‘C’ Rating, the Worst, for One Darien Restaurant in Latest Health Inspections

One Darien restaurant received a “C” rating, the worst in the town’s A-B-C ratings system, in the 16 most recent health inspection reports released by Darien Health Department.

Eleven of the other local restaurants inspected from Sept. 21 to Oct. 3 received an “A” in the town’s A-B-C ratings system, four others got a “B.”

Here’s an alphabetical list of the most recently released health inspection results (an explanation for each part of the list, including links, is just below the list).

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 (an explanation of how this list is put together is immediately below it):

SCHOOLS

—Hindley School  — 10 Nearwater Lane — Sept. 24 — Town Rating: A  — State Score: 98 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Food items stored on floor in walk-in cooler. (Corrected.)” — Inspector’s Comments: “Excellent inspection. Cold holding OK. Hot-hold chicken (out of oven) 213 degrees; hot dog, 186 degrees; pizza, 172 degrees. Case of adulterated oranges came in by delivery. Marked ‘Do Not Use’ and put aside in refrigeration (prior to inspection). Proper thawing in prep sink observed (cool, running water).”

 

—Royle School — 133 Mansfield Ave. — Oct. 1 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 98 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Cracked food container in walk-in cooler. Discard.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Ribs/veggies/pizza [at temperatures of] 162/201/185. Proper sanitizing at three-bay [sink]. Glove[s] and hand washing observed.”

 

OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS

—Chipotle Mexican Grill — 71 Post Road — Oct. 3 — Town Rating: C — State Score: 89 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Steak hot holding in steam table ranging from 115 to 140 degrees–discarded; small food container stored unclean; cutting board gouged and stained. Replace; waste receptacle needed at ware wash hand sink; waste receptacle needs to be covered in ladies room; dumpster lids not closed; walls in storage area downstairs unclean.” — Inspector’s comments: “Temps: whole chicken breasts in warming cabinet (163 [degrees]), pico (40), guacamole (38), walk-in cooler item all [less than] 40 [degrees], rice (167, 158 [degrees], chicken in steam table (137 [degrees]), pork (142 [degrees]). No new employees, no sick workers reported or complained. Steam table able to maintain temperatures. Produce washed. Hand washing and glove use observed. Proper sanitizing observed at three-bay [sink]. All chicken cooking on grill temped [temperature taken] by worker before removing and placing into warming cabinet. No customers being served at time of inspection (POS [point-of-sale] malfunction). Steak in question discarded by manager. Discussion about stirring items in steam table more often [to] try and gain conformity with temperatures to be above 135 [degrees].”

 

—Darien Butcher Shop  — 13 Grove St. — Oct. 2 — Town Rating: A  — State Score: 96

—Embody Fitness Gourmet  — 380 Heights Road — Sept. 24 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 93

—Genji at Whole Foods Market  — 150 Ledge Road — Oct. 1 — Town Rating: A  — State Score: 96

—The Goose American Bistro and Bar  — 972 Post Road — Sept. 28 — Town Rating: A  — State Score: 94

—Michael Joseph’s Catering  — 1405 Post Road — Sept. 21 — Town Rating: A  — State Score: 93

—Noroton Yacht Club  — 23 Baywater Dr. — Sept. 28 — Town Rating: A  — State Score: 93

—Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church  — 1864 Post Road — Sept. 27 — Town Rating: A  — State Score: 97 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Bottom shelf of reach-in freezer needs to be cleaned; no paper towels available at hand sink–corrected.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Meatloaf, 170 [degrees], potatoes, 199 [degrees]. New dish[washing] machine, tiles in ware wash. Sanitizing, hand-washing and glove use in abundance. Solid inspection.”

 

—Scena Wine Bar & Restaurant — 1077 Post Road — Oct. 1 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 87

—Sushi by Jay at Stop & Shop  — Goodwives Shopping Center, 25 Old Kings Hwy. North — Oct. 1 — Town Rating: A  — State Score: 97

—Tengda Asian Bistro — Goodwives Shopping Center, 25 Old Kings Hwy. North — Sept. 26 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 90

—Vavala’s Delicatessan/Caterer — 156 Heights Road — Sept. 26 — Town Rating: B  — State Score: 90

—The Waters Edge at Giovanni’s  — 2748 Post Road — Sept. 24 — Town Rating: A  — State Score: 92

—Whole Foods Market  — 150 Ledge Road — Sept. 21 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 90

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 (Oct. 1)
  
• 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.

• Editor’s note: Individual municipal health departments use the same state health code, but each may administer it with its own particular emphasis, so even if you compare state scores under the same system from town to town, you won’t necessarily get an exact idea of how two restaurants compare. We recommend considering these scores as a rough guide to get an impression of an establishment’s carefulness with health risks over time.

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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.

 

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.