Alex Koones
Chef Alex Koones left working in Michelin starred restaurant behind to start her own pop-up supper club for queer women, trans, and nonbinary people: Babetown. Built around the experience of dinner parties and social gatherings as safe, comfortable, and fun spaces for queer folk, Babetown thrived as a major event planner for the community with often sold-out get-togethers. But the company did a full 180-degree change when Coronavirus struck and hit New York City hard. Koones decided she would use her resources to keep bringing the party to those that were most affected by the pandemic through a meal delivery service called Babe Deliveries. It started out as a way to help a close friend stay fed through the pandemic, though Babe Deliveries blossomed into a major service that sells out quickly and takes up Koones’ entire day. “I am a person in a pandemic with the resources and ability to bring affordable meals to my people, and many of the people I deliver to are really in situations where they can’t leave the house,” she tells GO. “I think Babe Delivery, being able to do this now and bring food that is playful and whimsical and seasonal and colorful to queers in quarantine, that’s the most rewarding aspect of my career. I’ve made a lot of dumb decisions in my life and I’ve done so much wrong, but no matter what, if I make it to old and gray, Babe Delivery will be the thing I know I did right.” —GP
