Queer Women We Love, Red Hot Entrepreneurs, Wonder Women

Workin’ It 2010

November 8, 2010 Cheryle Burke, Kat Long

Some chefs spend years in pricey culinary institutes trying to master natural foods. Deborah Gavito, proprietor of the snazzy NYC vegetarian restaurant Counter, learned the art of cooking with seasonal produce and edible weeds from her grandmothers. Gavito’s early fascination with natural cooking has grown into a long-time dedication to local and sustainable foods: her first venture, an all-natural baked goods business called Body & Soul, debuted in 1993. She sold her scrumptious treats at the Union Square Greenmarket, where she developed an appreciation for family farmers, and earned enough dough (pun intended) to open Counter in 2003. As Counter’s proprietor, Gavito designs fresh vegetarian fare, biodynamic wines and cleverly named organic vodka martinis (one is called “The Angry Lesbian”). “I waited on tables years and years ago, but other than that, I’ve only worked for myself,” Gavito says. “I don’t think I could take orders from any one else.”

45 of 2010’s Red Hot Entrepreneurs

When not teaching sociology at UCLA or putting the finishing touches on her new
scholarly book (Invisible Families: Gay Identities, Relationships and Motherhood Among Black Women), Mignon Moore (left) hosts elegant get-togethers for women as the owner of Chocolate and Wine, an upscale social group based in L.A. With her fiancé, Elaine “DJ One” Harley (right). Moore organizes dance parties, wine tastings, happy hours, singles’ events and more, all to “provide spaces where women can affirm themselves, go on a date, network for business, express their creativity and connect with other women for friendship and more.” The social scene dovetails perfectly with her professional work. “I conducted some of the research for my book when I used to host Persuasion, a Monday-night lounge party for Women in New York from 2004 to 2006,” she says. “The activities I organize in my work life, as well as in the women’s community, are meant to uplift the LGBT community, to reduce the stigma associated with being gay, and to bring people together.”