Labor
How a Minimum-Wage Increase Is Being Felt in a Low-Wage City
The New York Times 2/14
Is $15 an hour too much, or not enough? Fresno, Calif., may be a laboratory for a debate over the minimum wage that is heating up on the national level.
A Black Lives Matter mask shut down the Girl & the Fig, showing the high stakes for restaurants that stand on sidelines
San Francisco Chronicle 2/14
The famed Wine Country restaurant said a BLM mask violated its uniform policy. But for a younger generation, disengaging is no longer acceptable.
Food Industry Policy
San Joaquin County imposes fee cap on restaurant food delivery, order services
The Stockton Record 2/14
San Joaquin County restaurants and food establishments have been hit hard financially by lockdown orders and other restrictions imposed by local and state governments since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The County Counsel’s Office recommended the adoption of the temporary ordinance to ease some of the financial hardships restaurants face by being prohibited from offering indoor dining.
A San Francisco company wants to help chefs sell home-cooked meals. The pandemic has held things up
San Francisco Chronicle 2/14
Aly is among scores of people selling their culinary creations on Shef.com. Many hail from overseas; their profiles discuss their love of cooking and connections to their roots. The San Francisco company, whose wares are available in parts of the Bay Area, New York and recently Seattle, said it’s served more than 400,000 meals in two years of operation.
On the Side
Manhattan Beach closes downtown street to help restaurants with outdoor dining
ABC7 2/14
Two weeks after Los Angeles County lifted outdoor dining restrictions, Manhattan Beach is helping restaurants expand their outdoor seating. This weekend, the city closed a block of its popular downtown district to vehicle traffic to allow outdoor dining on the street.
Mesa restaurants ready to ‘platter up!’ for baseball
East Valley Tribune 2/14
Local restaurants and other businesses staggering from the pandemic expect the start of Spring Training – pitchers and catchers are scheduled to start tossing this week with games beginning Feb. 27 – to be a boost, even with expected restrictions on attendance. It might be more of a solid double this year than the grand slams of springs past, but the return of baseball is eagerly awaited by Mesa businesses.
