What’s in a Grade? Reporting on Report Cards

KitchenBitch salutes Mayor Bloomberg for finally implementing the long overdue restaurant grading system but, while the FDA and USDA continue to rule with a snap bracelet (the first step toward a big stick is the Food Modernization Act which still remains stalwart in the Senate—they must all be Jewish and observing the high holidays), questions surrounding the simplicity of reporting over precision remain a hot topic.

The proverbial A-F grading system classically demonstrates achievement or failure in shades of grey in a way everyone can relate to. But is this enough? Regardless of how health conscious New Yorkers may claim to be, many are too busy (read: lazy) to scour the NYCDHMH’s website for restaurant inspection results and decipher the consumer unfriendly yet more descriptive points system (health and safety violations earn a restaurant points so less is better).

The New York City chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association believes a restaurant can be deemed safe enough solely based upon a pass/fail system.

“We feel a restaurant is either sanitary enough to serve the public, or it is not, and if it is not, action should be taken,” says Andrew Rigie, director of operations for the New York City chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association.

What if we put educating our nation’s children on the same scale? Where’s the incentive to strive for an “A”? Is the safety of the food we eat not as important to be graded on a higher level? Mr. Rigie must have never read Kitchen Confidential, one of many books, articles and documentaries chronicling the disdainful practices of some of our coveted eateries.

The current points system, which is used to derive the letter grades, should be plastered on the front door of every restaurant over its much simpler and sometimes misleading alphabetic counterpart. This gives knowledgeable power to the consumer to know what’s up and make an educated choice.

KitchenBitch is on a mission: to garner the same fervor for food safety among New Yorkers as is generated Yelping around for the latest hip, delicious restaurant where a drugged up celebutante was spotted “eating” at last Thursday.

Bloomberg Must Be a Fan of Kitchen Bitch

Restaurants take note: your report card will be plastered on the proverbial refrigerator for all to see. When I started this blog over a year ago, one of my first posts discussed LA’s restaurant grading system and how, after many hair sandwiches, I couldn’t believe NYC had nothing more than some inspection info buried deep within the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s website. No more. Hopefully the salt wizard will back this one too.

“Restaurants will be graded on food safety starting at the end of July, city officials said Tuesday. The NYC Health Department announced it has drawn up plans to begin assigning grades of A, B or C to the city’s over 24,000 restaurants.

Restaurants with 0 to 13 “violation points” will receive an A. Scores of 14 to 27 points are a B, and 28 or more results in a C.

…According to the NYC Department of Health, Los Angeles’ implementation of letter grades resulted in twice as many restaurants receiving the highest food safety standards: 40 to 80 percent.”

A pseudo-fast food, surprisingly popular Indian restaurant around the corner from my apartment, Curry in a Hurry, closed down for 1 week last month because they failed their food safety inspection. Had there been a “C” grade posted on the front door, the cheap prices would not be enough to keep grossed out customers from deciphering where violation points were accumulated (was it the curry or the hurry?)

Finally, a way for New Yorkers to gain some control over the food we eat and a lot more accountability for restaurant owners. No more blaming poor regulation for rat infestations in Taco Bell or the painfully indifferent “my workers wear hair nets” response I once received from the manager at Lyric Diner after finding and clearly displaying to him a short, curly dark hair in my chicken wrap. Sorry Mr. Rude Dude, they clearly don’t.

For those of you who will continue to frequent restaurants where the food and environment reminds you of a gym sock, enjoy the pleasure of building up immunity to various food-borne bacteria. For the rest of us, let’s embrace the power of choice.

The Golden Apple Awards

So here’s the closest thing I found to LA’s restaurant grading policy. The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene presents the Golden Apple Excellence in Food Safety Award every year. Basically, it recognizes restaurants that have consistently maintained excellent food safety practices for at least 2 consecutive inspections, and they receive a fancy schmancy certificate and a gold star on the bulletin board in the form of a door decal to proudly display to all who enter. Here’s a link to past winners (found much easier on cititour.com and not on the NYCDHMH website.. a perfect display of city tax dollars hard at work, not surprisingly):

http://cititour.com/NYC_Restaurants/apples.php

Granted the last time they gave out the awards—at least to my knowledge after heaving googling—was 2006, I was pleasantly surprised to find my favorite, quaint, NYC originals like Subway, McDonald’s, and Dunkin Donuts made the hit-list.

