Mini-restaurants with home cooking are now a thing in LA County. Oh, and it’s legal too. – San Gabriel Valley Grandstand

Brantley, 54, is a chef who has delved into cooking and testing new dumpling recipes to add to a repertoire that includes Double Bacon, Cheese Burger Dumplings and Outta The Park Hot Dog Dumplings, the latter a tribute to the world champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

But you won’t find her in a commercial kitchen or restaurant. Instead, she’s toiling over a hot stove in her own kitchen, in her gray-and-white house on a double cul-de-sac in Woodland Hills. It will be officially launched on Monday, November 18 Angel City Dumplingsthe first home kitchen mini-restaurant to be licensed by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

She and her husband, Stuart Brantley, own the first Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKO) permitted operations in LA County under the so-called MEHKO program that went into effect on November 1.

So far, Brantley’s home business, and another home business called Vendittis Pizza in Stevenson Ranch, have passed public health inspections and are permitted, records show. Advocates say there are 50 more permits in the pipeline, and the province will have 100 MEHKOs by the end of the year.

The program can help legitimize the sale of prepared food from home, making it safe and regulated, the province said. Supporters say the program benefits single mothers who care for children and elderly parents and therefore cannot leave home to work, and provides a second source of income for immigrant families on a tight budget.

“A lot of people did this underground. They will come out of the shadows, get licensed and pay taxes,” said Roya Bagheri, executive director of Cook Alliance, a nonprofit that supports California’s fledgling home cooking industry with classes, grants and chat rooms.

“A lot of people have never done this before. They know how to cook, have great recipes, but we help them start their business,” she added.

She said immigrant chefs are interested in the program and that showcasing authentic, ethnic foods spreads cultural pride. “We hear about immigrants saying, ‘I couldn’t find this kind of food from my own country.’ “

The idea was sparked in 2019 by state legislation that allowed limited home-based restaurant operations, but only if counties chose to do so. Riverside County was first. Since 2019, Riverside Environmental Health has issued 294 permits. In October, approximately 100 companies were still active. San Diego County has been administering the program for more than two years.

Bagheri said the addition of LA County will provide a boost to food microbusinesses and could encourage other counties to join. San Bernardino and Orange counties do not allow MEHKOs.

“Los Angeles County was the white whale for us. It is extremely important that they sign up,” says Bagheri. “A lot of places use LA as an example. That will help spread the positivity about these types of programs.”

The LA County ordinance, passed May 14 by unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors, includes all unincorporated areas plus 85 cities — with the exception of Long Beach, Pasadena and Vernon, which have their own public health departments.

Each micro-restaurant is limited to 30 meals per day and 90 meals per week, and the business may not exceed gross annual turnover. The initial application fee is $547, with an annual inspection fee of $347. The first 1,000 permit holders are eligible for a provincial grant to cover the initial fee.

Most of them, including those who previously operated underground, often take online orders a day or more in advance. This way they know how much food to prepare every day. There is also a quick home collection service and cash is usually not accepted. The companies are not allowed to use delivery services such as Door Dash or Uber Eats, Bagheri said.

“It is intended on a small scale. It doesn’t create a restaurant in every neighborhood,” Bagheri said.

Brantley’s home has a U-shaped driveway, making it perfect for picking up takeout orders without parking on the street, she said.

The province reported in May that half of cities were concerned about the impact on traffic and on-street parking. Bagheri said that after a two-year trial period ended in San Diego, which has 63 home cooking restaurants, no parking issues emerged and the program was extended. County officials said MEHKOs are reminded to adhere to their city’s zoning and parking laws.

Another aspect of the program involves vendors who operate food carts. Every newly admitted MEHKO can use his own kitchen as a place to prepare food that he can sell on pushcarts. Before the ordinance, these vendors had to prepare food in a commercial kitchen, which added costs. LA County ordinance limits this home cooking option to just two carts per MEHKO operator.

The ordinance received support from ethnic cart vendors at the May 14 public hearing.

“It is beneficial for us to cook at home because most of us take care of the family and children,” Alfredo Gomez, a pushcart rider, told the Board of Supervisors.

Most create a food niche that suits their culinary skills and their market, Bagheri said.

Angel City Dumpling’s operations will consist of to-go orders for traditional and unusual dumplings prepared and sold from its home location in Woodland Hills. Most orders come from the website, www.angelcitydumplings.com.

Brantley’s clientele is mostly working people in their 20s and 30s, she said. Many are too busy to cook and prefer to order food online.

She learned to cook by watching her grandmother, Kathryn Tanner, run a catering business for 40 years. The company specialized in private catering for entertainment executives, she said. “She was a huge innovator in the 1980s,” she said, adding that she perfected the Chinese chicken salad.

MEHKOs from other provinces often get to know the tastes of their customers. Some tailor foods to specific nutritional needs, such as no-sugar, low-carb foods for diabetics and plant-based ingredients for vegetarians.

“A business owner told us that a customer was undergoing chemotherapy and asked to be salt-free,” Bagheri said.

“It’s a cool concept, almost like a speakeasy restaurant,” she added. “It’s a way to get customized meals.”