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

Martha Davis, originally from the Midwest, accidentally fell into entrepreneurship after answering a newspaper ad for a partner in a Seattle neon sign business in 1987. Twelve years later, Davis bought out her business partner’s share in the company and has since been the sole proprietor of City Lights Sign Company, a firm that constructs signage using neon, hand-gilding, green materials and other methods. Now a board member of the Greater Seattle Business Association, an LGBT business association, Davis says being out has given a huge boost to her role as an entrepreneur. “As a gay woman I had to learn to stand up for myself, to be proud of myself, and to be involved with and open to diverse communities,” she says. “So in a sense, it’s made it easier for me to show those qualities and take the leadership role of the business.”