Are you kidding me?! These are among the winners for best food safety practices in the 5 boroughs? What about everything we learned from Fast Food Nation and Supersize Me? What about the overpriced and super-chic but delicious spots that populate the city more than gyms do?

There are some great places (I’ve heard of but have yet to try) that made the grade like Café Palermo, Lamarca, and Post House. The pitiful lack of sushi restaurants on this list makes Cocina de Lina (aka my kitchen) the most appetizing place to eat at these days.

So what I gather from this is that our society—in terms of food safety at least—is on a downward spiral, and fast food eateries are continuing to serve the battered and deep fried, apparently most hygienic cake. Take that, Upton Sinclair. Have no fear, though; I will continue to brave the finest—and not so finest—NYC restaurants for the sake of my readers.

For the nerds interested in more details and how the NYCDHMH chooses eateries:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/inspect/goldenapple_brochure.pdf

Public Hygiene Grading Policy for Restaurants.. Why Doesn’t NYC Have this Yet?

As the #1 market in the country for.. well, everything, the leader in banishing smoking and trans-fats from our restaurants (my lungs and thighs thank you, Mr. Mayor and CSPI), it only makes sense that the NYC Department of Health step up their game and catch up to a transparency policy in Los Angeles County. The ordinance requires a public posting of restaurant hygiene grades (A, B, or C) based on the LA County Department of Heath Services inspections. The grades—starting from 100—deduct points for improper practice in a range of specific practices such as food temperatures, serving and kitchen area handling and preparation, equipment cleaning, employee sanitary practices, and surveillance of vermin. Then it’s back to the old-school grading system: cumulative points are deducted from a starting score of 100. So a score in the 90’s is an A, in the 80’s is a B, in the 70’s is a C, and for a score below 70 they call your parents and demand an immediate change of practices, which, depending on the severity, could include suspension of the owner’s health permit and closing the restaurant.

Best of all, the ordinance requires every restaurant to proudly—or not so proudly—display their test scores on the proverbial refrigerator: the front door. So when I enter the hair sandwich deli or the pee-pee potato gourmet cafe, at least I know what I’m getting myself into.

Plus, a down economy is the perfect time for such an ordinance to make its way into the City of 10,000 Delis to weed out the bad and allow the best to stay afloat when they truly deserve to, at least in terms of hygiene.

And now with a change in administration, hopefully the FDA will get more power so that they could, I don’t know, have the ability to actually do something about the disgraceful food safety practices some US of A companies have displayed. Therefore, Mr. Mayor, I will consider re-electing you for that coveted and unprecedented third term if you keep firm to your health-conscious platform and lower my taxes. Well, at least keep the fur out of my food.

Philippe?! Really?!

If you think the fancy schmancy “have to be hospital sanitary” restaurants are nothing to worry about, then feel free to type in your favorite spot at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Restaurant Inspection Info link:

http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/index.do?method=goldenAppleList

I couldn’t believe it.. my favorite over-priced-but-sooo-good pan-Asian splurge, Philippe, barely passed their inspections. Before, just thinking about their chicken satay would make my mouth water; now I imagine it a scene out of Seinfeld, where Jerry goes to his girlfriend’s father’s restaurant and can’t bare to eat the food after witnessing the father, Poppy, casually leave the bathroom without washing his hands.

I can understand some hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the middle of nowhere, Square State, USA having little incentive to prevent a poor hygiene problem, but it’s unacceptable for a restaurant that hosts celebrity events and is featured on The Real Housewives of New York City (yes, I watch too much reality TV, it’s a guilty pleasure), let alone for the Big Apple in general. I doubt I’m the only one to have the recession special hair sandwich everywhere I go and am definitely not the last to fall victim to it.

Although, while on the subject of Philippe, I do have one quib about their bartenders. My last visit, about a month ago, while waiting for the rest of my party to arrive, I made a bee-line for the bar to order my “only when I’m feeling fabulous” drink: a cucumber martini. The bartender, as to not degrade herself by looking me straight in the eye, glances in my general direction and barks, “Sorry, doesn’t exist!” and quickly turned away to take someone else’s order. She must not have gotten the memo because when I ordered the same drink a mere few days earlier at Union Prime, the bartender was having a 15 minute conversation with me about how I prefer it made and such. I don’t overpay for a drink at Philippe for the bartender to belittle me. To avoid a conflict, I ordered a Ketel and Soda instead. I’m glad she knew how to make that with her middle school education.