PROJECT GALLERY
The Project Gallery is a collection of projects produced by members of our fiscal sponsorship program and other Creative Visions impact media programs. This includes projects that are currently in production, as well as completed projects.
Home Restaurant: Recipe for Opportunity (fka MEHKO: Home Restaurant)
Our feature documentary film Home Restaurant: Recipe for Opportunity chronicles California's food revolution as chefs in Los Angeles and the Bay area, immigrant women of color living in food deserts, tech entrepreneurs, lawmakers, and activists unite to transform home-cooked meals into a force for change. Despite the 2019 legalization of home food operations under the MEHKO (micro-enterprise home kitchen operations) law, obstacles hinder widespread adoption. Can this movement for food equity regain momentum, empowering marginalized communities, and revolutionize the food economy?
I began documenting this story in 2019, following immigrant women and other home cooks alongside the advocates working to establish the Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation—MEHKO—pathway. My experience as a culinary producer and former executive producer of the L.A. Times Studios Kitchen informs this work. The feature builds on my award-winning short, Home Restaurant (winner, Best Documentary Short – Sonoma International Film Festival; California International Short Film Festival, Oscar-qualifying AmDocs Film Festival)
Watch selected clips: Home Restaurant: Recipe for Opportunity Clips
From November 2026 through spring 2027, we propose five educational and community screenings in Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara, Alameda, and San Bernardino counties. Each will bring cooks and residents together with invited public-health, business-development, and government representatives. The San Bernardino event will focus on questions about local opt-in, implementation responsibilities, and the experiences of operators in other counties. Discussions will also examine the potential role—and limitations—of home-food businesses in neighborhoods with limited food access.
Our intended outcomes are greater understanding of home-food businesses, clearer knowledge of available support, and more opportunities for cooks to contribute their experience to public conversations. We will share a summary of lessons with screening partners to inform future events. Funding will cover campaign coordination, screenings, cook compensation, documentation and editing, outreach, accessibility, travel, and administration.