Brunch and a drag show may be the best combination since champagne was first mixed with orange juice (that would be 1925—when bartender Frank Meier invented the mimosa at The Ritz Hotel in Paris). That was made clear on Sunday, Feb. 4 at Parche in Oakland, as the Colombian eatery kicked off the first in a series of drag brunches in collaboration with celebrated LGBTQ venue, Port Bar. And neither heavy rain, nor the recent announcement of Port Bar’s imminent closure, could dampen the high spirits at the restaurant.
Drag Brunch at Parche
2295 Broadway, Oakland parcheoak.com
Drag Brunch is held on the first and third Sunday of the month. The next one is Feb. 18. Reservations are available on Resy.
Paul Iglesias, who opened Parche in January 2023, knew he wanted to begin the new year with something special for the community.
“That’s really what the ethos of Parche is,” said Iglesias. “Collaborating with the community, being part of the community.”
Iglesias, who ran Canela Bistro & Wine Bar in the Castro for six years, saw firsthand how drag brunches help build community, so when the collaboration with Port Bar was presented to him by a mutual acquaintance, he did not hesitate to say yes.
Port Bar co-owner Sean Sullivan also loved the idea.
“There have been a lot of non-LGBT venues that have just found an LGBT staff member and said, ‘Get us some drag queens.’” said Sullivan. “They want to do a drag brunch because they think it’ll be profitable. And Parche really did it in a way that we feel is most respectful. They came to us and said, ‘How could we enmesh this with our culture?’ I feel like it’s a true collaboration as opposed to some people trying to jump on a fad.”
The inaugural drag brunch took inspiration from Colombia’s Carnaval, which is celebrated in mid-February.
“In Colombia, we close the government more than any country in the world,” said Iglesias, whose mother is from the country. Barranquilla, a city near the Caribbean Sea, is the center of the festival, according to Iglesias.
“Everyone dresses in these elephant heads called la marimonda,” he said. “We have a long parade, we line the streets. The city stops and it’s a party. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
Parche set out to capture that spirit on their brunch menu with a plant-based ceviche named after Barranquilla. The dish consists of hearts of palm, mushrooms, olives, cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, baby corn and leche de tigre made from ginger, cilantro and citrus.
“ The heart of palm is the texture that kind of ties back into the ceviche itself,” said Iglesias. “Heart of palm is so indigenous to Colombia. It’s something that we use in a lot of our cooking.”
Another brunch item, the frijolada paisa bowl, is Parche’s take on bandeja paisa, which many consider the national dish of Colombia. Parche’s version is a mix of beef, crispy pork belly strips, red beans, rice and avocado, all topped with a fried egg.
For their Colombian chorizo hot dog, Parche imports Chorizo Santarrosano directly from Colombia. The sausage is topped with onion marmalade, pickled mustard, and shaved Spanish garrotxa cheese and served on a gluten-free bun.
The arepa de choclo is a beautiful mix of sweet and savory. Sweet corn cakes and farmer’s cheese are griddled together and served with charred brown butter and a passion fruit coulis. “It’s almost like an elevated pancake,” said Iglesias.
And then, of course, there are the cocktails, many of which are made to be shared. The DIY Mimosa comes with a bottle of Pol Clement and small pitchers of orange, mango, and passion fruit juice so customers can mix and match to their liking. The Hugo Spritz Pitcher combines tequila, elderflower liqueur, brut rosé, and “lots of bubbles,” and comes with four glasses.
But food and drinks are only half the fun of drag brunch. The drag show itself created a carnival-like atmosphere.
“We have a lot of Latinx queens,” said Sullivan, “so we are really focusing on our, Latinx, Afro Latino performers for Parche.”
Sally Limon brought down the house with her performance of Selena’s “Si Una Vez,” while Boites got the crowd moving and clapping to Kali Uchis’ “Dame Beso // Muévete.” And host Betty Fresas had everyone singing along to Beyonce’s “Listen,” before transitioning to a Spanish version of Queen Bey’s hit “Irreplaceable.”
“I thought the space was amazing, the food was delicious, the crowd was really interactive,” said Fresas, who grew up in Nogales, Mexico. “I always like to elevate new Latino spaces. And of course, anytime I get a chance to do a song in Spanish, I’m always going to say yes.”
A few tips before you go to drag brunch. First, bring plenty of cash. Part of the fun is tipping the dancers, and there will be someone there to break your larger bills into smaller ones.
Second, be prepared to be put on the spot, like Marla Lev who was celebrating her ninth wedding anniversary with her wife, Rosanne Siino, and was made to dance the merengue with a small group of revelers, much to her chagrin and her wife’s delight.
And third, be prepared to drink more than you planned. Fresas brought Lev and the other dancers shots of tequila for being such good sports. And Sapeer Kadoch, who was celebrating her birthday with a friend, was brought a special birthday drink served by Iglesias inside a wooden marimonda, a Barranquilla elephant head brought over from Colombia.
The drag brunch series takes place on the first and third Sundays of the month with performances at 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The next one is Feb. 18. The $25 cover charge also gets you a free drink at an afterparty at Port Bar. When Port Bar closes on February 25 the afterparty will shift to Sullivan’s other venue Fluid510.
Iglesias was all smiles after the first set of performances. “This is the first time I felt like I was back in the Castro for years,” he said.
