Coming Out

[e-mail]

I am intrested in information on what i can
expect if I "come out". How do I tell my parents? What
can I expect from my "first" encounter?

Seriously, though, dear Mr./Ms. Grimme, you've chosen a
very good time to think about coming out, because it's
gay pride month/week, and there are a lot of good
support groups hovering about. I wouldn't come out to
your parents--especially if you live with them--until
you feel you have the support you need from friends
and/or a group care of, say, the Gay Community Center
on 13th Street just west of 7th Avenue. Coming out can
be a wonderful process--I remember it as one of the
very best times of my life. But it is a process, not
just "ta-da!'' Feel free to e-mail me at
[e-mail] if you feel you need more info or
advice.

Gourmet Guy writes: "I wouldn't come out to your
parents--especially if you live with them--until you
feel you have the support you need from friends and/or
a group care of, say, the Gay Community Center on 13th
Street just west of 7th Avenue."

What restaurants can you recommend around there anyway?

Dear Beth @ Frank Language:
Sure. There are about fifty decent restaurants within
walking distance of the Gay Community Center. Some
of my favorites:

Cafe de Bruxelles on Greenwich Avenue near Jane St. has
awesome mussels (especially those in the cream/Pernod
sauce) and terrific frites.

John's Pizzeria down on Bleecker still makes some of
the best pizza in the world; certainly it stands up to
the newer competition in town.

Florent is very big fun way over on Gansevoort Street.
Utterly reliable and sometimes excellent bistro fare.

Everyone's waiting for Balducci's to open their cafe on
Tenth Street & 6th Ave. But I gather we have to wait
until September for Ecce Panis to open across the
street. I've never had better bread in my life.

Bye for now, and bon appetit!

"What restaurants can you recommend around there
anyway?"

hee hee...you guys are awesome. I may never nuke an
off-topic message again, since you've all proved so
incredibly adept at turning the most ungermane
discussion back to food...
Ciao

You can expect various reactions, from approval
to disgust. But this is a food dicussion group,
so our interests usually stop at the waist-line
unless you are clever enough to muse on the
relationship between food and sex.

Don't be so hasty: he could mean coming out
as a chowhound: ``Mom...Dad...I've discovered
I'm not really attracted to ... the Red Lobster
any more. I find myself eating squab more and
more often, and ... I take three trains when
I get those urges to...to pick up a marble rye.

My parents took it pretty hard when I told them I
didn't like Wonder Bread anymore...and even [gasp] that
I didn't share their taste in food. Nut they found
strength in a support group for parents of people like
me.

At first my entire family watched me with complete disgust when I began to eat butter instead of margerine. Now my father has come around to the point of spreading butter on tiny oyster crackers. My mother, although she is accepting of me now, still sticks to margerine because she thinks it makes for a healthier lifestyle.
E.