Great Government Health Code Ratings Make For Crappy Restaurant Food
Via @WalterOlson, Josh Barro writes at Forbes that "A" restaurant letter grades from the government health police make your food worse, and says he happily dines at the ones that get a "B":
A few weeks ago, I went with a friend to my favorite bar in Midtown (The Bar Downstairs at the Andaz Fifth Avenue). We ordered some cheese to go with our cocktails, and it arrived very cold, like it had just come out of the refrigerator. I was displeased. That is not how you are supposed to serve cheese. But today, I am relieved to learn that I don't need to blame the bar--the cold cheese was the government's fault.The New York Times looks today at what factors go into the scorecards that produce the letter grades that, for about a year, New York City restaurants have been forced to display in their front windows. Some of the rules--you're not supposed to have rat droppings in the kitchen--are uncontroversial. But others are criticized by chefs and restaurateurs as needlessly costly or even interfering with the quality of food.
One has to do with holding and serving temperatures for foods. Certain foods, like terrines and cheese, should be served at room temperature for the best flavor. But this is either prohibited or, in the case of cheese, subject to onerous requirements:
In November, Sardi's sequestered its communal cheese crocks after an inspector questioned its decades-old custom of setting them out on its bars. A consultant told the owners that the city would require employees to check the pots every two hours with a thermometer to make sure they didn't exceed 70 degrees, while meticulously signing a Cheddar-temperature log, then throwing out the cheese no more than six hours after it had last been refrigerated.Cheese isn't the only problem area. Pork is supposed to be cooked to 165 degrees (twenty degrees higher than the USDA guideline!) unless the customer specifically requests otherwise. I'll save you the trouble of investigating: a 165 degree pork chop is terrible. It will be dried out and unpleasant. At home, I cook mine to 140.
I like my meat cooked to "still faintly mooing," yet restaurants afraid of litigious customers and probably the health department sometimes tell me they cannot serve it to me that way. Others just cook the hell out of it and serve me something somebody should be playing with in the NFL.
If you've ever seen a health inspector at a friend's restaurant or cafe -- I have -- it can be a very upsetting thing to behold.
At my favorite cafe, the pinhead from the health department made them move CLOSED, STEEL pour containers of milk to another location. Why? Because they were on the way to the bathroom. "On the way" like the counter with all the food is -- like the whole place is.
And while the shelf where the milk sat was on the other side of a corner you had to turn to go down to the 10-12 foot hallway to the bathroom, do they contend customers heading to the john are flinging pee and poo on their way?
Ridiculous.
I don't want to get sick from eating at a restaurant. But, a restaurant that sickens its customers isn't going to be in business long.
What this "move the milk" mandate was really about: a power-mad pinhead exercising his authority and justifying his job.
My French professors in college were actually French citizens. They complained endlessly about our tasteless cheeses and pasteurization requirements. I've never known anything different, so I suppose my tastebuds are accustomed to the taste of "plastic" (as they once put it).
Perhaps I will take my pirate out to pillage some decent cheese.
Meloni at March 1, 2012 11:52 AM
SP Provisions
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[edited] The interior portion of roasts or steaks is essentially germ-free. Only the surface contacts bacteria. In most cooking methods, the surface temperature is high enough to kill bacteria no matter what the internal temperature.
In ground meat, each particle has been exposed. 160 degrees internal temperature [for a few seconds or more -ag] ensures safety. 155 degrees for 15 seconds or one minute at 150 degrees is also sufficient. The USDA recommendation allows for margin of error.
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So, rare steak or intact roasts (not rolled ones) are fine. Don't stick a knife into a raw one to avoid contaminating the interior, until the surface has cooked. Hamburger needs to be zapped, unless you are quite trusting of the kitchen, chef, and meat supplier.
Andrew_M_Garland at March 1, 2012 11:57 AM
My French professors in college were actually French citizens. They complained endlessly about our tasteless cheeses and pasteurization requirements. I've never known anything different, so I suppose my tastebuds are accustomed to the taste of "plastic" (as they once put it).
If you ever have Brie or Camembert in France and then come home and try our domestic version again, you will understand what they are talking about.
Astra at March 1, 2012 12:49 PM
As a Chinese immigrant, my rule of thumb on eating at Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles is this: quality of food is usually inverse proportional to the health inspector grade. The restaurant catering to Chinese tends not to have too high of letter grade.
BigFire at March 1, 2012 2:49 PM
I don't know that I've ever checked a restaurant's letter grade. I've gotten sick from food exactly once. I was 5 and it was pink chicken, Salmonella is unpleasant, but I am probably the most laid-back person about food safety in the world. I pay less than no attention to expiration dates and a lot of attention to my nose. I'll eat food that's been left out all night without thinking twice. I cook my hamburger and chicken till there's no pink, but past that I like it essentially raw, I even like my bacon pretty rare.
I've never made anyone else sick, either, with the food I cook. The amount of food we needlessly waste in this country is staggering, all for "safety" that's baloney.
momof4 at March 1, 2012 3:15 PM
We now have a professional parasite class, feeding on our tax dollars to make us all miserable.
mpetrie98 at March 2, 2012 4:09 AM
About a decade ago, Syracuse was plagued with Hepatitis-A, which was eventually traced back to drug-abusing, less-than-hygenic restaurant and fast food workers.
Who knew those employees must wash hands signs weren't foolproof? The Health Department forced the use of disposable gloves when touching prepared food and a protracted enforcement campaign eventually stopped the epidemic.
Sometimes this stuff is necessary. Mostly it's the opportunity for graft. How about an automatic waiver if the owner eats the suspect item in front of the inspector?
MarkD at March 2, 2012 6:12 AM
"Who knew those employees must wash hands signs weren't foolproof? The Health Department forced the use of disposable gloves when touching prepared food and a protracted enforcement campaign eventually stopped the epidemic".
Some fast food workers use disposable gloves here in Washington state, but they've obviously not been trained to use them properly, as they routinely prepare food, come take payments, and then go back to the food without ever removing the gloves.
Meloni at March 2, 2012 8:23 AM
The problem may be less that there is a guideline/rule than that no discretion is allowed, and too often would not be used anyway.
There is a fairly sensible rule in one US State that dangerous chemicals in High School chemistry labs should be in a locked cabinet when class is not in progress. One school was heavily fined because a bottle of acid was in an unlocked cabinet. The acid? A bottle of vinegar the teacher had bought and labelled "acetic acid."
John A at March 2, 2012 1:47 PM
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