Cherry Bombe event at The Lynhall in Minneapolis
Cherry Bombe at The Lynhall
Launched five years ago, Cherry Bombe is a national magazine, website, podcast, and now cookbook that focuses on women in food. Kerry Diamond, the founder who owns a coffee shop in NYC, was here on Monday as part of her national tour. She hung out at The Lynhall on Monday to talk about the future of food, but I got a few minutes with her before the show to see what she thought.
On Minneapolis:
We did a national book tour with the launch of the cookbook, but we hit all the cities where we knew people. This tour, we are going to cities where we don't know people, so it's been really interesting putting the panels together. But I've always loved Minneapolis. Music was my thing when I was teenager and I just couldn't believe that there was this place where The Replacements came from, and Hüsker Du, and Bob Dylan, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. It just seemed sort of magical from a cultural perspective. Tomorrow I get to interview Lynne Rosetto Kasper—talk about a professional highlight. I talked to her on the phone for a moment and almost burst into tears.
Food and Dining editor Stephanie March with Kerry Diamond and Liz Welle
Smarch, Kerry Diamond, and Liz Welle
On why you launch a female food magazine:
When by boyfriend and I opened our first restaurant, I was deeply unhappy. It was so hard, and I was getting my ass kicked every day and night. When I looked around, having come from the world of beauty and magazines where I had a million friends and mentors, I realized I had no one. I missed that community, but also saw there were no women being celebrated. It all sort of came together to fill a need. I was always a feminist, I think I came out of the womb as a feminist—as a young girl I fought for girls to become altar boys. And when you look at the past five years, who would have thought that they'd unfold the way they did? Women are starting to get their due—and not just in food, but in so many worlds. The Harvey Weinstein story came out the week before our cookbook launch party, and then we went on tour. The tone of conversation was just boosted by the #metoo movement, and it was pretty powerful.
On realizing your work is far from done:
I was feeling pretty good—women were getting more attention, and I was feeling really good about things. Then I went to Portland, and as I was headed to Salt & Straw for ice cream, I asked the driver about the neighborhood and who lives there. He said: 'Oh you'll find a lot of guys with beards and women with a bit of extra weight, you know, like extra baby weight.' I was so shocked that I didn't know what to say, I just got out of the car surprised and thought 'What the fuck, it's not like he was George Clooney!' But then, it got worse. I was on the plane back, and sitting next to this guy who was a professor. And as the flight attendant video is playing, he keeps talking at me, and comments that he loves a different airline better because they have age and weight requirements for their "stewardesses", that they all have to be thin and under 30. I couldn't believe it. It just reminds me how much work has to be done.
On what should happen in a year from now:
I would like for all of these harassers to have divested from their restaurants. If they don't divest, then they should have to deliver a Moving Forward Manifesto, telling us why we should continue to support them, how they're going to run their companies differently, how they're going to give back. I don't think any of them have done that yet. And then, I think the Anthony Bourdain tragedy opened up a whole other thing that we need to start paying attention to, the mental health of everyone in the food world.
On where Cherry Bombe will be in five more years:
I would love to have a production company, because I think you can't underestimate the power of the screen today. And that's an area that I think women are still underrepresented, especially serious women chefs.
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