November 28, 2020
Watch: Denver Pastry Chef Chocolatina Delivers in Drag
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Professional pastry chef and drag performer Chocolatina, Queen of the Dessert, is helping Denver residents beat the COVID-19 blues with sweet treats and live serenades, NBC News reports.
Chocloatina is the drag name of Martin Howard, who, at seven feet in height, cuts an impressive figure - never more so than when he dons his Chocolatina attire, complete with a high blonde wig. Formerly a pastry chef at New York eateries like Rainbow Room and Brasserie 8, Howard moved to Denver a few years ago and started working in catering, but he had to get extra-creative when COVID-19 put a crimp in business.
Speaking with local news station KUSA, an NBC affiliate, Howard related how he stuck on the idea of delivering pies in drag.
"In July, he posted a picture of a raspberry-rhubarb pie he made for some friends on Facebook, and the response was overwhelming," NBC News summarized. "That's when inspiration struck.
" 'I'm going to be a drag queen and sell pie,' Howard said."
And that is precisely what he does, wheeling his pies and a portable sound system in a red Radio Flyer wagon (within safe socially distant proximity) to recipients' homes and delivering musical greetings to go along with the baed goods. He charges $100 for a package that includes two pies, two quiches, a live performance, and Chocolatina's signature glamour.
"Pie is a comfort food, and in these times people are definitely craving comfort food," Howard told KUSA.
His tasty ministrations smack of more metropolitan fare; as NBC News noted, there's "a growing trend of drag queen delivery during the pandemic, one that includes the 'Meals on Heels' program from San Francisco's Oasis nightclub and Sunday 'drag-livery' from Fresca's Cantina in Queens, New York."
" 'For me, it's great, because I've got a live audience no matter how small. They are just starved for entertainment, because there is no live entertainment anymore,' he told KUSA. 'It's just a win-win for everyone. It makes them happy, it makes me happy – there's pie, and that makes people happy, as well.' "
Howard's pie in the Mile High city deliveries take place on Saturdays, with a menu of the week's available selections posted to Facebook, NBC News noted.
Clickl here to see the KUTV news clip shared by NBC News.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
