One Darien restaurant received a “C” grade, the lowest of the three town Health Department ratings, in the most recently released health inspections.
In one other inspection report released by the Health Department, another food serving establishment in town received an “A.” The inspections were conducted on Dec. 15 and 19.
Most Recent Inspection Results
Town Health Department ratings certificates are supposed to be displayed prominently, like this one at the Frosty Bear Cafe at Darien Library.
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):
—Bertucci’s Kitchen, Bar — 54 Post Road — Dec. 19 — Town Raging: C — State Score: 84 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Grilled chicken covered and cooling in pizzza low boy [an under-the-counter refrigerator] at 130 degrees, cooked two hours ago (per chef), piccata sauce covered in low boy saute area [refrigerator] at 73 degrees: cooked at 9:30 a.m. (per chef), red sauce in walk-in stacked and covered at 121 degrees; no food thermometer available for saute line chef cooking raw chicken; rolls on sheet pan stored close to the floor under [c]over[?] (approx[imately] 10 inches off the floor) and dessert items stored unprotected under counter; unclean knife in storage rack: saute station; hand sink leaking into a bucket on the line; floor tiles broken in ware wash: poor repair and downstairs paint peeling off floor; peeling paint on the ceiling near walk-ins [coolers] downstairs (moisture issue?); no [venting] in the employees’ restrooms downstairs.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Dessert and salad [refrigerator] at 63 degrees during inspection.”
Image from Darien Health Department Inspections Website
Part of the Dec. 19 inspection report for Bertucci’s
—Mather Center, Darien Senior Program — 2 Renshaw Road — Dec. 15 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 96 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Cups without handles dispensing bulk granular food product; make sanitizer for the kitchen area: not available.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Looks good!”
Image from Darien Health Department Inspections Website
Part of the Dec. 15 health inspection report for the Mather Center Darien Senior Center Program
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.
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See also:
- Our previous article showing restaurant inspection ratings (Dec. 14)
- Darien Health Department Starts Letter Grades for Food Service Inspections
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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 like this (“;”) separate individual comments by the inspectors. Each comment is about a particular violation that triggers a deduction of one or more points from a perfect state score of 100.
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.
You can find the past several inspection ratings under the Darien ratings system for food-serving establishments on this website, and now you can also find copies of inspection reports, including state health code scores in the same place.
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.