June is Pride Month in the United States. Indianapolis celebrates with a parade and all-day events on June 14 and 15. But being LGBTQ isn’t something we clock in and out of on the weekends: We were born this way (thank you, Gaga). We didn’t choose it. Thus, we shouldn’t
choose between authenticity and acceptance when eating or meeting up. We want spaces that are more than just inclusive for business optics. Establishments need to be genuine in their support of who we are.
For most of us, it often means seeking out LGBTQIA-owned restaurants, bars and coffee shops, where identity isn’t a marketing strategy. It’s brewed, baked and blended into the DNA. Since moving from Los Angeles to Indy five years ago, I’ve visited queer-owned restaurants, bakeries, and coffee shops across the state, from Fort Wayne to Evansville. These businesses don’t just serve the LGBTQ community; they employ locals and uplift their neighborhoods.
While we celebrate Pride this month, we also look toward Chicago, where the Oscars of the food world, the James Beard Awards, will be handed out June 16. It’s especially significant, considering James Beard himself was a gay man long before it was safe or celebrated to be out in public.
Today, the James Beard Foundation carries on his culinary legacy, honoring all chefs and restaurateurs, regardless of gender or identity expression, who feed us with creative and inspirational flavors.
“Food is our common ground, a universal experience, “ – James Beard
The couple, Adam Reinstrom and Pablo Gonzalez, opened Gather 22 in 2023. Named after its location on 22nd Street and as a place to convene, it showcases deliciousness from pizzas, sandwiches and cocktails. Like its owners, a mix of ethnicities and experiences from the West Coast to the Midwest, it is a place to meet up, have inspiring conversations and celebrate differences while eating and drinking well.
22 East 22nd Street, Indianapolis (Central) (317) 258-2222: IG, FB
In the small town of New Harmony, just outside of Evansville, Alex Gale and his baristas produce house-roasted beans and specialty coffees. What began as weekend meditation excursions for Gale to the new age-centered village along the Wabash River led Gale to discover and purchase Black Lodge Coffee Roasters. Since buying the shop in 2019, it’s become known for its bourbon-barrel coffee, eccentric events (sound baths, art exhibitions), and community outreach.
610 Church Street, New Harmony, (812) 682-2449 IG, FB
Lady Tron’s, a sci-fi homage serving delicious handcrafted soup and sandwiches, sits where Indiana meets the shores of the Ohio River. Owned by Alexa and Summer Seig, the duo serves a crowd of regulars from a vintage mobile diner outfitted in memorabilia from Star Wars to Elf and Star Trek. It’s an incongruous, madcap but tasty experience in a historic town that also served as part of the Underground Railroad.
The Huntingtonburg Grind, Huntingtonburg (Southern Indiana)
Smithsonian Magazine named Huntingtonburg one of the best small towns in the United States in 2024, but partners in life and business Chad Brian and Mike Voegerl, the latter growing up there, knew that already. Thus, they purchased the coffee shop on charming 4th Street, a four-block stretch of restored Queen Anne and Victorian architecture.
410 E. 4th Street, Huntingtonburg, (812) 684-8079 FB
Opened in 2008, this sushi-slash-Italian-slash-Chinese eatery is a delicious haven for downtown Indianapolis residents. With a full bar, it’s a well-designed gathering space for the LGBTQIA community and their friends. If the ramen noodles or street tacos don’t fit your Midwest tastebuds, they also serve a burger with fries. The owner, Bill Pritt, purchased Metro last year, an LGBTQ bar on Mass Avenue and plans to open Harrison’s on Delaware Street in an abandoned bank building this summer.
NOTE: This is an original post we wrote in October 2015. We like to pull a Saturday Night Live, and occasionally have rebroadcasts. Heh.
Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough are America’s first culinary couple sort of like Julia Child and Jacques Pepin except, they are married, like Lucy and Desi. As a business partnership, they have written 26 cookbooks and ghost-written six more for star vanity projects. Ham: An Obsession with the Hindquarter (2010) and Vegetarian Dinner Parties (2014) were nominated for the coveted James Beard Award for “Best Cookbook”. As a couple, they have been together for 19 years – meeting in an AOL chatroom while living in New York City. Even then, they were ahead of their time.
There isn’t a comparative food coupling in the culinary world like Bruce and Mark. Certainly, not cooking in a restaurant, on a Food Network or Cooking Channel show. Or for that matter on PBS or Logo. Instead of going through today’s star-making channels – YouTube and reality television – the pair did it the old-fashioned way. Hard work.
You might say, “What about so-and-so?” They started on reality television running around the world.
“What about the Food Network’s blah?” They stick to one food type.
“What about…?” Nay. She was a well-known actress before she met her husband.
Bruce and Mark are a team, having written and eaten their way to a successful career and a country Connecticut home. They finish each other’s sentences in the adoring, long-time love affair way and they laugh at each other’s jokes. If Woody Allen were casting for a movie during his Annie Hall days, Bruce and Mark would embody the perfect museum-going Manhattan pair. Smart. Literate. Witty.
