High Road Highlight: Good Girl Dinette

Nearly all of Good Girl Dinette’s food is locally sourced because owner, Diep Tran, has a commitment to food justice. Good Girl Dinette is a Vietnamese restaurant, a gem in Highland Park, with a menu that includes her Vietnamese and American upbringing that is representative of the experience of many 2^nd generation Vietnamese Americans.  Diep cares about the environmental impact restaurants have on the community and she is bringing back the way Vietnamese produce and ingredients was made – straight from the mother earth.  Like many local and organic restaurants, Good Girl Dinette has received coverage on their local sustainability efforts. However, aspects that often get overlooked are the restaurant employer practices.

Diep genuinely cares about her employees.  Good Girl Dinette was a high road restaurant even before Diep knew it. Starting at $10 per hour with wage increases, Diep’s back of the house employees are making living wages, which is highly unusual for small family style restaurants.

Diep does not discriminate in her hiring and promotion practices. Often, new and upcoming restaurants will discriminate in their hiring practices to seek a certain “look” for the restaurant.  Because of the diversity of the restaurant, there is a strict zero tolerance for offensive comments that are racist, sexist, or homophobic. Diep embraces and encourages a strong harmonic environment.

Good Girl Dinette has also opened up their space to fundraise for countless organizations. Well over thousands have been raised for non-profit and grassroots organizations since its opening in 2009.

ROC MD - health care cooperative for restaurant workers

Great news ROC-LA! ROC-United started a low-cost health care cooperative, ROC M.D., to provide low cost access to primary health care for uninsured Los Angeles restaurant workers. Some members may qualify for 3-months of care at no cost. Read more below:  How does it work? ROC-LA has partnered with St. John's Well Child and Family Center (St. John's) and Korean Health, Education, Information & Research (KHEIR) Center to provide primary care, basic dental care, and therapy. The cost of ROC M.D. for individual restaurant workers is only $20 per month plus $5 for ROC-LA membership dues (total of $25 per month).         We recently received a grant to cover 3 months of membership access to ROC M.D. Thus, for the first year, you would only pay for the first 9 months of coverage, and we will cover the remaining 3 months.  When you enroll, your coverage will be effective the first day of the following month--meaning if you enrolled any day in October, then your coverage would become effective November 1.  Once your coverage is effective, you may call St. John's to make an appointment to see a doctor.  What exactly does ROC M.D. and $25 per month cover? Primary Care: annual physicals, urgent care for colds, the flu, and other common illnesses Dental Care: annal oral examinations, cleaning, fillings Therapy: up to 7 sessions with a therapist Medication: low-cost medication When can you enroll in order to qualify for 3 months of coverage? Please respond and let me know which information & enrollment session you would like to attend. There will be an information session and enrollment on: Wednesday, October 12th at 8:30am Tuesday, October 18th at 4:15pm Monday, October 24th at 9:30am Who qualifies for ROC M.D, and how do I get 3 months' access paid? Any ROC-LA restaurant worker member who does NOT have health insurance can enroll in ROC M.D, regardless of immigration status. To be a ROC-LA member, you must attend an orientation and a workers' rights workshop in order to enroll in ROC M.D. To qualify for 3 months' free access, only ROC-LA restaurant worker members who are undocumented and/or do not qualify for public programs (Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, LA CARE, Healthy Way LA, etc.) can receive 3 months of coverage for free. However, any ROC-LA restaurant worker member can join ROC M.D., even if you do not qualify for 3 months of free access. What makes ROC M.D. comparable to other public programs? ROC-United is dedicated to improving the access to healthcare and the health outcomes of restaurant workers in Los Angeles. As a member of ROC M.D., you will be assigned a permanent doctor who will follow-up with you on your health conditions and track your health improvement. When you call to make an appointment, you will be able to schedule and see a doctor that week, or whenever medically necessary, because St. John's has reserved patient slots for our members. Thus, you should never have to wait to make a first appointment. E-MAIL CATHY AT cathy@rocunited.org to RSVP for one of the information sessions.

Los Angeles High Road Round Table features LOCAL RESTAURANT

ROC-LA believes that we can transform the restaurant industry through providing legal support to workers, conducting research and policy, and working with employers who are doing the right thing in the industry.  We have a round table of model employers who possess model practices including training and promotion from within, providing benefits such as paid vacations, health care, or paid sick days, starting above the minimum wage, and providing wage increases.

ROC-LA works with about ten employers. Each week we will highlight one of our high road employers so that consumers are aware of which restaurants to support.

·      Good Girl Dinette

·      LOCAL Restaurant

·      Chimu Peruvian Soulfood

·      Homegirl Café

·      Mama’s Hot Tamales

·      Craft Los Angeles

·      Chaya Restaurant Group

·      The Hungry Cat

·      The Gorbals

·      Pacific Dining Car

FIRST UP!  LOCAL Restaurant (Owned by Jason Michaud)

ROC-LA has to give props to the very first employer who has been there for ROC-LA from the beginning – Jason Michaud.

LOCAL is committed to using locally sourced and organic ingredients in nearly every aspect of their menu and dining experience. Even their take out packaging is 100% biodegradable. This is only one of the MANY great things about Jason’s model employer practices. There are many “green” restaurants who have environmentally conscious practices, but totally neglect their workers. 

At LOCAL, Jason’s front of the house employees benefit from wages that start at $10 per hour with tips. His cook earns $16 per hour and his night chef earns $42,000 a year. LOCAL’s dishwasher earns $10 per hour plus tips. There are 13 employees, almost all who have been with LOCAL since it’s opening 3 years ago. Jason has also worked out an informal paid sick days policy where workers are encouraged to stay home sick and will still be able to earn their share of the tips. For the monolingual employees at LOCAL, Jason offers to pay for their ESL classes as well as pay them for their shifts to encourage them to learn English and move up in the restaurant industry.

How does this affect YOU, the consumer?  Would you want to eat a dish that was made by someone who was sick because he or she couldn't afford to take time off? I hope not...

When you dine at LOCAL, you are supporting not only locally sourced foods and our environment, but you are also supporting the workers who work in a restaurant that is setting a precedent in the industry. Not many large restaurant companies pay their cooks above $13 per hour even if they have been there for over 10 years. If LOCAL Restaurant can do it, so can rest of the larger industry.

LOCAL Restaurant

2943 W. Sunset Blvd.  in Silverlake

http://silverlakelocal.com/