For hungry Wisconsinites looking to “Momofuku the Patriarchy,” chef Dana Spandet and the Flour Girls have a pizza for you. The Detroit-style pie with a provocative name features the flavors of the African Diaspora and is a tongue-in-cheek way for Spandet and her all-women crew to raise a demure middle finger while serving up some very mindful food. It’s no accident that this particular pizza was birthed one week following Election Day 2024.

“We generally have a lot of fun with our pizza names,” said Spandet, whose restaurant, Flour Girl and Flame, is located in West Allis. “Our entire team is women. And that’s not on purpose, but it kind of just is the way that it’s shaken out over the years. And, you know, there’s something to be said about women that have something to say: We have to say it the right way.”

Wisconsin sourced 

Each ingredient for this pizza, like all menu items, is 100% Wisconsin sourced, from the chili crunch to the signature honey drizzle that begins in the rooftop apiary. Spandet says the farm-to-table movement became her passion when the pandemic hit. It was partly out of necessity.

In 2020, Spandet was executive chef of a catering company, “making fancy food for rich white people.” She was making a living, but it wasn’t moving any emotional needles for her. When the World Central Kitchen stepped in during Covid and paid restaurants to make meals for the underserved in the community, something shifted for Spandet.

“It felt so good,” Spandet said. “Working with my hands and seeing that direct correlation of people being healthy, taken care of, nurtured. That’s kind of how Flour Girl was born.”

Surviving the pandemic through community 

The survival of Spandet’s business required making things like jams and jellies that were shared by other online farmers’ markets. And Spandet in turn shared the wares of those vendors. “We kind of got through this pandemic by supporting each other through trades and barters,” Spandet said. “And a lot of the people that we were working with intentionally were Black and brown farmers, people of color, LGBT growers.”

Thus, inclusion and sustainability became core to Flour Girl and Flame’s mission.

“We don’t typically work with anyone that we haven’t met their family just because we’re trying to really pull in this human component with this business,” Spandet said. “And we always say it was never about pizza. It’s always been about community connections.”

Spandet gave a shout out to one outstanding queer-owned business she loves working these days: Press Waffles, whose creations are used for Flour Girl and Flame’s Chicken and Waffles pizza.

Though Spandet said it’s not about the pizza, she’s undoubtedly doing innovative things with food, including the aforementioned Detroit-style pizza. Made on Wednesdays only, this crowd favorite boasts a thiccc crust and cheesy, cronchy caramelized edges.

Spandet’s other venture, Everybody’s Ice Cream, brings together the best dairy from five small batch creameries surrounding Milwaukee. It’s a separate ice cream shop also available for catering.

Catering 

Outside of the brick-and-mortar restaurant, catering remains a good deal of Spandet’s business—and she’s proud of the number of LGBTQ+ couples who trust her with their weddings.

“When we started Flour Girl in August of 2020, we had scooped up a lot of those backyard COVID weddings, cancellations, reschedules,” Spandet said. “And that first year out the gate, we really made a name for ourselves for being an inclusive same-sex wedding caterer. I would say that probably half or more than half of the weddings we do are same-sex.”

Queer visibility and support 

Spandet’s commitment to the queer community runs deep. Earlier this year, she stepped in with a solution when a drag queen story hour scheduled at a friend’s bakery in Menomonee Falls was shut down by the village. Spandet invited them to West Allis Ain’t No Drag, featuring queens who read to children in the park next to her shop.

“It’s not lost on us that we are 10 miles down the road,” Spandet said. “And, you know, I hate to say that we get away with stuff because we’re living our own authentic lives and selves. But we do get to do quite a bit over here that I think most people can’t outside the city of Milwaukee limits.”

Spandet said she loves that her job takes her outside herself and allows her to see the needs of her community. That could mean anything from making space for drag queens to opening an ice cream shop.

“One of the things that we’re best known for is being a space where all are welcome,” Spandet said. “We do a pretty nice job of remaining inclusive. It’s so silly, but something as simple as putting a Pride flag out front, quite a few people come in saying, ‘Hey, thanks for that. It’s nice to see in the neighborhood.’”

The day after the election, Spandet said their inbox was full of thanks from folks just for being there. We asked if she had always been such a strong advocate. Spandet said it became increasingly important when she and her wife had kids, now ages five and seven.

“For me, it wasn’t until I became a mother that it started to become about more than just me, as far as having to get health care with two moms, and being proactive, and making sure that we’re seen and recognized for who we are,” Spandet said.

Role model 

Spandet has overcome obstacles in her life and career but today can be proud of the role model she is to her kids and the community. One of Spandet’s challenges included a moped accident two years ago that caused a traumatic brain injury. As a result, she lost her sense of taste and smell. That didn’t stop Spandet from recently participating in a Best Chefs of Milwaukee 11-course dinner. Spandet chose The Trevor Project for Flour Girl’s charitable contribution that evening.

“I have some really core memories of my teens, being home in my bedroom, and thinking, ‘I’m probably gay,’ but I thought that my life was over,” Spandet said. “And I mean, this is mid-90s. I thought I wouldn’t be able to lead a normal life because I just hadn’t seen that out there.

“I’m sober, I’m a lesbian, and I really, really messed my life up before. But I can kind of be this shining example now. We can be a voice for ourselves and for other people that need it,” she said.

Ellen Knoppow is a writer who believes in second acts. She is the recipient of the 2022 award for Excellence in Transgender Coverage by NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists.