Host Justin Burke sits down with Symantha Duggan, co-owner of Vesper Books & Wine, a Detroit cookbook store, wine bar, and community space rooted in care, intentionality, and accessibility.

Symantha’s path into hospitality was anything but linear. From cosmetology to wellness hospitality to construction management, every chapter shaped how she thinks about people, space, and community. Those experiences now live inside Vesper, a place designed to feel warm, thoughtful, and welcoming without pretension.

In this episode, they talk about building Vesper from the ground up, creating a hospitality space that removes barriers rather than reinforces them, and why making people feel comfortable matters just as much as what’s on the menu or the shelves.

They also discuss the importance of having a culinary-focused bookstore in Detroit, not just for the local community, but for cookbook culture more broadly. Spaces like Vesper create opportunities for connection, author events, food conversations, and reasons for cookbook authors and food media to stop in Detroit rather than pass it by.

This conversation touches on hospitality, queer community, accessibility, design, food culture, and what happens when people build spaces with genuine care at the center.

More than anything, it’s about creating places people want to return to and the power of making someone feel considered the moment they walk through the door.

Get to Know the Community

The foundation of That Ate is community; supporting the people doing the work, sharing resources, and keeping the queer food community connected.

Below are the people, businesses, and organizations mentioned in this episode, including this week’s guest(s):

• Symantha Duggan - connect on Instagram 
• Vesper Books & Wine - if you’re in Detroit or planning a trip soon, visit www.vesperbooksandwine.com or follow on Instagram

Queer Food Stars Symantha wants you to know:

• Sami Tamimi - follow on Instagram or subscribe to Sami’s Substack
• Jon Kung - follow on Instagram or YouTube 

Go follow, support, and spread the love.

That Ate:

• Subscribe to Taste This, Justin’s newsletter, to catch every episode. 
• Follow Justin on Instagram
• Want to collab or have a suggestion for a future guest? Visit the website.
  

Host Justin Burke sits down with Edy Massih, owner of the Lebanese market and deli that opened during the pandemic and quickly became a bright, welcoming space amid much uncertainty.

Edy’s Grocer is more than just a place to eat or cater from; it’s a reflection of identity, culture, and the kind of community that forms when people feel genuinely welcomed.

In this episode, they talk about what it really looked like to open a business during COVID, how collaboration became a defining part of the space, and why creating something inclusive isn’t a strategy, it’s a way of moving through the world.

They also get into Edy's debut cookbook, Keep It Zesty, a natural extension of the grocer but also something more personal. A way to tell his story on his own terms, honor the women who have shaped him (yes, Oprah Winfrey comes up), share his love for Lebanese food, and bring that same sense of connection at Edy’s Grocer into people’s kitchens.

This conversation touches on queer and immigrant intersectionality, resilience, and the responsibility that comes with building a space where others can feel joy and safety.

More than anything, it’s about what happens when food brings people together and how collaboration can turn a space into something bigger than itself.

Get to Know the Community

The foundation of That Ate is community; supporting the people doing the work, sharing resources, and keeping the queer food community connected.

Below are the people, businesses, and organizations mentioned in this episode, including this week’s guest(s):

• Edy Massih - connect on Instagram or visit him at www.edymassih.com
• Edy’s Grocer - next time you’re in Brooklyn, visit edysgrocer.com or follow on Instagram
• Keep It Zesty - If you haven’t yet, get your copy here

Queer Food Stars Edy wants you to know:

• Jordan Smith - follow on Instagram or subscribe to his Substack

Go follow, support, and spread the love.

That Ate:

• Subscribe to Taste This, Justin’s newsletter, to catch every episode. 
• Follow Justin on Instagram
• Want to collab or have a suggestion for a future guest? Visit the website.

Host Justin Burke sits down with comedian, writer, and author Gus Constantellis to talk about his cookbook-meets-memoir, My Greek Mom’s Recipes: She Died. I Wrote This Cookbook.

What started as a project with his mother became something else entirely — a way to process grief, honor her life, and keep her presence alive through food. The book moves between humor and loss, recipes and memory, capturing what it means to lose someone and still feel them in the dishes you make.

For many, Gus’s mom was already a familiar presence — “The Greek Mom” — a beloved character through his comedy that resonated with people across cultures and backgrounds.

In this conversation, they discuss Gus’s path from stand-up to writing, what it was like to write this book in real time after his mother’s passing, and how storytelling, food, and queerness intersect in moments of loss, family, and identity.

More than anything, this episode is about connection and the ways we keep people close.

If you’ve ever cooked to remember someone, or are navigating loss in your own way, this conversation offers both honesty and comfort.

Get to Know the Community

The foundation of That Ate is community; supporting the people doing the work, sharing resources, and keeping the queer food community connected.

Below are the people, businesses, and organizations mentioned in this episode, including this week’s guest(s):

• Gus Constantellis - connect on Instagram or visit him at www.constantlygus.com
• My Greek Mom’s Recipes: She Died. I Wrote This Cookbook - If you haven’t yet, get your copy here

Queer Food Stars Gus wants you to know:

• Edy Massih
  • Edy’s Grocer
• Kate Sisk

Go follow, support, and spread the love.

