Food operations in 2 city buildings failed inspection
Follow-up visits show violations corrected
As Boston health inspectors handed out violation notices at restaurants across the city, the sandwiches and salads dished up under their own noses at inspections headquarters and at City Hall were also being prepared in unsafe conditions, according to city records.
Inspectors found recently that a restaurant at the home of the Inspectional Services Division at 1010 Massachusetts Ave., as well as a cafe in City Hall that has been visited by the mayor, violated some of the most serious public health codes.
Cafe 1010, located on the first floor of the Mass Ave. building, flunked inspections earlier this month and in December by failing to keep hot foods at 140 degrees or warmer and cold foods at 40 degrees or cooler. Both violations are considered critical because they could cause food poisoning. They had been corrected when inspectors followed up last week.
The City Hall Coffee Stop Cafe was cited in September for storing spinach pie at too cool a tem perature and storing raw eggs alongside tomatoes. An inspector also noted that an employee did not use soap during hand-washing. Each violation, also considered critical, had been corrected by the time a follow-up inspection was held a few weeks later.
Both facilities are run by contractors. But the irony that the city found serious violations in its own facilities frequented by municipal employees and the public was not lost on some observers.
"You would think it would be a deterrent that they're right in the middle of the city offices, but it's clearly not for some places," said Boston food safety consultant Lisa Berger.
"Everybody knows they get inspected by the health department, yet why do places get in trouble?" she said. "It's amazing to me how some of them can't quite grasp the seriousness of it sometimes, even with the threat of closure."
Dorchester activist Colman Herman said the violations at a restaurant frequented by inspectors is an indication that the Inspectional Services Department is not up to the task of ensuring that all restaurants in the city are clean.
"It's interesting that Inspectional Services has trouble keeping their own house in order, he said.
Assistant Inspectional Services Commissioner Tom Goodfellow said the city investigates all health complaints in addition to conducting annual inspections of all restaurants - a system that he says works well, even if problems are found in facilities contracted by the city.
"Any violation they have will be dealt with fairly, just like we do with anybody else," he said. "My job is to ensure that anywhere in the city of Boston you eat, I want to know that you're OK. I think we're doing a very good job."
The city's surprise annual inspections are supposed to act as a deterrent. The idea behind the system is that because restaurant operators never know when inspectors will show up, they have an incentive to be on their toes at all times. The city also posts the results of inspections on its website.
But the Globe this month reported that Fenway Park had failed food health inspections on Red Sox opening day, with food stored at improper temperatures and dirty food preparation counters. And a review of publicly available inspection reports shows that hundreds of restaurants regularly fail to meet basic health codes, despite regular, unannounced inspections.
The city owns the Roxbury office complex at 1010 Mass. Ave., which houses Inspectional Services, the Public Health Commission, the fire department's inspection office, and other municipal offices. Several state and community agencies lease space in the building. The restaurant, owned by Ananya Chakraberty, according to city records, leases its space. A manager of the restaurant declined to comment about the health inspections and said the owner was not available.
At City Hall Coffee Stop Cafe, manager John Moreira said he works to avoid any problems.
"If I get a critical, I try to fix it as soon as possible," said Moreira.
Moreira said that Mayor Thomas M. Menino has dropped in at least once in the last year, but Moreira was not in at the time. "You keep your eyes open (for potential violations). Sometimes you miss something, but you try to catch up as soon as possible."
Among those calling for improvements in the inspection system citywide is City Council member John Tobin, who said he recently has eaten at Cafe 1010 and the Coffee Stop Cafe.
"Everything looked clean, but you never know, that's what inspections are for," he said. He expressed disappointment that the eateries in city buildings were found in violation.
"In politics, when you run for office, you have a district, and the first thing they tell you is protect your base," he said. "It seems like that should be home base."
Tobin suggested using a grading system for restaurants.
"It's kind of like a scarlet letter. If your place is clean and up to code you have nothing to worry about. You've got people going in and eating, and people can get really sick if they're eating in a place infested with rodents or people aren't washing their hands or going by basic procedures to keep food fresh and the condition sanitary."
Herman, who has filed restaurant complaints in the past, said the city's inspection method is not effective.
"They go in and inspect a restaurant and cite it, and then they go in the next day and everything's fine," Herman said. "Then they do it again next year, and it seems the restaurants know this."
John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com. 