Carla Perez Gallardo

The narrator of this interview Carla Perez Gallardo, a chef, entrepreneur, and co-owner of Hudson’s Lil’ Deb’s Oasis. The restaurant is a queer, fusion food restaurant. The interview took place remotely via Zoom on June 9, 2021. Carla (she/they) self-identifies as a queer artist who values intentionality, reciprocity, and inclusivity. She hails from Queens Village, New York, lived in Madrid, Spain, and settled in Hudson in 2011. She is invested in creating communities of mutual care. She talks about the relationship between Bard College and Hudson, the symbiosis between art and food, her 10-year residency in Hudson, and opening the restaurant five years ago, honoring the legacy of its previous owner Debbie Fierro, curating food that reflects the multi-ethnic diversity of Hudson, and maintaining Lil’ Deb’ Oasis as the city’s first openly queer brave space. She discusses heightened housing developments in Hudson and the city’s recent population growth as stated in a New York Times article. She reflects on the relationship between Lil’ Deb’s Oasis and gentrification, Hudson as a queer mecca, and the city’s community and artist-run spaces. Carla offered a description of Oakdale Beach, and 7th Street Park and its environs.The interview may be of interest to those who want to learn about queer spaces, community-building, tourism to Hudson, displacement of communities of color, multiple forms of sustained activism, food as a mode of care intercultural connection, inclusivity, awareness, and thoughtful participation in settling in a city like Hudson. One also learns about the recent past of the city, its present, and her vision for its future.