East County News Service

Image Credit: Shutterstock 

September 15, 2021 (San Diego) -- The County Board of Supervisors voted today to move forward with plans to legalize microenterprise home kitchen operations, or MEHKOs. MEHKOs are defined by California law as a small retail food facility, operated from a private home.

East County News Service

September 3, 2021 (El Cajon) -- Foodie Fest aims to reignite the City of El Cajon restaurant/food services industry while celebrating the community’s diversity, supporting a major local non-profit and increasing a presence in Downtown El Cajon. The event will be hosted on Saturday, October 9, 4:00-8:00 p.m.

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

August 20, 2021 (San Diego) - Avanti Frozen Foods Pvt. Ltd, is voluntarily expanding a prior recall issued on June 25,2021 to include certain consignments of various sizes of frozen cooked, peeled, deveined, shrimp (with some packaged with cocktail sauce) sold in various unit sizes, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. The frozen shrimp products were distributed nationwide from November 2020 to May 2021.

Deerhorn Valley Vineyards wins two gold medals

Source:  Deerhorn Valley Vineyards

August 10, 2021 (Jamul) - The results are in in the professionally judged Wine Competition, May 22-23 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds for the annual Toast of the Coast Wine Competition. Deerhorn Valley Vineyards of Jamul, recently was awarded 2 gold medals as a result. The competition awarded gold and silver medals along with the Double Gold Award, which is reserved for the finest wines deemed worthy by a three-judge panel. In addition, Director’s Awards were given to the top performing wines in each varietal or blended category as merited.

East County News Service

July 28, 2021 (La Mesa) – The La Mesa Chamber’s 12th annual popular “foodie” event is happening on Monday, August 30. This special evening where guests can “eat their hearts out” will be between 5-8 p.m. at the newly renovated Town & Country Hotel in Mission Valley.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Miriam Raftery: Outdoor dining at Antica Trattoria in La Mesa

July 15, 2021 (La Mesa) – Expanding onto sidewalks and parking lots provided salvation to many local restaurants and shops during the pandemic, when indoor dining was banned or capacity limited.

To help local businesses recover financially over the next year, La Mesa’s City Council recently voted to extend temporary outdoor permits in public spaces for restaurants and stores through July 16, 2022.

By Miriam Raftery

July 4, 2021 (Washington D.C.) – Before you serve up any chicken dishes for your Fourth of July feast, make sure you didn’t purchase any frozen, fully cooked chicken products recalled by Tyson Foods, Inc. The tainted products were shipped nationwide to major retailers and institutions including hospitals, nursing homes, restaurants, schools and military sites.

Today, the U.S. Department of Agricultural’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that Tyson Foods, Inc. is recalling nearly 8.5 million pounds of ready-to-eat chicken products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The products are linked to at least one death and several illnesses to date. Federal investigators at the FSIS are working to determine if there are additional illnesses linked to these products.

The frozen, fully cooked chicken products were produced between December 26, 2020 and April 13. The products that are subject to recall are listed here. View the labels here. The products subject to recall bear establishment number “EST. P-7089” on the product bag or inside the USDA mark of inspection.

East County News Service

June 14, 2021 (Lemon Grove) -- The Lemon Grove Lions Club, THRIVE Lemon Grove and the City of Lemon Grove are sponsoring a drive-thru food distribution this Saturday, June 19, beginning at 9 a.m. and while supplies last. A cleared trunk, for contactless loading, and proof of Lemon Grove residency are required. Please stay in your car. No walk-ups are permitted.

By Miriam Raftery

June 5, 2021 (La Mesa) – Looking for laughs after a year of quarantining? At the Spacebar Café and Wine Bistro in La Mesa announces Friday night comedy as well as live on June 25th featuring top local talent.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Henri Migala and Miriam Raftery

May 29, 2021 (Jamul) – Thanks to all of you who turned out to celebrate our first East County Dining Club event since before the pandemic lockdowns.  The event sold out, the setting was magical amid the elegance at Chandelier Lounge Cuisine, the wines from Deerhorn Valley Vineyard were divine, and the music was sublime!

In addition to pianist Andy Salmonsen, NRG Music & Productions surprised us by also bringing talented singer Kymm Civetta, her adorable daughter, Lyric, and saxophonist extraordinaire Chris Klich, who all entertained the crowd.  View video from NRG of music at our event.

The music even inspired some impromptu dancing in the aisles as everyone delighted in feeling free at last at our event, where everyone was fully vaccinated or showed proof of a recent COVID test.

Georgina, owner of Chandelier Lounge Cuisine, and her crew cooked up a feast including steak, mahi-mahi, chicken, creamy pasta, vegies and desserts that were both delicious and beautiful.

All proceeds benefit East County Media to support the East County Magazine, East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts, and East County Dining Club’s future events.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Henri Migala

May 22, 2021 (Deerhorn Valley) – Visitors to Deerhorn Valley Vineyards’ tasting room in Jamul over Memorial Day weekend will have the opportunity to sample a wine directly from the barrel,  complimentary with any winetasting purchased.

If you visit, please tell them you learned of their event on East County Magazine. Many of our readers had the delightful opportunity to taste their wines at our recent event. For those who missed our festivities, stop by and enjoy a real treat!

The wines are hand-crafted in small batches, with red wines aged in oak.  The winery offers a full range of whites, reds, rosés and blends. In addition, you can sample a wide variety of flavored balsamic vinegars and olive oils.

By Claudia Erickson

May 14, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) -- We have been living and breathing by our technology during the pandemic.  Zoom meetings are essential and watching reruns of “The Office” has admittedly helped many a soul get through some tough months. Using our tech devices has been a lifeline, but has also brought about increased anxiety, Facebook fights and Twitter wars. 

East County News Service

May 4, 2021 (San Diego) – Applications can now be submitted for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund to offset losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. To apply, visit the U.S. Small Business Administration’s application portal.  The fund is part of the American Rescue Plan and is open not only to restaurants, but also caters, bars, bakeries, wineries, breweries, food carts, inns and certain other businesses where food sales provided a major source of revenues.