One Darien restaurant received the lowest grade, “C,” from the town health department in the latest inspection report (there was only one) released this week.
Town Health Department ratings certificates are supposed to be displayed prominently, like this one at the Frosty Bear Cafe at Darien Library.
Keep in mind that a food-serving establishment with a history of good ratings may occasionally get a poor inspection rating, occasionally the best do, and every restaurant normally gets a few things wrong.
Here’s an alphabetical list of the most recently released health inspection results (an explanation of how this list is put together is immediately below it):
Image from the Darien H.D. website
In the last eight inspections of Hibachi Sushi Ya over the past 12 months, four “C” ratings have resulted.
— Hibachi Sushi Ya — 111 Old Kings Hwy. North — July 3 — Town Rating: C — State Score: 87 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Moldy sauce stored in walk-in cooler: discarded; produce not washed prior to cutting; food containers stored on floor (walk-in cooler, preparation area, storage); bare hands used to prepare RTE [ready-to-eat] foods; scoops with no handles used for dispensing soy sauce; multiple food contact surfaces unclean; labeling issues in kitchen; door gaskets on sushi cooler in poor repair; cardboard carrier used for condiments at hibachi; multiple non-food contact surfaces unclean (equipment, shelving); water pooling in sushi cooling unit; floors throughout unclean; broken, missing floor-to-wall junction tiles; grease buildup on hood; walls throughout unclean; ceiling in preparation area bulging and flaking; inadequate lighting in preparation area; dumpster area, back of establishment unclean.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Establishment very unclean. Discussion about unused equipment/utensils being removed from premises. Rice: 162, 170 [degrees]. Soup: 186 [degrees]. Sushi log kept and up-to-date. Dish[washing] machine OK. Removed and discarded plastic figurines that shoot water at hibachi tables.”
Inspectors’ comments and remarks sections from the July 3 inspection of Hibachi Sushi Ya.
Dates link to the food establishment’s inspection report referenced here (when available, sometimes it takes a while to get posted online), and Darien’s own A/B/C ratings link to a Web page showing several of the restaurant’s recent inspection ratings.
For restaurants and other food-serving establishments rated “C,” and for some others of interest to the public (like schools) additional information is given. When we provide that information here, then words within brackets (“[ ]”) have been added for clarity by Darienite.com; semicolons (“;”) separate individual comments by the inspectors. Each comment separated by semicolons is about a particular violation that triggers a deduction of one or more points from a perfect state score of 100.
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See also:
- Our previous article showing restaurant inspection ratings (July 4)
- STAMFORD online health inspection results
- NORWALK online health inspection ratings (explanation of ratings)
You can find the past several inspection ratings under the Darien ratings system for food-serving establishments along with copies of inspection reports, including state health code scores on this website.
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How Darien’s Food-Serving Places Are Rated
Restaurants in town are rated under the Darien Health Department’s own A/B/C ratings system. Health inspectors also use the state health code regulations to score restaurants, with a perfect score set at 100, and demerits (of 1 to 4 points each) for various code violations.
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The Darien system takes into account problems that are ongoing, so a restaurant scoring higher than others on the state scale may actually get a lower score on the Darien scale.
The “A”, “B” and “C” letter grades a restaurant gets in its last inspection will be prominent on these certificates, which must be posted where customers can see them, and you can use your phone and the “QR” code to the right of the letter grade to get to the department’s ratings website for more information.
Any establishment actually deemed unsafe can be closed by the town Health Department until violations are fixed. Town Health Director David Knauf says that has never happened in the time he’s been with the department.
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