One Darien restaurant received its second “C” rating in a row, the worst grade in town Health Department’s A/B/C ratings system, in the inspection reports released Thursday by the Darien Health Department.
Town Health Department ratings certificates are supposed to be displayed prominently, like this one at the Frosty Bear Cafe at Darien Library.
The department released nine health inspection reports on Thursday. Aside from the inspection resulting in a “C,” there were three “B” ratings and five “A” ratings.
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):
—Bistro Baldanza — 1020 Post Road — Nov. 16 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 88
—Darien Seafood Market — 1941 Post Road — Oct. 18 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 93
—Duchess Restaurant — 306 Post Road — Nov. 29 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 93
—Jennifer’s Kitchen at White Bridge— 284 Tokeneke Road — Nov. 15 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 93
—Meatball & Company — 20 Center St. — Nov. 29 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 92
—Scena Wine Bar and Restaurant — 1077 Post Road — Dec. 2 — Town Rating: C — State Score: 83 — Inspector’s Remarks: “No documentation of training; large salad & dessert Bain Marie not cold holding (product temp bottom at 47 to 48 degrees and top of unit was 45 degrees); food uncovered in line fridge and walk-in [freezer?]; not sanitizing slicer (soap only) and no sanitizer in bucket on the line (on the floor); several utensils stored unclean above three-bay [sink] (tongs, labels); labeling violations remain, shelfish tags not kept with product in walk-in [freezer?]; cutting board poor repair and large red saw not NSF; prep sink faucet missing. Chef on the line says he’s using the three-bay for washing product; cell phone on the line.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Removing all the food from the unit not cold holding … unable to provide invoice to service or repair. Training emphasis was discussed with manager, romaine lettuce (Andy Boy [brand]) from Salinas, California, do not use per FDA recommendations. Glove use and hand washing … not hand washing after touching chemicals, only glove changes. Previous rating [also a “C”] not posted.”
Inspector’s remarks and comments part of the Dec. 2 inspection report for Scena Wine Bar and Restaurant
—Shake Shack— 1340 Post Road — Nov. 29 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 98 (The Health Department said on Dec. 12 that the earlier state score of 96 for this inspection was revised.)
—Ten Twenty Post Oyster Bar and Bistro — 1020 Post Road — Nov. 16 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 92
—Tengda Asian Bistro — Goodwives Shopping Center, 25 Old Kings Hwy. North — Nov. 16 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 89
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:
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.
- Our previous article showing restaurant inspection ratings (Nov. 21)
- STAMFORD online health inspection results
- NORWALK online health inspection ratings (explanation of ratings)
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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.