By Rossi The first time I recall ever really knowing someone was gay was in 1976 at Wilfred’s Beauty Academy in Red Bank, New Jersey. Most of the kids I went to school with went to barber shops if they were boys, or hair salons if they were girls, but…

Peace, Love and Cauliflower The U.S. has been feeling like a scary place lately. In the last few years, fear mongering, hate spewing, misogyny, homophobia and racism have stirred up a division in this country probably not seen since the Civil War. Once again, it’s brother against brother, sister against…

I recently saw a painting by one of my favorite artists, Erna Partoll. The painting, called Doorways, spoke to me. Unlike the bright and vibrant colors in many of her other abstract paintings, the colors in Doorways are somewhat muted, pleasing pastel shades. The image of four doors and the…

Small Is the New Big (How a Wedding Caterer Survives Corona) All my life, I’ve yearned for the big things. When I was a kid, adults were always asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Especially teachers. That seemed to be the chosen greeting for grammar…

It wasn’t as if I decided to be a wedding caterer. In the ’80s, I was catering mostly corporate cocktail parties. Everyone seemed to have money in the ’80s. It was the yuppie invasion. Then I catered a wedding. The wedding guests said things like, “Wow! I just ate good…

Reclaiming the Flag I’ve always loved the American flag. As kids, we pledged allegiance to it every day in school. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for…

This June is the 50th anniversary of the Gay Pride march. New York City is where it all began, with the Stonewall Riots. After years of being beaten, arrested, jailed, harassed and murdered, the LGBT community rose up, fought back and changed the world. I think about the Black Lives…

Written early May 2020. I’m trying to remember the last time I hugged anyone. Was it at the open house I catered in Gowanus first week of March? Nah. We were already giving elbow bumps by then. Some guy shook my hand without thinking, and I raced to the bathroom…

Rest in Peace Larry Kramer. You were a Giant. My Normal Heart First Published on Huffington Post June, 2014 I watched Larry Kramer’s “Normal Heart” this week and was transported back to a strange and terrifying time in New York City. I moved to NYC in 1981 as a punk…