“Chef Malcolm ‘Mal’ Jamal Suggs operates Smoke ‘N Peppers BBQ. Originally from North Carolina, Mal is a career Navy Sailor who was stationed overseas and found himself craving Carolina BBQ. He began experimenting with slow smoking meats to get the perfect Carolina flavors. Mal was so successful that more and more of his friends were requesting his BBQ brisket and others were asking him to cook for special events. He often heard “Your food is so good; you should start a restaurant!” But with the Navy, college, and a young family, a restaurant was not a possibility. Researching options, Mal discovered MEHKO...”

“‘Grandma Dee’ is Home Chef Denise Boulton. Denise offers ready-to-serve meals that and “yummy and family friendly” with the intention that “family mealtime will be a wonderful experience for gathering, conversation, and laughter.” While Chef Denise loved to cook, her career was in banking and brokerage for many years. However, she desired a change. She observed there were hundreds of new homes being built in her neighborhood of Horse Creek Ridge in southern Fallbrook, but there were limited food options. She envisioned a solution to the shortage of food service options for her community members “who find themselves short on time and big on hunger.” That solution was becoming a licensed MEHKO...”

“Upon getting her MEHKO permit in May 2023, Home Chef D’ona Line’ Welton set out to create a dining experience that would keep her grandmother’s spirit and legacy alive by sharing her Southern comfort recipes (as well as her own creations) and providing true Southern hospitality. Chef D’ona and her husband, Lawrence, who serves in the Navy, have turned their townhouse patio into an intimate three table restaurant decorated with homey collectables from a bygone era and a picture of the original Mama Green, Chef D’ona’s grandmother Earlene Green and Chef D’ona’s grandfather, Dr. Willie O. Green. Chef D’ona was drawn into...”

“Home Chef Haresh Gobin became a licensed MEHKO in September 2022, and has been collaborating with his family to share authentic dishes from Trinidad and Tabago ever since. The Gobin family immigrated from the West Indies in 1985, and found a community in San Diego around food and the sport of cricket. They started IndoCaribbean Kitchen to introduce more San Diegans to authentic dishes from their island, like curry chicken, dhalpuri roti, paratha (Buss Up Shot), chicken pelau and more. Haresh started his MEHKO with his brother, who is hard of hearing and has been marginalized and sidelined in the traditional job industry due to his disability. Haresh expressed...”

“Home Chef Abigale Toledo was one of the first MEHKOs (in San Diego) to receive her permit in March 2022. She serves Filipino breakfast plates known as “silogs”, Hawaiian-style plate lunches, and other foods “with a Hawaiian twist.” Food is her “love language.” You can tell it is her passion because she cooks for her MEHKO on weekends after a full time job during the week! Chef Abigale hopes to follow in her parents’ footsteps and open a restaurant one day. A successful MEHKO is...”

“Home Chef Christina Arrizon cooks up “Vegan comfort food that fuels good.” Christina has always enjoyed cooking and became interested in vegetarian/vegan foods when she worked in a health food store. She came to appreciate the health benefits of plant-based eating and loved how good she felt eating that way. However, she realized when she wanted to eat out, her vegan choices were limited to upper end restaurants that felt intimidating along with being some distance from her home in Vista. This experience instilled in her a desire to make vegan food affordable and approachable for everyone. When Christina...”

“Home Chef Suruchi Budhraja interest in cooking and creating new recipes began when she was growing up in India. When she came to the USA, some 20 years ago, she discovered the Food Network on TV and was immediately hooked (even obsessively so, she admits). She enjoyed seeing the wide variety of foods the chefs created. She carried that creativity into making healthier versions of traditional Indian dishes and finding recipes that both kids and adults loved to eat. In 2021, the campaign to pass a MEHKO ordinance...”

“Christina Adame is an Army veteran who works full time during the week and then puts on her chef hat every Friday – Sunday to cook up delectable food and desserts (the “goodies”). She obtained her MEHKO permit in March 2022. Christina named her MEHKO after her parents, Mike & Minnie, whose life-long dream was to have a little café. They were never able to realize their dream, but Christina is making that dream come true. Mike & Minnie’s Goodies offers classics such as grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, fried shrimp, chicken wings...”

“Born in Burma (present day Myanmar), Home Chef Thay Say moved to a Thailand refugee camp at 2 years old, then eventually was able to move with his family to the US. Chef Thay is part of the Karen (pronounced ‘kə-REN’) people who primarily reside in Myanmar and Thailand. He fondly remembers his mother making “amazing Karen traditional foods.” His passion for cooking led him to be professional chef at a Thai restaurant in town. Chef Thay was eager to expand on what he has learned and go on to the next step. That next step was to get his MEHKO permit in March 2023, and...”

