Pasadena Bucks County Health Order, Will Continue to Allow Outdoor Dining

The city of Pasadena has decided to continue offering outdoor, socially-distant dining at its restaurants, a direct dismissal of county health director Dr. Barbara Ferrer’s modified public health order, which is set to take effect on Wednesday, November 25. That order calls for all restaurants within the purview of the LA County Department of Public Health to cease offering on-site outdoor dining of any kind by 10 p.m. tomorrow night, but there’s one big catch: The cities of Pasadena and Long Beach, while in LA County, each have their own public health departments.

In a statement sent out last night following a raucous city council meeting, reps for the San Gabriel Valley city said simply: “The City of Pasadena will continue to assess our COVID numbers and work closely with Huntington Hospital and give as much advance notice as possible if the City’s Order is going to change in any respect.” Normally, independent cities like Pasadena choose to coordinate with LA County public health officials on mandates and orders, but they are not mandated to — notably, Long Beach has aligned with the LA County Department of Public Health, and will close on-site outdoor dining Wednesday as well.

With county supervisor Kathryn Barger herself publicly disagreeing with the shutdown, it remains to be seen how such a difference of direction will play out in the coming days and weeks. Meanwhile, coronavirus cases continue to soar across Southern California, with LA County recording its highest single-day number of cases just yesterday, and with a targeted stay at home order expected to be announced today.

In other news:

• LA Times has the story of Burritos La Palma’s pandemic-era turn as a new star thanks to the Netflix show the Taco Chronicles. While business was scarily uncertain before the show aired on September 16, owner Albert Bañuelos now says that enough positive attention has come from the episode to keep his small company afloat.
• Meanwhile, Times columnist Lucas Kwan Peterson says that many of the state’s smallest farms may not be so lucky. With no television show to save them, things are looking increasingly dire — though few farmers are giving up just yet.
• In the midst of so much troubling news, the Seoul Sausage team is managing to find a bit of positivity. Check out their whole post below on national shipping, upcoming projects, and getting to work with the folks they love, pandemic be damned.

• Chef Russell Victorioso is moving on from Cafe Birdie in Highland Park, and indeed moving from Los Angeles entirely.
• Idle Hour in North Hollywood is closed for the foreseeable future, reports the 1933 Group. The company decided to shutter the historic space until further notice once LA County officials informed restaurants of the decision to cease outdoor on-site restaurant dining.
• Pine & Crane in Silver Lake is closed following a positive COVID-19 test from one of its employees. “Service will not resume,” says a statement on the company’s Instagram page, “until we’ve had a chance to deep clean and until team members test back with negative results.”