Shannon Brantley’s fingers were caked in dough.
“I am in the process of making some dumplings,” she told the caller on Monday, Nov. 11. “Can you hold on and I will go wash my hands.”
Brantley, 54, is a chef who was immersed in cooking, 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 an homage to the world champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
But you won’t find her at a commercial kitchen or restaurant. Instead, she’s slaving over a hot stove in her own kitchen, inside her gray-and-white home on a double cul-de-sac in Woodland Hills. On Monday, Nov. 18, she will officially launch Angel City Dumplings, the first home-kitchen mini restaurant to receive a permit from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
She and her husband, Stuart Brantley, own the first Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKO) permitted business in L.A. County under the so-called MEHKO program that went into effect Nov. 1.
So far, the Brantley’s home business, and another home business called Vendittis Pizza in Stevenson Ranch, have passed public health inspections and have been permitted, records show. Advocates say 50 more are in the permit pipeline, and the county will see 100 MEHKOs by the end of the year.
The program can help legitimize the sale of prepared foods from the home, making it safe and regulated, the county said. Proponents say the program benefits single moms who care for children and elderly parents and therefore can’t leave the home for work, as well as providing a second source of income for immigrant families on a tight budget.
“A lot of people were doing this underground. They will come out of the shadows, get a permit and pay taxes,” said Roya Bagheri, executive director of Cook Alliance, a nonprofit that supports the fledgling home-cooking business industry in California with classes, grants and chat rooms.
“For a lot of people, they’ve never done this before. They know how to cook, have amazing recipes — but we help them try to start their business,” she added.
She said immigrant cooks are interested in the program, saying that showcasing authentic, ethnic foods spreads cultural pride. “We hear about immigrants who say, ‘I haven’t been able to find this kind of food from my own country.’ “
The idea kicked off in 2019 by state legislation allowing limited, at-home restaurants to operate but only if counties opted in. Riverside County was the first. Since 2019, Riverside Environmental Health has issued 294 permits. As of October, about 100 businesses were still in operation. San Diego County has operated the program for more than two years.
Bagheri said that adding L.A. County will provide a boost to food microenterprises and may spur on other counties to join. San Bernardino and Orange counties do not allow MEHKOs.
“Los Angeles County was the white whale for us. Getting them to opt in is huge,” Bagheri said. “A lot of places use L.A. as an example. That will help spread positivity about this type of program.”
The L.A. County ordinance, adopted on May 14 by a unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors, includes all unincorporated areas plus 85 citie — excluding Long Beach, Pasadena and Vernon who have their own public health departments.
Each micro-restaurant is limited to 30 meals per day and 90 meals per week, and the business must not exceed $100,000 in gross annual sales. An initial application fee is $547, with an annual fee to pay for inspections of $347. The first 1,000 permittees are eligible for a county subsidy to cover the first-time fee.
Most of them, including those who operated underground before, take orders online often a day or more in advance. That way, they know how much food to prepare each day. There’s also a quick pickup at the home and usually cash is not accepted. The businesses are not allowed to use delivery services such as Door Dash or Uber Eats, Bagheri said.
“It is meant to be small scale. It is not creating 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 county reported in May that half of the cities were concerned about the effect on traffic and residential street parking. Bagheri said after a two-year trial run ended in San Diego, which has 63 home-kitchen restaurants, no parking issues surfaced and the program was renewed. County officials said MEHKOs are reminded that they must abide by the zoning and parking laws of their city.
Another aspect of the program relates to vendors operating food carts. Each newly permitted MEHKO can begin using their at-home kitchen as a place to prepare food they can sell on pushcarts. Before the ordinance, these vendors had to prepare food in a commercial kitchen, an added cost. The L.A. 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 are taking care of family and children,” Alfredo Gomez, a push-cart operator, told the Board of Supervisors.
Most carve out a food niche that fits their culinary skills and their market, Bagheri said.
Angel City Dumpling’s business will consist of takeout orders for traditional and unusual dumplings prepared and sold from the home site in Woodland Hills. Most orders originate from its website, www.angelcitydumplings.com.
Brantley’s clientele tend to be working people in their 20s and 30s, she said. Many are too busy to cook and are comfortable with ordering food online.
She learned how to cook by watching her grandmother, Kathryn Tanner, run a catering business for 40 years. The business specialized in private catering for entertainment executives, she said. “She was an enormous innovator back in the 1980s,” she said, adding that she perfected the Chinese chicken salad.
MEHKOs from the other counties often get to know their customers’ tastes. Some tailor food to specific dietary needs, such as foods with no sugar and low-carbs for diabetics, and plant-based ingredients for vegetarians.
“One business owner told us they have a customer going through chemotherapy and asked for it to be free of salt,” Bagheri said.
“It is a cool concept, almost like a speakeasy restaurant,” she added. “It is a way to get tailored, customized meals.”