Interview with Chef Telly Justice

In this episode I talked with Chef Telly Justice of HAGS, a small restaurant in the East Village, about queer potlucks, her family's cream pie and professional vs personal cooking.

May 06, 2024

Chilled slice of Cream Pie. Cream pie out of oven

Listening to Chef Telly Justice talk about the impact of cooking at queer potlucks in her young adult life had on her career reminds me of my own beginnings in cooking for others. Long before I went to culinary school, started working in restaurants or opened (and closed) my own restaurants I cooked for my community. For me and my girlfriend (now wife!) the late 90s in San Francisco were all about us throwing dinner parties with all our new queer friends we had met since we moved from Ann Arbor to the big and very queer city. I was flooded with memories of Butch fashion shows, lots of fondue and a 10 courses to the millennium for NYE 1999/2000 dinner we pulled off out of a 1 bedroom apartment. These early experiences also influenced Chef Telly, and I think we share a lot in common here as she spoke of cooking as a facet of her queerness and how she shows love. I can relate, 100%. There is something wonderful about finding a part of yourself you didn’t know was there in community. It’s like a gift slowly unwrapping inside of you when the external conditions are finally right.

Listening to Telly talk about what this recipe meant to her, and the time in her life when she made it for her mother on Mother’s Day speaks to the emotional impact of cooking for the people you love. A theme that seemed to keep coming up during our conversation. Professional cooking requires a level of disassociation that can be challenging when one’s interest and initial connection with cooking was from a place of showing love. It’s a hard path for many chefs to navigate, as we find our selves laboring in a job, and still working to keep the emotional connection somewhat tethered. For Chef Telly that connection seems like making sure to bring that intentionality of care into her restaurant and work every day.

The thing about “simple recipes” like Telly’s family Cream Pie, is they tend to intimidate me the most. I’m an over communicator, so less is not more for me in the directions department. And so much of making recipes with very simple ingredients comes down to technique and skill (read: puff pastry). So, I was a bit nervous going in with just a little notecard worth of direction but I did my best and I think got pretty close to the family recipe.

The nutmeg is key, in my opinion, to the flavor and I have to admit as a person of Indian origin it was very hard for me to not add other flavor enhancers. Simply eaten chilled, the pie is creamy and firms up nicely which I was worried about since there are no eggs or other leavening agents. In the future I might add some black pepper or vanilla extract or lemon zest. But I think the essence of this Old Fashioned Cream Pie lies in the simplicity of ingredients you most likely have in the house to create a special treat for those you love, dearly and queerly.