Two Darien food-serving establishments got a “C” rating, the worst in the town A-B-C ratings system, in the latest health inspection reports released by the town Health Department. Three other establishments were rated “A”, and two “B.”
The inspections were done from Feb. 21 to 27.
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):
—Blue Wave Taco — 205 Post Road — Feb. 22 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 99 (This report was noted in an update in last week’s article on health reports.)
Report from Feb. 22 inspection of Blue Wave Taco.
—Center Street Public House — 22 Center St. — Feb. 24 — Town Rating: C — State Score: 76 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Cheeses, tomatoes [on] top of bain marie, 51 to 56 degrees; food on floor in walk-in cooler; a lot of bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food; hand sink used as dump sink; interior of ice machine not clean; hot water at hand sinks in bathrooms at 136 degrees, shall be no more than 115 degrees; unlabeled chemical spray bottle at bar; bag of pork thawing at room temperature in basement; top coming down on chest freezer in basement; milk crates used as shelving; shelving rusty in beer walk-in cooler; faucet leaking at three-bay sink; ceiling tiles dusty in kitchen; light shields missing in kitchen; soda gun nozzles not clean; clothing hanging from food shelves (corrected).”
Image from Darien Health Dept. website
Town health inspector’s report for Center Street Public House on Feb. 24. (The inspector wrote out the report, which Darienite.com has quoted; the report as uploaded to the Health Dept. website may have slight wording differences.)
Image from Darien Health Dept. website
Zotos International has racked up an unusual number of “C” ratings — the worst — with “C” ratings in five of the last six inspections.
—The Cho Bop Inc. — 1015 Post Road — Feb. 21 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 97
—Darien Doughnut — 370 Heights Road — Feb. 24 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 89
—Fjord Fish Market — 1015 Post Road — Feb. 22 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 99
—The Melting Pot — 14 Grove St. — Feb. 23 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 95
—Zotos International — 100 Tokeneke Road — Feb. 27 — Town Rating: C — State Score: 87 — Inspector’s Remarks: “Sliced ham in the lower hot-holding unit (turned off) at 130 to 132 degrees and cooked white rice on the counter at 100 degrees (no PH or time controls documented); grilled and blackened chicken at 66 and 71 degrees in the cold holding unit (cooked this morning). Grilled onions and cooked tofu at 49 and 54 degrees in the other cold holding unit on the service line; large sliced ham on the counter cooling (internal temperature near the bone was 2 degrees and outside layer was 122 degrees). Was this ham thawed and reheated properly?; employees must wash hands during task changes. Also, employee touched face with a gloved hand during service; misuse of sink: boiled eggs cooling in the three-bay [sink] and storing a large plastic tub in the hand sink near the sandwich station bain marie; inside of microwave and numerous utensils stored unclean: scoops, tongs, peeler and salad spinner; no soap at the hand sink on the line.” — Inspector’s Comments: “No disclosure or reminder statement on menu/placard serving raw fish. Salmon delivered today from Pagano’s (not frozen) and head chef is unsure if parasite destruction parameters have been met to serve this fish raw.”
Image from Health Dept. website
Part of report from inspection of Zotos International on Feb. 27
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.
_________
See also:
- Our previous article showing restaurant inspection ratings (Feb. 26)
_________
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.
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.
_________
Like this article? …
- Sign up for the Darienite.com newsletter.
- Like Darienite.com on Facebook.
- Follow Darienite.com on Twitter.
_________
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 along with copies of inspection reports, including state health code scores on this website.
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.