Stag?prepared feasts aid local Meals on Wheels

G&G Supermarkets' holiday dinners will offer many customers their first taste of foods prepared by the Council on Aging's Stag?gourmet food service.

Stag?— which rhymes with "Taj" in Taj Mahal — is selling prepared meals at a half-dozen supermarkets and other outlets in Sonoma and Marin counties. All proceeds benefit the council's Meals on Wheels program.

Charles Lindner, the council's executive chef, said he began the food service more than a year ago to raise more money to improve the quality of meals delivered to senior citizens.

G&G "really helped get it off the ground," Lindner said. The company's stores sell Stag?meals, and this year Lowe asked Lindner to prepare side dishes for the roughly 250 holiday dinners it will sell.

Lowe said working with Stag?was an easy choice once he tasted Lindner's cooking.

"He is first-class, top-notch," Lowe said. "He always uses the best ingredients and settles for nothing less."

Marrianne McBride, president and CEO of the Council on Aging, suggested the dinners will provide shoppers a unique opportunity.

"While you're doing your Thanksgiving shopping," she said, "you're feeding a senior as well."