Willow Rosenberg bakes live while sharing queer stories

Willow Rosenberg's A Lesbian in the Kitchen is a live recording of a cooking show that happens to be one of the most disarming performances at Fringe this year. She stands at a real kitchen set, bakes real cookies—and you might even catch their scent halfway through—while telling stories about queerness, living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and her earliest memories baking with her mother.

The format is deceptively simple: Rosenberg demonstrates recipes connected to her Jewish heritage while shifting fluidly between a Julia Child-inspired British accent, her real voice during baking demos, and raw personal reflection. A camera projects her counter work onto a screen behind her, turning the intimate act of baking into something shared with the whole room.

What sets her apart as a storyteller is her refusal to hide behind recipes. Too many online recipes bury the narrative in exhausting detail—but Rosenberg's witty, homey sense of story makes her a genuinely delightful cooking show host. When she braids rainbow-coloured Challah bread with an audience member, or explains the history and shape of Hamantaschen cookies, the recipes become vessels for cultural memory and joy.

Beyond the food, Rosenberg gets real. She talks about not feeling ashamed of mobility aids, managing ADHD, why baking keeps her connected to her mother. There are funny stories too—like the time she made a bitter matcha cheesecake to impress a crush—that show how much she's grown both as a baker and as a queer woman.

The show is casual in tone, mouth-watering in its food, and deeply rooted in queer culture. If this were a regular segment on Food Network, audiences would return again and again.

A Lesbian in the Kitchen – A Cosy Queer Baking Show is playing at Atelier Theatre until June 27. Tickets are $14 plus service fees, available online or at the Fringe box office and two satellite locations.