“Chef Keely became a licensed MEHKO in May 2022, and has been hosting pop-up family-style dinners, serving up her unique culinary creations to delighted diners ever since. After retiring from the construction industry at the age of 50, Keely went back to school to pursue her passion for cooking. Two years into her culinary studies, COVID-19 hit, changing all her aspirations. She realized that she did not want to own a brick and mortar restaurant and be responsible for all the overhead costs that came with it. That’s when the idea of a MEHKO came to her, shared by one of her professors...”

“A couple of years ago, Chef Sandy’s mother was visiting in December and decided to make 200 tamales of her own recipe to sell on the Wakefield’s driveway. The tamales were all gone within 45 minutes! Chef Eric said he loved seeing the smiles on the faces of those buying and eating the tamales. He and Chef Sandy knew this was something they wanted to pursue. Chef Sandy’s mother was agreeable to share her recipes and teach Chefs Eric and Sandy how to make the tamales from scratch. It took the better part of a year for the couple to perfect the lengthy process of making tamales to consistent standards of homemade quality to be able to sell to the public... ”

“ Home Chef Jennie Gill became a licensed MEHKO in August 2022. Since then she has been wowing the Solana Beach community with her gourmet sandwiches she serves at lunchtime M, W, and F. She says being a sandwich chef allows her to be creative and express herself in her creations. Check out her fun sandwich-making...”

“Home Chef Sebastian ‘Sebi’ Becerra has had an illustrious culinary career that stretches from San Francisco to Aspen to New York City and back to San Diego. In high school Chef Sebastian was interested in being a chef. With deep roots in Peru (a Peruvian dad, many relatives in Peru, and many visits there), he spent a summer working full time in his cousin’s restaurant in Peru and “fell in love with it”, even with the long hours and hard work of the restaurant business. He went on to culinary school and became a Chef De Partie and then a Sous Chef at award-winning, fine dining restaurants working for well known chefs. With the Covid shut down, the restaurant industry came to a standstill. Chef Sebastian pivoted and did what he did best. He began cooking take-out food for friends and neighbors. The popularity of his informal business grew, so he looked for a way to make his business legal. Around that time, he heard about the MEHKO program that...”

“Home Chef Carolina Taylor began cooking as a child and has loved cooking all her life. She worked in restaurants and cafes for most of her adult life. Growing up, Carolina spent time in Mexico, as well as the US. In Mexico she remembers that there was a home-based food business in almost every block. She loved the concept of a local food community. When the MEHKO ordinance was passed in San Diego County, she saw it as an opportunity to invest in her own home-based food business and generate a local food community centered on vegan food and ethics...”

“Home Chef David White is the creator and operator of Mazao Life Bowls. He received his MEHKO permit in May 2023 and was a Cohort 3 graduate of the Get Cooking grant program. Chef David’s interest in cooking began in his early teens when he and his seven siblings lived with his grandmother while his mother was in the military. His maternal roots are the Gullah Geechee people of the lower Atlantic coast who originally came from Sierra Leone. The unique culture of the Gullah Geechee people carried deep African retentions in their arts, crafts, music, language, and food. Chef David’s grandmother brought those unique tastes to her kitchen. Chef David loved the food she created. When he and his siblings moved back with his mother, Chef David began cooking for the entire family, with his grandmother’s mentoring. Chef David continued to evolve in his cooking skills and became...”

“Home Chefs Matt & Jacqueline Rimel received their MEHKO permit in April 2022. Their background differs from most in that they are both experienced chefs who opened their first restaurant in 1994 and went on to have four locations around San Diego. When their last location closed in 2019, they moved on to other ventures, but missed their food (and many of their customers did, too). With the 2022 launching of MEHKO permitting in San Diego County, the Rimels knew a MEHKO would be the perfect way to do a little bit of cooking that didn’t require the overhead and expense of a full-time restaurant. They love the flexibility of being able to set their hours to fit their schedule. In the future, they may venture into a ghost kitchen delivery service with a larger delivery area, but for now they are content cooking out of their MEHKO kitchen and keeping a personal connection...”

“Chef Yanira Majano received her MEHKO permit in April 2022 and has been serving up homemade Salvadorian food to her customers ever since. One of her specialties is pupusas, which are corn flour tortillas stuffed and cooked with fresh vegetables, savory spices, cheese, and meats. In fact, pupusas have been declared the national dish of El Salvador. Yanira says, “What the tacos are to Mexico is what pupusas are to El Salvador!” The pupusas Chef Yanira makes are all her mother’s...”