Local restaurants are set to benefit from a new state program to provide meals to vulnerable seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the initiative, called Restaurants Deliver: Home Meals for Seniors, last Friday. Participating restaurants will prepare healthful precooked meals for delivery, and will receive a generous reimbursement: up to $16 per meal for breakfast, $17 for lunch and $28 for dinner.
The statewide program, funded largely through FEMA, is similar to Family Meal Sacramento, which has been supplying precooked meal kits to needy residents since the beginning of the pandemic. Family Meal was founded by local restaurants Mulvaney’s B&L, Canon, Allora, Camden Spit + Larder and Binchoyaki. In a streaming video on April 25, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg called those restaurants “pioneers” and said of the new program, “As a city, we intend to be among the first to implement it, and implement it well.”
In the same streaming video, Canon’s Brad Cecchi said the new program will provide restaurants with much-needed cash flow, giving them a “rolling start” that will help them reopen when the shutdown is relaxed or lifted. The program will also provide income to local restaurant workers, farmers and producers.
Representatives from Bacon & Butter, Saigon Alley, Tank House, Crest Café, TableVine, Sandwich Spot Midtown, Pitt’s Stop Restaurant and Solomon’s Delicatessen expressed interest in the program during the livestream.
The city is currently identifying eligible seniors and accepting applications from restaurants. For more information about Restaurants Deliver, go to covid19.ca.gov or engagesac.org. Restaurants can apply for the program at:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfaE_Aleer7CBdESLigCDPbIuxGACaUzl99cJtshBvTrbimew/viewform.
