Nicole
Austin 
Karamo Brown, Jonathan Van Ness, Sarah Lim, Bobby Berk, Tan France, Antoni Porowski at OMG Squee Ilana Panich-Linsman/Netflix
The OMG Squee owner on her favorite member of the Fab Five, what she learned from the experience, and more
The sixth season of Netflix’s Queer Eye, which was set in Austin, featured quite a few faces familiar to the local restaurant world, but episode 9, “A Legend in the Baking,” centered on a makeover of Sarah Lim, who is the owner of adorable bakery OMG Squee. The Fab Five spent time with Lim to refresh her vintage style, connect her to the Asian restaurant community, and, in a reversal of the show’s norm, learn her tricks for decorating.
Lim shared the insider details of her experience in an interview conducted over email with Eater. Read on to learn how being on the show has affected her business, which member of the Fab Five impacted her the most, and why she’s still not on Goldbelly.
Eater: How did you feel when you first saw the Fab Five?
Sarah Lim: My first introduction to the Fab Five was Tan France being shoved through our old pickup window by the others, which made me start laughing. They’re a pretty fun and rowdy bunch. But also, super nice.
What was your experience on the show?
The experience was a rollercoaster of emotions, but overall, it was really fun getting to know the Fab Five and the crew who make the television magic possible. I rarely get a lunch hour out of the kitchen, let alone a week off, and there are a few off-screen moments that I’ll always remember, like Tan and I talking about our favorite things to bake. He really is the loveliest human.
Sarah Lim with Tan France. Ilana Panich-Linsman/Netflix
But the show is like a big trust fall. It asks a lot of you in vulnerability and openness, but you have to be ready and know that they’re going to catch you in the end. I had no idea how things would ultimately turn out, or if they’d, like, shave my head, for example (jk, Jonathan Van Ness would never), so I think it would be a challenging experience for most people.
[At the bakery], we struggled during the pandemic, and it felt like the days when we were our most worn-down were the days we’d find the most unkind people. With the Black Lives Matter movement and a rise in Asian American and Pacific Islander hate crimes, it was a challenging time to be a person of color and a restaurant owner, while still being a regular person. I’m generally very jovial, but it’s hard to feel just fine about everything and still go to work and do our jobs. I’m fairly private and reserved, but with this amazing opportunity, I thought it was important to be open about my experiences,