The type-A personality couple spends almost 24 hours together but maintain separate endeavors to keep the relationship strong. Weinstein, the cook of the couple, knits runway-ready sweaters (of course, he does) and has written a book about it (of course, he has). Scarbrough, the writer and academic, teaches Chaucer (of course, he does) and has just created an iTunes podcast for the couple (of course, he has). Supposedly, they do play a mean game of bridge as partners in their off-time from the stove and computer.
Somewhere – amongst over two dozen cookbooks written –the prolific twosome has time to appear on QVC hawking mass cookbooks about pressure cookers to mid-Western cooking hobbyists. There’s also the column contribution to Weight Watcher’s online and they can be viewed on Craftsy.com espousing on – what else? – cooking.
Photo by Eric Medsker
Like fellow comedic pairings before them, such as Gracie Allen and George Burns, making the audience laugh is much a part of who they are as what they do when whipping up garlicky mash potatoes. It’s a blend of entertainment and cooking.
To the outsider looking in, their relationship seems to embody a lot of laughter….and eating. And drinking…. with lots of laughing. For Bruce and Mark, it all appears to be about having fun and enjoying life. After all is said and done, the inspiring pair is enjoying it all except they would like to have a little bubbly with all that love.
Food People Questionnaire:
What is your favorite food to cook at home?
Ham: An Obsession with the Hindquarters. Photo by Marcus Nilsson
Bruce: Oxtails, beef tongue, or veal cheeks—tough choice.
Mark: As you can see, there’s no need for me to cook at home. I write the books. I get fed. It’s a great trade-off.
What do you always have in your fridge at home?
Bruce: See the above answer.
Mark: Skim milk—because I think it actually makes the best foam for my morning four-shot latte.
What marked characteristic do you love in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Bruce: A nice shirt—I’m going to be looking at it all night.
Mark: Well, maybe not, Bruce! I really like good conversation skills. Give-and-take. Back-and-forth. First time someone says, “Another thing about me is . . .” I’m out of there.
What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in a person with whom you are sharing a meal?
Bruce: Slurping solid food.
Mark: Texting. Please. Stop.
Beer, wine or cocktail?
Bruce: Cocktail to start, wine with, beer after.
Mark: Wine. I hear they’re making it in other colors besides red these days. Wouldn’t know.
Bruce:Richard’s Fresh Seafood on Covehead Wharf in the national park on Prince Edward Island, Canada
Mark: The restaurant at Le Mas des Herbes Blanches in Joucas, France. Go in the summer when the lavender fields are in bloom against the red cliffs of Roussillon down in the valley.
Do you have any tattoos? And if so, how many are of food?
Bruce: Some things you have to leave to the imagination.
Mark: No. And I still have things you can imagine.
From Bruce and Mark: Winter weekends are made for dinner parties. As the sun sets early and the darkness creeps over our yard, we banish the cold by lighting the candles and serving hearty, warming fare like this casserole. The tender, spiced, even lemony dumplings are baked in a simple cream sauce that emphasizes their luxurious texture while softening some of their sweetness. It’s best minutes out of the oven, so plan your timing carefully.
Squeeze the thawed spinach by the handful over the sink to remove excess moisture, then crumble it into a large bowl.
Stir in the ricotta, pecorino, egg yolks, semolina, chives, dill, zest, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, the salt, and nutmeg to form a wet but coherent dough. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Spread more semolina flour on a large plate. Use damp, clean hands to form the dough into 24 balls, each about the size of a golf ball, rolling them one by one in the semolina to coat thoroughly before setting them on a large lipped baking sheet.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Working in batches, add 5 or 6 dumplings and boil for 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to scoop them out, drain them, and transfer to a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Repeat with the remaining dumplings.
Position the rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F.
Make the sauce by melting the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until a creamy paste. Slowly whisk in the milk in a steady, fine stream until the paste has dissolved. Whisk in the wine and continue whisking over the heat until thickened and bubbling, 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in the Parmigiano-Reggiano, then pour this sauce over the dumplings in the baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper over the casserole.
Bake until lightly browned and bubbling, about 20 minutes. Cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Ahead: Complete the recipe through step 6 up to 2 hours in advance; store, lightly covered, at room temperature.
Garnish: Although we’re not a fan of side dishes at dinner parties, this casserole could use a little contrast. Spoon the baked dumplings and sauce onto plates, accompanied by grilled asparagus spears, drizzled with a flavorful but light vinaigrette.
Note: Make sure the lemon zest is in fine bits. If you don’t use a small-bored microplane to grate the zest, mince it on a cutting board to make sure no one ends up with a big thread in a single dumpling.
The End. Go Eat.
(Correction: Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough’s monthly column was incorrectly attributed to Fine Cooking Magazine. It is Weight Watcher’s Online.)
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Bruce and Mark. Certainly, not cooking in a restaurant, on a Food Network or Cooking Channel show. Or for that matter on PBS or Logo. Instead of going through today’s star-making channels – YouTube and reality television – the pair did it the old-fashioned way. Hard work.
The type-A personality couple spends almost 24 hours together but maintain separate endeavors to keep the relationship strong. Weinstein, the cook of the couple, knits 
Bruce: A nice shirt—I’m going to be looking at it all night.
