Photo by Wendy Goodfriend
Happy Pride! And what a day! A whole lot of New York caterers and wedding-cake bakers are very happy today, now that same-sex marriage is wonderfully, amazingly legal in New York, and without a residency requirement, meaning Virgin Atlantic and Jet Blue should be running bride-and-bride, groom-and-groom cross-country specials very soon, at least until the slow-moving wheels of justice finally get the right thing done out here. So, what do you eat, in between the Frameline35 LGBT film festival, the Trans March, the Dyke March, the parade on Sunday and all the myriad house parties, dance parties, comedy shows, performances, and more happening during this fine final week of June? Popcorn, probably, the celery, pickled green beans and olives in your Bloody Mary, and of course, whatever bacon-wrapped hot dog or meat-on-a-stick is being smokily, deliciously offered for a few bucks to the hungry, sweaty, beer-bathed hordes from now through Sunday.
This being San Francisco, of course, Pride is hardly confined to the Castro or Civic Center. We've got LGBT chefs, restaurant owners, bartenders, bakers, and ice-cream makers in every neighborhood, after all. As Pride Parade Honorary Grand Marshall Susie Bright says, "I must have my breakfast, and the best crab cakes west of the Orleans parish line are at Adrienne's Just for You Cafe in Dogpatch." Once the late-afternoon fog rolls in, then it's time for a Blue Moon, not just a summer drink but the "ultimate lavender Liz Taylor's eyes cocktail," made from gin, fresh lemon, and Crème des Violettes, shaken over ice and served with a twist."The color is breathtaking, it tastes sublime, and the violet aroma is real!" Order it at what Susie describes as her "latest swoon," the Comstock Saloon in North Beach. "It's like going into a Barbary Coast time machine; the attention to detail is intoxicating, and the food and drink are prepared with such panache. A one-of-a-kind experience!" she says. And while you're feeling blue, you can also drop into the brand-new Bluestem Brasserie, where chef James Ormsby (Bruno's, PlumpJack Cafe) has returned to the restaurant scene as consulting pastry chef, whipping up tasty treats like the "Honolulu Hangover" (chocolate coconut layer cake, toasted coconut marshallow meringue) and "Sealed with a Kiss" (vanilla ice cream profiteroles, strawberry rhubarb compote, crème rose).
What else? Take a tip from what our local Celebrity Grand Marshall and Top Chef Desserts winner Yigit Pura says in his It Gets Better video, "Have some dessert! Feel good!" (Keep an eye out for Pura's own patisserie, Tout Sweet, coming soon.) Up in Pacific Heights, Elizabeth Falkner's crew at Citizen Cake are busy baking heart-shaped pride cookies splashed with spin-art rainbow icing, alongside with cookie sunglasses dotted with candy-sprinkle hearts. Down the street, at Fillmore and Haight, Three Twins ice cream has a dozen Pride-themed flavors happening this weekend, like Harvey Milk and Cookies (made with rice milk) and peanut-butter-laced Bear Bait. Prefer savory to sweet? Over in the Mission, Delfina Pizzeria is a sponsor of the 2011 Dyke March, selling a limited-edition t-shirt as a fundraiser for the cash-strapped parade. Instead of the restaurant's usual red-on-black offering, the aqua-blue, $25 tee imagines the Golden Gate Bridge as a ring of rainbow-colored pizza slices. Given the topless, tattooed show that the Dyke March gives the Prosecco-clutching patrons of Delfina and Pizzeria Delfina every June, it's clearly a case of, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and keep 'em going for another year.