks! For now: let’s read.

---

What Is Queer Food? How We Served a Revolution
by

John Birdsall

I’ve followed John’s writing since his eye-opening essay, “America, Your Food Is So Gay,” in Lucky Peach, more than a decade ago. In his 2020 book, The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard, Birdsall explored Beard’s rarely-discussed queer life in a vivid, thoughtfully researched volume that builds a three-dimensional look at this culinary giant. John’s prose seems luminous, sexy, campy, yet literary all at once. As a cook, he presents discussions of food in a lively, accurate, and lusciously queer context.

In What is Queer Food?, John weaves stories of queer food figures throughout American history, from filmmaker-turned-restaurateur Esther Eng to culinary luminary Craig Claiborne. He uncovers the complex history of Harry Baker, the inventor of the iconic chiffon cake. He tells the tale of the often gay-coded quiche. (Which partly explains why I felt the pull to include a quiche recipe in my cookbook.) John does much more than outline the biographies of historic queer food influencers and iconic, flamboyant dishes. He rebuilds fantastical scenes of queer gatherings while weaving a tale of defiance, togetherness, sensuality, camp, and culinary innovation. Queer food becomes more than a collection of dishes or figures—it’s an act of pleasure, resistance, community, authenticity, and so much more.

For more, check out John’s newsletter

Shifting the Food Narrative

.

Join me on Tuesday June 10^th at Women & Children First bookstore to chat with John Birdsall about his new book and all things queer food. The event is free, but you should RSVP here.

---

Dining Out: First Dates, Defiant Nights, and Last Call Disco Fries at America's Gay Restaurants
by Erik Piepenburg

Self-professed “diner gay” Erik Piepenburg chronicles queer restaurants past and present in Dining Out. Starting with Chicago’s Melrose Restaurant, which closed in 2017 —a place I visited during my first year in the city. This book asks, “What makes a gay restaurant?” There’s no simple answer. Many of the restaurants, like The Melrose, as we called it, and Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse in DC, aren’t owned or run by queers, but serve as a safe non-bar gathering space—and have for decades. Some of the restaurants Piepenburg mentions were the opposite of a safe space; they refused to serve yet helped serve justice.

Erik ventures beyond the obvious queer eateries in big cities. He highlights a Wisconsin gathering spot for trans folks, a feminist vegetarian destination in Connecticut, and several more. He covers scene-y, seedy, subversive, and sanctuary spots across America.

In this era where technology often connects us, Erik reminds us of the vital community that these queer restaurants create. Who knows what might happen when meeting over meatloaf and mashed potatoes?

---

Potluck Desserts: Joyful Recipes to Share with Pride
by

Justin Burke

with photography by Brian Samuels

I first read Justin’s writing back in 2018 when he wrote about homophobia in professional kitchens for Eater. Years working as a pastry chef in professional kitchens seemed like a tough road. Justin left the professional baking industry when his son Jasper was born. As Elazar Sontag wrote in a follow-up Eater piece, Justin found himself building and leaning on his chosen family, especially with a youngster to raise. Justin had a tough time finding interest for this book, but the one and only

Sally Ekus

took that as a challenge, and I’m so thankful for the both of them for championing this cookbook.

Potluck Desserts, celebrates that community through comfort desserts. This book is the opposite of chef-y, and Justin pushes back on the exactness and precision found in sometimes toxic restaurant kitchens. His recipes embody classic Americana with the perfect sprinkle of camp. Justin organizes these unfussy recipes by baking vessel from sheet pan to casserole dish to round things, including a chapter devoted to my beloved loaf pan. Although I’m usually a 100% from-scratch baker, Justin employs one of my secret (not guilty) pleasures in several recipes: instant pudding mix. I needed his reminder that as long as it’s made with love and intention, semi-homemade can be just as scrumptious. He punctuates the recipes with snippets from his life, and how he found comfort—and himself—through community. The peaks into Justin’s life are the beating heart of this book.

For more from Justin, subscribe to his sweet newsletter

Taste This

.

---

Justin, John, and Erik’s books make the perfect trilogy for your Pride Month reading. They teach, remind, and emphasize that queer food is about the food, yes, but it’s more about food as nexus to create space for people to gather, connect, build community, resist, and, yes, refuel.

Happy Pride & Happy Reading,
Martin