Lez Eat! Queers & Food, Midwestern style‪.‬ JT Goehring-Newman

Join me as I roll out the first of the “lost episodes” of season 2, with “pastry chef, plant daddy, flower child”, scientist and educator Harry Fiebelman! We sat down last fall to discuss baking, fermentation, sustainable eating & cooking, and the best tool a chef can have (bench scraper, in case you were curious!) (sorry for the spoiler).
From Harry’s website: “My name is Harold Fiebelman. I am a Northern California native who loves food, plants, and the world around us. I have spent years playing with food through new creations both in flavor and design. Originally a cake decorator I fell in love with French pastry at a young age and knew my life should be filled with food. Through the years I moved across the country and for a short period across the ocean in France to study under some of the best. I have learned a lot over the years and continue to learn every day. This is where I can share what I discover in my everyday life!
​I've also found a love to experiment in many forms. From food and fermenting to plants and composting, I love to better myself and my impact on the world as a whole. I've come to accept the mistakes that will happen with what I do and embrace them in a way of celebration. Follow along in my journal for stories, recipes, and other information I come across in my life. Check out my calendar to see upcoming cooking classes that I have going on. You can even shoot me an email and set up private events or classes in your kitchen.”
Instagram: @harry_fiebelmanSnapchat: @cakemanharry Facebook: The Unperfect Chef


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What can I say? It was a brutal six months…But we’re back and better than ever! Listen to this update and STAY TUNED for the lost episodes!


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Join us as we catch up with Chef Urban (who we interviewed in Season One), formerly of Broadway Youth Center, at their new venture as the Director of Silver Work, a culinary workforce development program at Center on Halsted, Chicago’s LGBTQIA+ center. (For full disclosure: JT joined the Silver Fork’s 38th Cohort after this interview and subsequently got a job at Dom’s Kitchen & Market as head of their Demo Team in Lincoln Park.)


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In this episode, I sit down with Vanessa Parrish, the Executive Director of the Queer Food Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to be a nationwide Resource and platform for LGBTQIA+ Individuals in food. They promote, protect, and fund queer food spaces. In this episode, we discuss their Queer Food Fund project, their workshop series with the James Beard Foundation and talk about Vanessa’s passion for queer farming, sparkling cocktails, and her favorite flavor of ice cream. You can find them at queer food foundation dot org or on social media @queerfoodfoundation.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lezeat.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lezeat.substack.com

Headshot, courtesy of GAZ Creative Agency
Chef Dominique is a classically trained chef turned nationally recognized pitmaster. First garnering culinary experience in some of the most prestigious kitchens in Chicago under the direction of chef icons such as James Beard award-winning owner/chef Tony Mantuano and Executive Chef Sarah Grueneberg (Monteverde) at MICHELIN starred Italian restaurant Spiaggia, as well as with award-winning author and chef Raghavan Lyer at The Art Institute Museum. Leach then branched out with her wife Tanisha in 2016 to create her own catering company, “Cater to You Events & Drop Offs.” Inspired by fond childhood memories of her grandmother, Betty King of Lexington, Mississippi, who filled the house with flavorful aromas of home-cooked meals, Dominique then took those aromas and applied techniques to launch a successful food truck, Lexington Betty Smokehouse. Her expertise and soulful food would lead to her victory on The Food Network’s BBQ BRAWL in 2023 with Bobby Flay as well as earn her a spot on CHOPPED and as a judge/contestant on Food Network Canada FIREMASTERS, recognition as the “Best Barbecue in Chicago” by Good Morning America, and a full brick-and-mortar home for Lexington Betty on the South Side of Chicago following a pilot project to help promote black-owned businesses in the region. Chef Leach and her wife’s hard work and persistence in a male-dominated industry have helped them carve out a name for themselves in the culinary world in Chicago and beyond.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lezeat.substack.com