Hizzoner’s words could come back to bite him.
Mayor Bloomberg had some tough talk about restaurant grades, saying New Yorkers should only eat at eateries that receive an “A” rating from city Health Department inspectors.
It turns out, his own go-to spot doesn’t make the grade.
Viand Cafe, which Bloomberg has called his “favorite restaurant,” posted a grade of “pending,” after receiving violations during an inspection Monday. And like many restaurateurs, the manager at Viand Cafe says the grading system is unreasonable.
“Restaurants have been hit hard with these fines,” said Angel Pelengaris. “It’s not fair,” he said of the letter grading system, which began in 2010.
Viand Cafe boasted an “A” until Monday, when it was slapped with several “critical” violations by the Health Department, including storing food at hazardous temperatures overnight. Pelengaris says the refrigerator wasn’t working properly that day, something he says had never happened before. “It was bad timing,” he said of the surprise inspection.
Pelengaris says he hasn’t spoken to the mayor about the grading system. “We try not to approach him and talk to him about that kind of thing,” he said, adding that Bloomberg hadn’t been to the restaurant in about a month. “It’s frustrating but what can I do?”
Viand Cafe’s inspection was first reported by Gothamist.com.
Bloomberg made his comments about the restaurant grades in a speech Tuesday night to a biopharmaceutical industry gala.
“Those that don’t want to clean up their kitchen, I know why they’re bitching, but I would suggest, don’t eat in a restaurant unless they have an ‘A,’ ” he said.
“Restaurants that get fined don’t like it . . . but it is also true when we put in the grading of the restaurants, the cases of salmonella at our restaurants went down.”
Andrew Moesel, of the New York Restaurant Association, said the system has imposed costly fines for ticky-tack infractions.
“We hope that the mayor’s recent experience with his favorite restaurant will force him to eat his own words,” said Moesel. “Many low grades result from minor infractions not even related to food, but restaurants must suffer the consequences anyway.”
But Bloomberg spokeswoman Samantha Levine said, “Restaurants have had nearly three years to get used to the grading system . . . More and more restaurants are doing just that and receiving A grades.”