That Ate:

• Subscribe to Taste This, Justin’s newsletter, to catch every episode. 
• Follow Justin on Instagram
• Want to collab or have a suggestion for a future guest? Visit the website.

Host Justin Burke sits down with cookbook writer and recipe developer Casey Elsass for a conversation that’s part behind-the-scenes, part catch-up, and entirely shaped by a shared experience.

Both Justin and Casey wrote and published their first cookbooks at the same time. For Casey, after helping bring nearly 20 cookbooks to life as a ghostwriter and co-author, What Can I Bring? marks his first solo book.

Together, they dive into what it actually takes to write a cookbook: the long timelines, the testing, the figuring-it-out-as-you-go. They also unpack Casey’s path as a “cookbook doula” and explore the difference between ghostwriting and co-authoring.

More than anything, this episode captures what happens when two people move through the same process at the same time, and how that shared journey can turn into something more. It’s very queer food.

If you’ve ever thought about writing a cookbook, or just want a closer look at how they come together, this conversation offers both insight and connection.

Get to Know the Community

The foundation of That Ate is community; supporting the people doing the work, sharing resources, and keeping the queer food community connected.

Below are the people, businesses, and organizations mentioned in this episode, including this week’s guest(s):

• Casey Elsass - connect on Instagram or visit him at www.caseyelsass.com
• What Can I Bring? - If you haven’t yet, get your copy here

Queer Food Stars Casey wants you to know:

• Erik Piepenburg
  • Dining Out
• Liz Alpern
  • Queer Soup Night
• DeVonn Francis

Go follow, support, and spread the love.

That Ate:

• Subscribe to Taste This, Justin’s newsletter, to catch every episode. 
• Follow Justin on Instagram
• Want to collab or have a suggestion for a future guest? Visit the website.

In episode five of That Ate, Justin Burke is joined by award-winning food writer Jaya Saxena to dig into exactly that. Because food writing isn’t just about what we're eating; it’s how we talk about people, culture, politics, identity, and the world around us.

They talk about Jaya’s path into food writing, how she found her voice, and what it means to approach food through a queer and trans lens. They also get into the future of queer food writing, moving beyond trauma and joy into nuanced, lived-in stories that reflect real life.

Plus, they dig into her James Beard–nominated Eater essay “The Food That Makes You Gay”, and the very real (and slightly wild) reactions people have to something as simple as eating a banana, ice cream, and even soup. 😵‍💫

If you’re into food writing, queer storytelling, and conversations that go beyond the plate, this episode is for you.

Get to Know the Community

The foundation of That Ate is community; supporting the people doing the work, sharing resources, and keeping the queer food community connected.

Below are the people, businesses, and organizations mentioned in this episode, including this week’s guest(s):

• Jaya Saxena - connect on Instagram or visit her at www.jayasaxena.com
• Jaya’s article mentioned in this episode - The Food That Makes You Gay, Eater
• Books mentioned in this episode - Dining Out by Erik Piepenburg, What is Queer Food? by John Birdsall, and Queers at the Table by Alex D. Ketchum & Megan J. Elias

Queer Food Stars Jaya wants you to know:

• Meghan McCarron
• Dave’s Lesbian Bar
• Cake Zine (not explicitly queer, but a supporter of queer stories and queer writers)

Go follow, support, and spread the love.

That Ate:

• Subscribe to Taste This, Justin’s newsletter, to catch every episode. 
• Follow Justin on Instagram
• Want to collab or have a suggestion for a future guest? Visit the website. 

In Episode Four of That Ate, Justin Burke is joined by Sana Javeri Kadri, founder of Diaspora Spice Co., and Asha Loupy, the company’s recipe editor and co-author of The Diaspora Spice Co. Cookbook.

They talk about disrupting the traditional spice trade, paying farmers an average of four times the commodity price, and cutting a seven-step supply chain down to three: farmer, Diaspora, you.

But this conversation goes further.

They dig into how queerness shapes Diaspora’s business model — from leadership to accountability — and how their new cookbook, The Diaspora Spice Co. Cookbook, connects recipes to the people who grow the spices. It’s about labor, identity, community, and what it means to build a values-driven food company that actually lives its values.

If you’ve ever wondered where your spices really come from — or how business can be rooted in equity and queerness — this episode is for you.

Below are the people, businesses, and organizations mentioned in this episode, including this week’s guest(s):

• Sana Javeri Kadri - connect on Instagram
• Asha Loupy - connect on Instagram
• Diaspora Spice Co. - learn more about the company here and add their spices to your kitchen, or connect on Instagram
• The Diaspora Spice Co. Cookbook - get your copy of the book today

Queer Food Stars Sana + Asha want you to know:

• John Birdsall
• HAGS
• Lil’ Deb’s Oasis
• Tony Ortiz
• Rebekah Peppler

Go follow, support, and spread the love.

