Michele StuevenWhile L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti predicted that his plexiglass directive might take some time, stores across the southland like Smart & Final have responded in record time constructing barriers, in an effort to flatten the Corona curve and help protect essential workers.
Barriers have already been installed in about 20 of the company’s stores in Lawndale, Inglewood, Huntington Park, Compton, West L.A. and Venice. The remaining stores are expected to be outfitted by the end of next week.
Other Smart & Final initiatives include closing at 3 pm on Easter to give associates the opportunity to spend time with their families, extending the $2.25 per hour premium through April 19, providing salaried managers with a weekly bonus, sourcing disposable safety masks or cotton face coverings, and providing gloves for associates. To increase social distancing efforts, inside and outside of stores, they are limiting entrance to stores to 5 people per 1,000 square feet and the use of decals and signage to designate areas for customers to stand.
Family Meal (Courtesy Norms)
NORMS is offering guests 30 free eggs with any purchase of $10 or more starting Friday, April 10 through Wednesday, April 15. The offer is available for pick up orders only at any location, while supplies last. They’re offering family meals that are hot-and-ready to go, designed to feed 4-6 people for $25 total; NORMS Care Packages which are designed to hold up in the refrigerator or freezer and can feed 5-10 people for $35; and they’ve added a low-priced new value menu with generous portions at that can feed one person for an entire day (or more).
For this deal, it’s limit three per order meaning if you purchase $20 worth of food you get 60 free eggs and $30 worth of food you get 90 free eggs.
The L.A. Bodega on Wheels is a temporary rolling bodega providing “isolation salvation” for Angelenos, powered by a collection of local restaurants and small businesses like 101 Coffee Shop, Coolhaus, Future Gin, MiniBar Hollywood, and VERVET. Featuring an assortment of prepared food, beverages, booze, sweets, produce, and pantry staples (including toilet paper) from each of the partners, it’s their way of adapting to the realities of our new homebound normal in order to bring resources — and hopefully, a little fun — to the L.A. community. (Plus: it’ll help put some of their unemployed staffers back to work with tips in their pockets.) 10% of all proceeds will also be donated to multiple charities, including Another Round Another Rally, Opportunity Fund’s Small Business Relief Fund, LA Regional Food Bank, and No Us Without You.
Customers can begin shopping and placing orders online here. Deliveries run daily through Saturday, 4/11 from 10-6PM. Requests for next-day deliveries must be placed by 2PM the previous day.
The delivery radius will include Hollywood (including the Hills), Los Feliz, East Hollywood, Koreatown, Mid City, Larchmont, Miracle Mile, Beverly Grove, and West Hollywood, among other major neighborhoods. (A full map is available at here.)
Courtesy L.A. Bodega on Wheels
Secret Lasagna & Market, the celebrated pop-up from chef Royce Burke, has relaunched in West Hollywood with intentions of helping the hospitality community. Burke, alongside business partner Andrey Tolmachyov (wine director at Maude/Gwen), aim to cultivate a space allowing them to hire cooks who have lost their jobs during the pandemic while simultaneously providing a marketplace of both pre-prepared and pantry staples and delivery of much needed comfort food. For each entree order received, Secret Lasagna will donate a family-sized order of their signature dish to an industry family in need in partnership with No Us Without You.
Available via Caviar, DoorDash and Postmates, Secret Lasagna will operate daily from 11am-8:30pm with a menu of individual and family-sized options. Mains include Secret Lasagna (made with beef), Top Secret Lasagna (vegan/gluten-free), and Tea Smoked Chicken Casserole. Individual items are all set at $11 and Family Size for $55 with custom wine pairings from Tolmachyov available for an additional $20. A selection of rotating soups, salads, sides and sweets round out the offerings. Breakfast selections include Burke’s famous Yarrow Breakfast Burrito.
In addition to their formal menu, Secret Lasagna & Market will also offer a variety of pantry items like eggs, milk, water, fruits, vegetables, proteins, cheese, olive oil and more available for pre-order and mostly procured via farmers hurt by decreased attendance at local Farmers’ Markets. Wine and beer will be curated by Tolmachyov to support local wine makers who have lost distribution channels due to the pandemic. The ‘Secret Market’, a platform for collaboration, will stock its shelves with dishes and sundries from L.A. contemporaries including Anajak Thai, De Porres and Cognoscenti Coffee
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