Letter: Not Enough Chefs in the Kitchen

Want a burger, pizza, pasta, bagel or wings? Tahoe has you covered. However, if you are craving some fesenjan with tahdig (if you know, you know), it’s time to fill up or charge up your car, because you’re heading to Sacramento. You could also head to my kitchen, where I prepare it along with many other staples of Persian cuisine.

With the law, as it stands today, you could come to my house and dine with no permit required. You could pay me as a “cook for hire” and I could prepare the exact same food in your home kitchen without anything but a business permit. However, it’s currently illegal for me to accept payment for the vast majority of foods prepared in my home.

I don’t want to be in the restaurant business full-time, nor do I think there would ever be a big enough market to sustain a Persian restaurant in South Lake Tahoe. However, serving it occasionally as a side hustle or hosting lavish feasts for small groups should not be illegal. The health risks are identical regardless if I’m hosting a private dinner party for friends for free or one for tourists who pay.

In 2018, California passed AB 626 (later amended by AB 1325), a law that allows counties to permit Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations, or MEHKOs. These are small-scale food businesses run by residents out of home kitchens and are limited to 90 meals per week and $100,000 in revenue per year. Every MEHKO must obtain a permit from the county, allow inspections of their home kitchen, and obtain a Food Protection Manager Certification, amongst other limitations.

However, these benefits are not yet available in El Dorado County, as our Board of Supervisors has not taken action to authorize MEHKOs. Further, the Environmental Services Department continues to drag their feet, citing perceived health concerns of delayed inspections. However, many other counties small and large have already opted in for years, demonstrating that it can be done safely and successfully.

I call upon Supervisor Brooke Laine and her colleagues including Director of Environmental Management Jeffrey Warren to take action. It’s beyond time to pass a resolution to opt in to AB 626 and start permitting MEHKOs in our community. Let's support culinary entrepreneurship, expand dining options for residents and tourists, and provide another legal avenue for residents to earn a little extra money. In the meantime, reach out to me if you’d like to grab some gheimeh or tacheen-e-morgh at a super hip spot in town; I know a place. The chef is a bit opinionated, but the food is great.

- Seth Dallob
South Lake Tahoe