Milly Tamarez, Chicken Cutlets, and Comedy | Takeout and Talk
This will probably sound odd, but the grease stain soaking through the wrapping of Milly Tamarez’s chicken cutlet and arugula sandwich is an absolute sight to behold. I’ve never wanted to reach across a screen and grab a dish like I have this one – I’m talking about the true definition of mouthwatering.
The stand up comedian and podcaster behind the hit ‘Go Touch Grass’ series from Headgum Studios has ordered from Carmenta’s in Brooklyn. Tamarez says she first learned of the Italian restaurant after it was recognized as a top restaurant near her neighboring Maria Hernández Park.
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To feel like I, too, was living a New York City lunch fantasy, I’ve ordered the OG Reuben from Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen here in San Francisco. The pastrami sandwich has Russian dressing, Swiss cheese & sauerkraut. But above all, it packs a punch of nostalgia for someone like myself who spent a decade in the City That Never Sleeps surrounded by both Jewish and Italian fare.
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Speaking of nostalgia, it’s been almost six years since I’ve both seen or spoken to Tamarez, who I collaborated with a couple times before during my years-long stint broadcasting with SiriusXM Radio. Since that time, we’ve each embarked on new, exciting adventures. In Tamarez’s case, she’s acted and written on shows like ABC’s The Celebrity Dating Game and E!’s Jason Biggs’ Cash at Your Door. She also co-founded a satire magazine for BIPOC audiences called Flexx and the Diverse as F*** Festival celebrating diversity in comedy. Oh, and you may have recognized her voice during a sequence in the new Devil Wears Prada sequel. I immediately turned to my partner while watching it and whispered, “AHHH I know her!!”
While we’re on the note of fashion, I should remind you that Tamarez was recently featured on the COCINA series ‘Fit Check, Food Check,’ with Tess Garcia – be sure to check it out! As for today’s fit, she’s wearing a gorgeous burgundy shirt, which, what do you know, is the exact same color as her sandwich’s wrapping.
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That realization is one of many light-hearted moments we experience during our “reunion.” There’s the time we visualize what I looked like as a young, fresh-faced New York City transplant partying in Manhattan’s famous Dominican neighborhood.
“I’m sorry, I’m thinking of 21-year-old Xorje turning up in Washington Heights acting a g**damn fool!”
Then we laugh hysterically when she tells me that a quote I reference from her Instagram profile – “I want it all or nothing” – is actually a Carly Rae Jepsen song lyric.
“Yeah, give me all of your presence and attention and I’ll…rock your f***ing world.”
And we are beside ourselves when she jokes that she should stop speaking the ‘mother tongue’ altogether after a comedy set of hers went awry.
“After I get off stage, I’m like, ‘Should I just never speak Spanish again, like not even to my parents?!”
But she’s kept at it! Because, that’s another thing that’s happened since our last interaction: Tamarez, who’s been opening for Venezuelan comedian Angelo Colina, has started performing more in Spanish, even going so far as to perform in the Dominican Republic. This leads us down a road of conversation unpacking the perceived differences between US and Latin American audiences, particularly when it comes to their reception of Tamarez’s material.
“In some of my shows in English, I’ll have a very young, progressive group – queer. One time I was the only person on a lineup where I was like the only non-trans person. Those are the shows that I’m doing,” Tamarez says. “But then sometimes I’m doing these shows in Spanish, and I’m, you know, being myself, I’m talking about being fat and having sex. I’m talking about how I view the world. And to that crowd, it’s shocking and insane and, ‘Oh my God this girl is crazy,’ and they’re so titillated by it. But like everyone is Latino. So I do feel myself in all of those spaces.”
Tamarez, who is Dominican-American, tells me a bit about her journey towards feeling comfortable with herself and her identity. Originally from Miami, Tamarez says she’s realized that part of her struggles lie in the ‘in-between.’ This became pretty apparent as she later bounced between places like Orange County and a study-abroad program in Japan.
“I definitely grew up 100-percent in my Latinidad,” Tamarez says. “Like, I’m a Latina woman, no doubt about that. [But] I can’t be in a place where I’m exactly like everyone else, and I don’t want to be in a place where nobody has ever seen anybody like me. But I want to be able to experience different cultures and have all kinds of friends and be in art – and it’s just like New York City is kind of the best for that.”
And she really is proving to be one of the best at it in her adopted home – as if anyone had any doubts. She teases possible live podcast tapings and additional comedy shows, which you should keep an eye out for!
Damn, so maybe that Carly Rae Jepsen lyric of wanting it all really is appropriate.