She’s the blonde bombshell with the curves made for danger. Tanya Cheex is one lethal combination of hip shakin’ and heart breakin’! Tanya staged her first “strip show” at the age of eight in her neighbour’s backyard. Undaunted by its inevitable bust and spurned on by her model/ libertine grandmother, she found a passion in all things renegade and retro. Tired of being chased by drunken Russian sailors in hometown Halifax, she moved to The Big Smoke to pursue a career as a professional dominatrix!

Needing a fluffier outlet, Tanya became known in the gay community for her authentic tributes to Marilyn Monroe. In 1998 she formed Skin Tight Outta Sight Rebel Burlesque because the time was right to make that childhood dream a reality! Now STOS’s artistic director, her acts run the gamut from traditional fan dances, multi-armed puppetry, pyrotechnics or stripping out of a gorilla suit! She’s taken her clothes off during The Calgary Stampede, in New York, Hollywood, Las Vegas and even in the Mojave Desert!

Recently she took some time off from shakin’ her feathers to talk about food with us.

You’ve got $10 to buy lunch - where do you go?

Does that cover a saag paneer roti at Ghandi (554 Queen Street West)?

The budget’s unlimited, someone else is paying and the choice is yours - where do you pick for dinner?

I love Southern Accent (595 Markham Street) for a date. I’d start with the blackened chicken livers and some crab cakes. I love the jambalaya. Lots of Bourbon Sours please! Less romantic but still sexy would be Oyster Boy (872 Queen Street West) for raw Malpeques. Drown in champagne.

Tell us some of the food shops you frequent when buying groceries to cook for yourself.

My boyfriend, Alistair Christl, does all the cooking so he’d say Kensington Market, China Town and St. Lawrence Market (95 Front Street East). He buys the stinkiest cheese ever! Watch out! I love the two Mexican places on Augusta and House Of Spice (190 Augusta Avenue). I put hot sauce on everything including toast. (Editor’s note - having once watched Ms. Cheex drink half a bottle of Tabasco sauce in one swig, I can attest to the fact that the gal can handle her Scoville units.)

When ordering in for a quiet night at home, what’s your favourite place for take-out or delivery?

Daily Sushi (20 Carlton Street) beside the Carlton cinema really has some of the freshest sushi and sashimi in town. I always get free edame.

Oh, no, relatives are coming to Toronto from out of town - where do you take them?

Ethiopian House (4 Irwin Avenue), my folks need to live a little. Order Gored-Gored raw, it’s delicious. I am such a carnivore!

Your favourite place to grab a couple of drinks and hang out where everybody knows your name?

The Hair of The Dog (425 Church Street), great brunch and life-saving Bloody Caesars. Also The Cadillac Lounge (1296 Queen Street West) patio. Hi Sam!

What’s coming up?

June 1st is The Cadillac Cabaret at The Cadillac Lounge with Alistair Christl and the Swinging Chandeliers. It is the launch of our 18 month pinup calendar for Breast Cancer.

I’m doing a run of performances for the month of June for Speigel Tent and Cabaret at The Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West) (see myspace page for dates). June 8th to 10th, I’m in Las Vegas for the Miss Exotic World Pageant and June 24th is the Burlesque Stage for Pride.