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.”

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A New York-based, Tony-winning theater producer, Harriet Newman Leve is the force behind such thespian favorites as Stomp and The Beebo Brinker Chronicles, the latter based on Ann Bannon’s lesbian pulp novels from the late 1950s. Along with her theater company Raise the Roof, she recently co-produced La Cage Aux Folles on Broadway and the national tour of Burn the Floor. Her lengthy resume also includes the film PULSE: a Stomp Odyssey. Leve credits her longtime success to doing what she loves: “I followed my passion. I love producing theater and I only choose projects that strongly resonate with me. That way it is a joy for me to go to work each day and focus on making these productions come to life.”