Jess, 26-yr old African American lesbian (tattoos, too) from Bed-Stuy, and James, her 31 yr-old African-American neighbor (straight as a whistle), end up manning a Viennese sausage parlour in a nearby gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood every Monday night.
James has a wicked goatee and cooks all the sausage while Jess bartends, laughing as she pours perfect weissbiers (“vice beer – I like that,” she says). He insists on playing George Romero remakes (e.g., The Crazies) on the television over the bar. She gives away whiskey shots and dreams of playing video games all day. Both get a crash course in eastern europe from the Owners (2 40-something emigres) and they bring the owners to Bed-Stuy for barbecues. The world’s mesh surprisingly well.
One calamitous night all four get locked in the basement of the sausage joint with a stupid three-stooges-like robber (he locks himself in there with them). They are rescued by a woman whom Jess had promised to meet at closing time. James eventually finds a passion for artisan sausage making and opens a butcher shop in Bed Stuy with the help of the sausage joint’s owners.
File under: #90sSundance