On the one-to-10 scale of aphrodisiac foods, if oysters are eight and dark chocolate is 10, then the tuna melt probably ranks somewhere in the two range, slightly above wheatgrass juice and aspic. Yet \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d is a very sexual show, with far more lovemaking than hockey. It has also proved to be a cultural juggernaut, vaulting stars Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams to superstardom on the strength of their sexual chemistry \u2014 including one tender scene in which Storrie\u2019s cocky character, Ilya Rozanov, makes a postcoital toastie for his love interest, Williams\u2019 more subdued Shane Hollander.<\/p>\n
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Ho-hum diner menu staple, or sexually charged delight? | Source: Morgan Ellis\/The Standard<\/p>\n
But a tuna melt? Really? Typically comprising tuna salad, tomatoes, and cheese on toasted bread, it feels more like a budget-conscious relic of the Great Depression than a vehicle for homoerotic hijinks. It isn\u2019t even the show\u2019s most prominent food. (That title would go to ginger ale, the beverage of choice for the closeted, health-conscious Hollander.)<\/p>\n
But the tuna melt scene \u2014 which is also a prominent passage in the novel from which \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d was adapted \u2014 comes as the main characters\u2019 relationship reaches an inflection point. They are no longer archrivals who have occasional, cinematically lit sex. They have become bona fide lovers who break bread after they bang.<\/p>\n
Over in Alamo Square, Ryan Chinchilla of Lucinda\u2019s Deli (opens in new tab)<\/a> says a TikTok video (opens in new tab)<\/a> last fall highlighted his tuna melt as one of San Francisco\u2019s best sandwiches. But \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d added to the momentum. It\u2019s now one of the top-selling items on the menu. \u201cPeople are coming around on the tuna melt, now that it\u2019s on the hottest show in America,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Lucinda\u2019s is selling 30 to 35 tuna melts per day, using increasingly larger batches of tuna salad. Every day, his staff produces enough for 60 sandwiches. \u201cBy day three, we\u2019re out,\u201d Chinchilla says. \u201cFor a place of our size, that\u2019s a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n Raoni Washburn, manager of the Mission\u2019s 108-year-old St. Francis Fountain, started noticing an uptick in tuna melts in November \u2014 the same month \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d debuted. \u201cThe owner and I were like, \u2018What is happening? This is so bizarre!\u2019\u201d Washburn says. \u201cBefore, we would go full days without [selling] one, and now we\u2019re at 16 or 17 a day.\u201d<\/p>\n This newfound popularity got their tuna melt out of the sin bin just in time. \u201cWe were considering taking it off the menu,\u201d Washburn says.\u00a0<\/p>\n