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

At a time when book publishing seems to teeter on the brink of obsolescence, Bywater Books’ founders are forging ahead with a business model based on their love of literature and quality reading. Marianne K. Martin (left), founding partner of the Michigan-based lesbian publishing company, is also a best-selling lesbian romance author with several Lambda Literary Award nominations on her resume. Kelly Smith (right), publisher and editor-in-chief, previously founded the lesbian press Bella Books. Val McDermid (not pictured), a silent partner at Bywater, is an award-winning novelist and journalist based in England. Martin attributes the success of their lesbian fiction, romance and mystery novels to Bywater’s meticulous publishing standards: “We edit and typeset our books ourselves and the quality of the writing and of the physical book are among the best in our industry.” Smith adds, “We see other lesbian authors and publishers as part of our extended family and we try and help them whenever we can. In many ways we are old-school in the high-tech age, but we are making it work.”