cookiesinheaven

The table is set with an elegant fusion of Southern comfort food and fine French cuisine. The beef and lamb are grass-fed; the artisan smoked hams are from locally raised pigs. The produce is locally grown and, of course, organic. All this local bounty is enhanced by fine imports: Italian Parmesan, French wine, and extra virgin olive oil. No, you’re not sitting down to eat with Michael Pollan; you’re at the table of Thomas Jefferson, statesman and gourmand extraordinaire. 
 Despite his service as legislator, the governor of Virginia, minister to France, secretary of state, and president of the United States, Jefferson likely believed his famous statement: “The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.” In honor of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we explore the author’s lesser-known contribution to American culture: his influence on the country’s culinary tradition. - Salon

“The trend in restaurants is that folks are trying to cater menus to healthier, fresher options, and given that we’re in health care, it was important for us,” said Gina Weldy, vice president of real estate for Northwestern Memorial. “In the work environment we’re in now, people eat three meals a day near the office. These concepts give us the ability to offer that.” 

Those objectives for the hospital align nicely with a fast-casual restaurant’s operating conditions, Matros said. 

“I like that it’s a 24-hour environment,” he said. “While we’re not 24-hour, there are people [at the hospital] all the time, during [our] breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack [dayparts]. For the people working the midnight shift, their breakfast might be at 7 o’clock. It’s not just doctors and nurses, either. There are lots of support staff, biotech sales reps and pharmaceutical sales reps.” - NRN

Last year was one of the driest years on record in Santa Barbara County, with below-average rainfall and shrinking reservoir levels. Water agencies already are drawing comparisons to the 1987-1991-era drought, and say voluntary and mandatory conservation orders may be coming soon. 

The county is four months into its third dry water year, which started Sept. 1, with only 22 percent of the normal rainfall. Only one location — the U.S. Forest Service station on Figueroa Mountain — has had more than two inches of rain in that time, according to the county’s Public Works Department. 

Every reservoir is drying up, too, officials say. Lake Cachuma, which provides water to five water districts, was at 40.3-percent capacity as of Jan. 1 and many jurisdictions have started using more state water to supplement supplies. - Noozhawk

Happy birthday, California Homemade Food Act.  

Jan. 1 marks one year since AB1616, signed into law in September 2012, was implemented, and it has created quite a stir in home kitchens throughout California. The law allows Californians to make and sell certain non-hazardous foods out of their kitchens. According to a story in the Independent, foods that don't include cream or meat — such as bread, fruits, baked goods, jarred goods and dry mixes — could now all bypass commercial production and be sold out of a home kitchen, according to the law.  

More than 2,000 cottage food permits have been issued throughout California, and of those, 860 were issued in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties. 

...After sampling what kitchenpreneurs are cooking up, items at your local grocery store will seem overtly massed produced, unappealing, unfortunately bland and uninspired. 

With all this talent and incredibly unique food items, what prevented these individuals from launching their own food business before this law went into effect? The answer is simple: money. The cost of working in a commercial kitchen ranges from $30 to $40 per hour plus a commitment to a number of hours per month to maintain the time slot. - Huntington Beach Independent

Chef Ricardo Zarate and his business partner, Stephane Bombet, are parting ways. The two took the concept for what was Zarate’s original tiny Peruvian stand in the Mercado la Paloma and opened a string of upscale restaurants within a couple of years -- starting with Picca Peru, then a refashioned Mo-Chica downtown, followed by Paiche in Marina Del Rey. The latest (and the first out-of-town location), Blue Tavern, opened in Santa Barbara just last month. "After five years we decided very, very amicably to part ways," Bombet said. "I have a different vision, I want to work with different chefs on different concepts. That’s been my goal. What we created didn’t allow that. - LATimes