Dona Brickford sliced a generous wedge of five-layer red velvet cheesecake in her Encanto kitchen on Friday afternoon before sliding it onto a vintage ceramic plate.
Next came a flourish of white frosting around the edges, then a miniature cheesecake Christmas tree and finally a dash of red and green sprinkles — finishing touches for dessert at the restaurant she and her husband, Lawrence, run from their home.
“No plate goes out without the color green on it,” explained Brickford, clad in a sky-blue dress and floral apron, with flowers arranged in her hair.
At Mama Greens, she serves soulful Southern food inspired by her grandmother. The menu rotates every season and this winter, specials include country fried steak and potatoes with creamed corn and garlic butter string beans — plus that cheesecake for dessert. Friday was the last night of service before a winter break.
Mama Greens opened last year as what’s called a microenterprise home kitchen operation, or MEHKO. It’s one of about 100 such food businesses countywide, part of a statewide program that permanently launched in San Diego County in January after a two-year pilot.
MEHKOs let entrepreneurs sell freshly cooked meals from home kitchens, via food carts, restaurants, take-out operations and more — something many did informally for years before they were officially authorized by the state in 2018.
The program has grown substantially this year in San Diego County, which has 61 new operators, and statewide, with Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Contra Costa and Sonoma counties all joining. There are now about 500 businesses around California.
And right now, grant funding from the California Workforce Development Board is helping offset the costs for dozens of entrepreneurs, including by covering permit fees — typically $660 for new operations and $328 to renew. San Diego County got nearly $83,000 and has about $37,000 left, county officials say.
Cost-saving measures like these have helped keep home kitchen businesses in San Diego County going, including Mama Greens.
Brickford’s enterprise pays homage to her grandmother, Earlene Green, who died in 2018 after a 17-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Everything on the menu is a nod to her life — including the Willie O. greens, collard greens named in honor of Brickford’s grandfather, and the Skeen, Mississippi, macaroni and cheese, which is a nod to the community where Earlene lived.
“I felt like the MEHKO program was the best route for me to make a portrait of her life,” Brickford said, recalling her grandmother’s feasts she ate as a child in Chicago. Every year for Brickford’s birthday, Earlene would bake Southern tea cakes — a recipe she passed down to her granddaughter, who now makes them for her customers.
This year, the permit fee waiver came right on time. The couple had decided to move after their landlord said they could no longer operate Mama Greens from home, and the moving expenses — and higher rent — added up quickly.
Despite the county program, landlords can refuse to allow home kitchen businesses on their properties, depending on what’s stipulated in their rental agreements, said Roya Bagheri, executive director of Cook Alliance.
Her nonprofit helps connect entrepreneurs with resources to run their businesses and aims to educate communities — including landlords — about the potential benefits of microenterprise home kitchens.
“The goal is to get landlords to recognize and realize that this will help people stay in their homes and be able to continue to afford rising costs,” Bagheri said.
The Brickfords plan to move to a larger space soon. They dream of ultimately buying a home and operating their business out of a storefront.
Even now, stepping into Mama Greens feels like a trip back in time. Tables are covered with vintage floral tablecloths and a wooden hutch displays ceramics Brickford has collected from vintage shops. Meals are set to a soundtrack of Billie Holiday, plus tunes from the 1970s and 80s.
Adorning the large backyard are an antique bicycle, a retro Curious George tin lunchbox, birdhouses and an old stove. A photo of Grandma Earlene and her husband completes the space.
The atmosphere, Brickford says, “reminds myself and my guests of the nostalgia of eating at their actual grandmother’s house.”
Under the MEHKO program, participants can operate one business per home, after earning a food-safety certificate and passing a startup inspection. They can store, handle and prepare food and sell it to consumers on-site or via delivery, and they are inspected yearly for county food-safety compliance.
Permitted home chefs can serve up to 30 meals per day for up to 90 meals a week with gross annual sales of up to $100,000 — up from $50,000 under the pilot program last year. Those who operate from food carts can sell up to 80 meals a day totaling 200 per week, with annual gross sales of up to $150,000.
Despite initial concerns from local officials about liability, food safety and code enforcement, the program in San Diego County has been largely successful. County officials say no foodborne illness have been reported this year, and only two complaints have been filed, both over unapproved signage.
San Diego County’s program has been a model for other counties, Bagheri said.
This year, her nonprofit also launched the Cook Academy, an eight-week online course that graduated more than 200 people, including 60 from San Diego County.
It teaches participants about marketing, budgeting and menu pricing, and graduates receive a $3,000 state grant, also provided through the California Workforce Development Board. A Spanish-language version will start in late January.
“For a lot of these people, they’re already doing this in the shadows. They know how to cook; they have these incredible recipes that have been passed down for generations,” Bagheri said. “But the actual business side of things can be difficult.”
Diana Tapiz, who operates the county’s first MEHKO, has been a key part of the Cook Academy.
Her business Tres Fuegos serves Mexican, Italian and Mediterranean cuisine from her Chula Vista home and offers catering services. She started it in March 2022 selling birria, inspired by her mother’s own dream of opening a taco business, but expanded the menu over the years.
She has since helped the Cook Alliance create the Cook Academy curriculum, and she’s featured in the online course’s videos sharing her expertise.
For Tapiz, a real estate agent, the program has been ideal — she doesn’t want the expense or time commitment of opening a full-scale restaurant. “The program allows me to expand my knowledge, but at a pace where I’m actually able to keep up with it,” she said.
Program operators are also recognizing ways that their businesses benefit their communities — and help them get more involved.
Denise Boulton started hers in April 2023 after noticing more homes being built in her Fallbrook community than restaurants to serve their residents.
To fill the gap, Boulton, a grandmother of three, launched Grandma Dee Home Cooking, which makes and delivers hearty hot meals. She prepares about 50 a week; now on the menu are lasagna soup, Italian salad and roasted tri-tip. She also makes special Christmas dinner sides and a dessert medley.
Many of her customers are seniors, and she serves a weekly lunch to 25 students at a local school. She says their appreciation is part of what she loves about the gig — a far cry from her previous full-time work as a mortgage broker.
“I feel like I have a purpose,” she said. The kids at the school call out “Hi, Grandma” when she delivers their food.
“Are you kidding me?” she asked with a laugh. “How lucky am I?”
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