Cellphone (chef)

Cellphone, also known as Ginger Espice and Sofi Peligras,^[1] is an American vegan chef and transgender-rights activist.

Cellphone
Nationality	American
Occupation	Chef

Career

In 2009, Cellphone and a partner started Hella Vegan Eats, a food truck in Oakland, California's Uptown Arts District.^[2][1] In 2019, Cellphone started a vegan popup restaurant called Gay4U in West Oakland; the Latinx restaurant eventually became permanent.^[2][1][3]

Cellphone created a service initiative at the restaurant, "Trans POC Always Eat Free", to address and bring attention to the disparities in food security among transgender people who are also persons of color; both groups experience higher levels of food insecurity than the population in general, and those who are members of both groups are at even higher risk.^[2][1][4] The initiative was inspired by the Black Panthers' free breakfast initiative and by the activism of trans women of color Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.^[2] The initiate has inspired other restaurants, with Mis Tacones implementing a "Trans POC Always Eat Free" rule at their restaurant after visiting Gay4U.^[5]

In 2022, Cellphone took the restaurant on a national popup tour, and the Trans POC Always Eat Free initiative spread to other restaurants in the United States.^[2][4][6] Later that year, Bon Appetit named Cellphone one of their Heads of the Table.^[6] Gay4U was awarded a Now Award by Them in June 2022.^[7]

In addition to running Gay4U, Cellphone hosts trans skate events, helping raise money for organisations that support the transgender community.^[5]