Sponsored link
Wednesday, October 22, 2025

Sponsored link

In praise of SF’s star transgender food critic

With cake pops and donuts, Lilly Contino delightfully educates about her transition

Welcome back to Good Taste, your weekly look at the Bay Area food world. Today, I’d like to give flowers to San Francisco’s star transgender food critic.

I first started following the transgender podcaster and self-styled social media food critic Lilly Contino back in March, when I heard that she she was verbally accosted in the Union Square Cheesecake Factory by a woman who called herself a TERF, though the woman didn’t even know all of the words in the acronym (of course).

Contino, who was dining with her puppy, handled herself with the utmost grace, and she recently revealed on her Instagram account that she still hasn’t heard anything back from the Cheesecake Factory to this day.

Since then, Contino has shared videos of herself reviewing food and trying items that are new to her at various restaurants in San Francisco. It’s fun to watch her expand her mind and palate with each visit, like when she recently tried the fermented green tea salad at Burma Love or Ethiopian kitfo (raw beef) at Tadu.

Contino is also using food as a way to educate people about her transition. She recently underwent surgery to remove what she refers to as her “cake pops,” and has been using her platforms to explain how that works, and why some people decide not to do it. She’s now considering whether to change her “stick” to a “self-glazing donut,” and used an actual delicious-looking donut to demystify that procedure for her viewers.

It’s terribly unclassy of the Cheesecake Factory corporate office to not formally apologize to Contino, though the manager of the San Francisco restaurant does appear to apologize to her in the video. In fact, she should get unlimited cheesecake for life.

Tamara just launched a free Creative Jobs newsletter to share gig opportunities and advice.

48 Hills welcomes comments in the form of letters to the editor, which you can submit here. We also invite you to join the conversation on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Sponsored link

Sponsored link

Latest

The surreal world of the supes and the Lurie [Rich] Family Zoning Plan

Are real estate speculators going to make housing affordable? Or is Scott Wiener forcing us to displace existing vulnerable communities?

If the National Guard arrives in SF, the Lurie Administration isn’t ready

The mayor's statements today show little recognition of how serious a threat this is, and how he plans to respond

The Warriors score six new season eateries

Bulgogi cheesesteaks, candied bacon ice cream, ube mozzarella sticks—see what Chase Center is serving fans, starting this week.

There will be tickets at the door for Wednesday’s Community Gala!

Join us 6pm-9pm at El Rio and celebrate 12 years of indie media. Feel free to buy a ticket beforehand for a free drink, though!

You might also likeRELATED