The New Who’s Who of Philly’s Gay Community

THE FOODIES

Matzke and Weinberg have been together for 13 years. And for the last four, City Food Tours has been their baby. “The only time we’re not together is in the bathroom and at the gym,” says Weinberg, who, with Matzke, leads tours through Philly’s gastronomic world. “National Coming Out Day is every day,” says Weinberg. “I think because we own the company, we don’t have concerns that our boss is going to fire us.” That might explain why half of the guides are gay. “What we bring to the community is openness and comfort about being gay and being a couple,” says Weinberg. Matzke adds: “There are straight people who say they don’t know any gay people. The more they realize they’re surrounded by really cool people doing their jobs, the easier and easier it gets.”

Crystal Fox, the chef at Giorgio on Pine, says, “I stumbled upon cooking.” She got her first food job as a cook in the kitchen at Sisters—and spent the next few years working at local restaurants including Amada. It’s what you might expect from an army brat with several college degrees under her belt. This year, she appeared on TV’s Chopped hosted by Queer Eye’s Ted Allen. As Fox graduates yet again—this time in culinary arts—she’s found a family in the food biz: “I spend 10 to 15 hours a day with these people. You know their ups, downs, ebbs, and flows—even more than their partners.” After coming out at 19, Fox, an only child, experienced a few rocky years until her parents packed up for the Southwest and didn’t invite her to join them. “It will be six years this July,” she says.

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