Betty C. Berrysmith was born on April 4, 1953 in Seattle, Washington and raised alongside her three siblings. Facing unjust working conditions and limitations due to racial discrimination and segregation, her mother, a registered nurse, and father, a school principal, moved to Seattle from Mississippi and Louisiana respectively in search of better work opportunities before her birth. From a young age, Betty frequently found herself in her parents’ kitchen, smelling the gumbo on the stove; her relationship with food, and especially gumbo, would go on to play a major role in her life.
Betty’s father was strict, trying to instill in Betty the tough-heartedness he thought she’d need as a Black woman in America. She also watched her mother help found a registered nurses club in Seattle, seeing how it fostered connection among nurses experiencing racial injustice at work. Experiences of blatant racism remain a presence in Betty’s life to this day, as do her experiences of solidarity, community, and joy.
Betty moved to Los Angeles in the 70s to pursue fashion design. Coming out at age 30, Betty found herself caught between contradictory positions from her disparate communities: Gay and lesbian bars like the Catch One affirmed her as a lesbian and felt like “home,” while her religious community denounced homosexuality, one LA church even refusing to hold a funeral service for their gay choir director.
While working as an administrative assistant at Kaiser Permanente, word got out about Betty’s culinary prowess, including her gumbo. Friends started hiring her to cook for their parties. At 40 years old, Betty decided to study Culinary Arts at Los Angeles Trade and Technical College, followed by Culinary Institute of America, Le Cordon Bleu, and UCLA. She worked a series of catering and restaurant jobs before landing a position as the chef and kitchen manager for the fifty-plus priests of Loyola Marymount University. A mutual friend introduced Betty to a woman named Teri by saying, “She likes to cook like you like to cook.” They’ve been together since 2007, and married since 2013.
Betty and Teri moved to the Coachella Valley in the early 2010s. Betty was soon invited to join a group of women who all chipped in $20 a month to anonymously help lesbians in financial crisis. That group became The L-Fund, a non-profit Betty co-founded with five other lesbians. Betty’s work for The L-Fund converged with her passion for food at a 2013 “gumbo gala” honoring late L-Fund co-founder Bobreta Franklin. It kick-started The L-Fund into financial solvency with a 60-foot buffet table, including Betty’s signature gumbo. The L-Fund went on to establish a health and wellness program and a grant to assist lesbian artists.
In 2020, Betty founded B’s Table, which specializes in “California Soul” food – southern cuisine reimagined with fresh Southern California ingredients. Her signature seafood gumbo dish won a Mardi Gras cook-off, landing Betty two round trip tickets to New Orleans. She was featured in the Winter 2024 edition of Eisenhower Healthy Living Magazine, and has cooked for several notable figures including Mohammed Ali. Betty expresses deep gratitude for her life: “I wake up in the morning and realize I’m living in a beautiful place, a beautiful home; I have a beautiful, wonderful wife. I’m not wanting for anything. I wake up that way every single morning.”