Three Darien Eateries Receive Worst Grade in Latest Darien Health Inspection Reports

Three Darien food-serving establishments received the lowest rating (“C”) — including one that received two “C” grades and was threatened with being shut down if it didn’t clean up some parts of its act in 24 and 48 hours — in the latest town food inspection reports released by Darien Health Department.

One other establishment received a middling grade of “B” and four others each got the highest rating (“A”).

One of the inspections was conducted Aug. 2, the rest between Aug. 11 and 16.

Most Recent Inspection Results

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 — 54 Post Road — Aug. 2 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 97

Darien Diner — 275 Post Road — Aug. 16 — Town Rating: C — State Score: 81 — Inspector’s Remarks: “New employees working in the kitchen, no documentation of training; end of custom cold-holding case not maintaining product temperature (meatloaf, meatballs and cheese at 50 degrees); large batches cooling covered from previous day (two large tubs of home fries at 53 to 54 [degrees] and rice at 50 degrees); thermometer missing in custom cold-holding case; large batch pooling of shelled eggs; food stored on the floor (walk-in freezer); using personal phone outside with gloves on: entry back into kitchen with a glove change or hand wash; misuse of hand sinks on the line (dumping/rinsing utensils); no covered waste in ladies restroom or employee restroom; back door open upon entry to kitchen.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Plumber called for leak at three-bay [sink], should be on site today per assistant manager, labels needed, also dumpster lid discussion with manager. Training template (state form) and outline of correct cooling procedures left for review and to implement staff training.”

 

• Duchess Family Restaurant of Darien — 306 Post Road — Aug. 14 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 94
• Estia’s Back Porch Cafe — 1020 Post Road — Aug. 14 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 93
• Fisherman’s Net — 11 Old Kings Hwy. N. — Aug. 11 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 92
• Hibachi Sushi Ya — 111 Old Kings Hwy. N. — Aug. 14 — Town Rating: C — State Score: 75 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Raw [food stored] over ready-to-eat foods in walk-in [cooler or freezer]; no hand washing between tasks. No hand washing observed from employees coming from outside; rinsing hands with disposable gloves worn; bleach solution for sanitizing not evident in prep area sanitizing buckets; knife not sanitized after washing (raw chicken); several pieces of equipment unclean; unclean hand sinks; bleach sanitizer to strong, greater than 200 ppm [parts per million] in three sanitizer buckets; hose at three-bay sink has no back flow preventer; several knives stored between equipment at cook line; storage shelving throughout kitchen unclean; leak at three-bay sink (prep area); fruit flies present; floors unclean at ware wash.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Hand washing and sanitizing discussed and addressed immediately with owner. Requesting an exterminating invoice for next inspection.”

• Planet Pizza of Darien — 882 Post Road — Aug. 11 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 93
• Tengda Asian Bistro — FIRST OF TWO INSPECTIONS THIS PERIOD —Goodwives Shopping Center, 25 Old Kings Hwy. N. — Aug. 7 — Town Rating: C — State Score: 76 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Raw foods stored over RTE [ready-to-eat] foods in walk-in cooler; food containers stored on floor in walk in Cooler and freezer; no hand washing observed; wiping cloths stored in hand sink; no sanitizer set up in sushi and kitchen areas; utensils, slicer not sanitized after use; food prep cart unclean; slicers in storage unclean; utensils stored unclean; no hot water at sushi hand sink; sushi hand sink unclean; granular not labeled or stored in original containers; knives stored between hand sink and equipment; storage shelving unclean at sushi; shelving in ware wash unclean; strong odor coming from grease trap; three-bay sink leaking; cockroaches present; fruit flies present; floors unclean; heavy grease buildup on hood; walls in ware wash area unclean.” — Inspector’s Comments: “Rating not posted. Sushi rice kept unrefrigerated overnight. Not purchasing sushi grade fish. ESTABLISHMENT ON NOTICE: 24 hours to clean and sanitize kitchen. 48 hours to remedy pest situation and fix plumbing. 48 hours to train entire staff.

 

• Tengda Asian Bistro — SECOND OF TWO INSPECTIONS THIS PERIOD — Goodwives Shopping Center, 25 Old Kings Hwy. N. — Aug. 16 — Town Rating: C — State Score: 86 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Food thermometer not readily available; no thermometer in sushi fish cooling unit; foods left uncovered in storage; no sanitizer at sushi area; slicer/utensils stored unclean; knives stored between equipment; utensils in use in poor condition; wood sushi bowl stored outside; no hot water at ware wash hand sink (water turned off); back door left opened during inspection.” — Inspector’s Comments: “PLUMBING DEFICIENCIES STILL REMAIN, PLUMBER HAS BEEN HIRED. TIM’S PEST CONTROL SERVICED ON AUG. 8 AT 8:55 P.M. Requested documentation from manager regarding raw sushi fish supplier ASAP [as soon as possible]. SHELVING MUST BE REPLACED IN WALK-IN COOLER. (Ordered.) Manager states that one kitchen employee is signed up for online training.”

 

In the list of health inspection results above, information is listed by name, address, date of inspection, Darien rating, state score, inspector’s comments that led to the state rating and additional remarks on the inspection report.

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 (Aug. 10)
• 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 Restaurants 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.

 

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.