In spring 2025, Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson was published, a nonfiction work examining why we can’t seem to get things built for the common good anymore and the bureaucratic difficulties facing small businesses. Using examples like California’s high-speed rail project, 30 years and counting in development, the book arrived amid a maelstrom of DOGE’s chainsaw destruction to the federal workforce and wanton deregulation. Abundance was championed by both the right and left, and the contentious, pro-and-con criticisms of the book’s stated desire for a “liberalism that builds” made for engrossing reading that dismally chaotic spring.
With these issues front of mind, over the 2026 winter it was exciting to discover a low-key but encouraging instance of innovative growth exemplified by a Los Angeles neighborhood coffee shop that opened January 2026. Granada (Spanish for pomegranate) was built in the downstairs space of the home of Sydney Wayser and Isaac Watters, musicians, film set designers, and parents of a 3 year-old. Their dream of a community gathering space, borne out of the isolation of Covid, blossomed under an expedited regulatory umbrella known as a Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation (MEHKO).
Under MEHKO, a California state program subject to local county health & safety rules, a commercial food service business can be opened in a private residence in as short a period of time as six months, with snarls of red tape quickly slashed and trimmed into festive opening day bunting. Up-front costs for permits can run as low as $500. Abundance!
I’d heard the buzz about Granada before knowing about its origins in the MEHKO program. On my first visit, it was the outdoor space that grabbed my attention, planted with pearl and cutleaf acacias and leucadendrons. There are a lot of coffee shops to compete for our business, some with sidewalk bump-outs, but how many can boast a tranquil garden in which to sip your first cup at 9 a.m.? I’m not reading a lot of emphasis on the garden’s contribution to this little business’ runaway success, but for me this outdoor setting is truly what sets it apart as a unique experience. And I freely admit to bias where gardens and outdoor spaces are concerned.
On my first visit, all the outdoor seating was taken. People lounge and chat and bring laptops for extended visits. I’ve heard it described as a WeWork space that actually works. The owners are very interested in exploring hosting small concerts and other community cultural events.
The French ancestry of one of the owners may account for the European/Luxembourg Garden feel to Granada. Indoors and out, the space is welcoming, refreshingly noninstitutional, carefully thought out but not fussy. The owners’ long-standing experience in design fields is felt everywhere.
For more information on the MEHKO program and the making of Granada, check out this article in the Los Angeles Times. The program was introduced in California in 2019 and authorized in LA County in 2024. Just this April 2026, Long Beach, Calif., also passed an ordinance allowing MEHKOs to operate under their local guidelines. Oregon has a similar program under Home (Domestic) Kitchen Licensing. If you can include a garden with your MEHKO, count me in.