That Ate:

• Subscribe to Taste This, Justin’s newsletter, to catch every episode. 
• Follow Justin on Instagram
• Want to collab or have a suggestion for a future guest? Visit the website.

Justin Burke chats with Adam Roberts, the voice behind The Amateur Gourmet and now the author of the debut novel Food Person. Long before food blogging was an industry, Adam was writing into the void. That blog led to Food Network, a writers’ room on The Real O’Neals, two cookbooks, and now fiction.

They talk about the early days of food media, writing before SEO drove content, and the freedom of finding your voice without having to optimize it. But they also talk about queerness; not as performance, not as branding, but as something steady. Present. And in Food Person, Adam shares what it means to write characters, especially queer characters, who feel human and specific, not symbolic.

This is a conversation about staying curious, staying human, and letting queerness exist in all its forms.

Below are the people, businesses, and organizations mentioned in this episode, including this week’s guest(s):

• Adam Roberts - connect on Instagram
• The Amateur Gourmet - check it out here, or subscribe to Substack
• Food Person - Get your copy here

Queer Food Stars Adam wants you to know:

• Jeremy Salamon
  • Agi’s Counter, Pitt’s
  • Jeremy’s cookbook, Second Generation
• Renato Poliafito
  • Ciao, Gloria, Pasta Night
  • Renato’s cookbook, Dolci! 

Go follow, support, and spread the love.

That Ate:

• Subscribe to Taste This, Justin’s newsletter, to catch every episode. 
• Follow Justin on Instagram
• Want to collab or have a suggestion for a future guest? Visit the website.

Justin Burke sits down with Telly Justice, co-owner and chef of HAGS, a trans-owned, queer-focused fine dining restaurant in New York City’s East Village that’s redefining what fine dining can be—and who gets to belong. Built on care, access, and intention, HAGS makes sliding-scale meals a core part of its model, proving that excellence and equity can coexist.

Telly shares how queerness and transness shape HAGS’ approach to food, creativity, and survival; the importance of chosen family; and building a restaurant culture rooted in mentorship, softness, and collective care. This conversation explores power, hospitality, and what it truly means to feed people well while treating people well.

Below are the people, businesses, and organizations mentioned in this episode, including this week’s guest(s):

• Telly Justice - connect on Instagram
• Camille Lindsley - connect on Instagram 
• HAGS - learn more, make a reservation at HAGS, and follow on Instagram
• John Birdsall - subscribe to John’s Substack, Shifting the Food Narrative, follow on Instagram, or visit John’s website.

Queer Food Stars Telly wants you to know:

• Luna Vela
  • Neighborhood Molino
• Silver Iocovozzi
  • Neng Jr’s

Go follow, support, and spread the love.

That Ate:

• Subscribe to Taste This, Justin’s newsletter, to catch every episode. 
• Follow Justin on Instagram
• Want to collab or have a suggestion for a future guest? Visit the website.

Justin Burke sits down with Vanessa Parish, co-founder + Executive Director of the Queer Food Foundation.

Vanessa reflects on coming up in the food industry during the early, rule-less days of food media, what it meant to be publicly queer in that moment, and the real costs of visibility. Together, they unpack why the Queer Food Foundation (QFF) exists, how lived experience shaped its mission, and the resources QFF is building to support the queer and trans community across the food industry today. Plus, they get a little nerdy (in their feels) and talk about what queer comfort food looks like.

This first episode sets the tone for That Ate: queer food, real stories, and community care!

A Note From Justin: This episode reflects on the Big Queer Food Fest, where Vanessa and I first met—a gathering that also included the incredible Elle Simone Scott. We honor her memory and the lasting impact she had on the culinary industry, food media, and our community, which she held with such care.

Below are the people, businesses, and organizations mentioned in this episode, including this week’s guest(s):

• Queer Food Foundation — learn more at www.queerfoodfoundation.org and follow on Instagram.
• Vanessa Parish — connect on Instagram.

Queer Food Stars Vanessa wants you to know:

• Kareem “Mr. Bake” Queeman
• D Anderson
• Selasie Dotse
• BABE Wine Bar

Go follow, support, and spread the love.

That Ate:

• Subscribe to Taste This, Justin’s newsletter, to catch every episode.
• Follow Justin on Instagram
• Want to collab or have a suggestion for a future guest? Visit the website.  

So what is That Ate, and what exactly is queer food anyway? Episode 0 lays it all out. This podcast lives where queer identity meets food culture, shining a light on stories that don’t always get the spotlight and the lived-in experiences of queer and trans folks across the food world.

It’s personal, it’s conversational, and yes, it’s about food, but also about identity, community, memory, and the traditions we inherit and the ones we get to rewrite. Episode 0 gives a taste of the voices and stories coming in Season One: the people shaping queer food culture today, and the ones we’re just getting to know.

Subscribe to Taste This, Justin’s newsletter, to catch every episode.

Or, follow Justin on Instagram.