Each year a handful of restaurants or organizations serving food in Lucas County have food-safety violations so severe that they are forced to temporarily close by the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department.
Many more voluntarily shut until they clean up and rectify critical violations that could lead to food contamination or illness, such as storing food at improper temperatures, presence of pests, stacking raw meat above salads and poor handwashing, said Eric Zgodzinski, Health Commissioner of the department.
Then there are eateries on the other end of the spectrum like Kengo Sushi and Yakitori in Toledo.
The upscale downtown restaurant has had eight health inspections over the past three years, including three in 2022, without a single critical or non-critical violation, according to county health records.
So, what’s the secret? Contrary to what many restaurant operators would ever consider, owner Kengo Kato welcomes health inspectors to come see his operations and provide feedback on what he could do better.
“Health inspectors are very underappreciated in the restaurant industry,” said Mr. Kato, a New York native who opened 26-seat Kengo Sushi about seven years ago. The restaurant, along with the adjacent noodle shop, is located at 38 S. Saint Clair.
Mr. Kato said he made a point, even before opening the restaurant, of visiting the health department to get input on handling and processing food safely.
He said from that time, he has stayed in close contact with inspectors to ensure that the restaurant in not only in compliance but excelling at storing and preparing food in the safest possible way.
“We really work together closely,” he said.
Every year the health department’s 12 inspectors conduct about 2,200 inspections of food businesses and organizations. They range from food trucks and pre-kindergarten schools to fast-food stores and yacht-club grills.
In the vast majority of cases, owners and managers are cooperative, Mr. Zgodzinski said. The department realizes that these owners, often of small shops and businesses, are trying to please their customers, keep people working and pay their mortgages and kids’ tuitions, he said.
The department also acknowledges that restaurants post-coronavirus are dealing with staff shortages and high turnover that can see employees comprehensively trained in food safety leave for another job at any time, Mr. Zgodzinski said.
So when inspectors come calling – and they’re charged with visiting a restaurant or food-service business once or twice a year depending on its risk classification – they are liable to be more patient with violations like cracked floor tiles that are tough to clean than a cockroach or fly infestation, he said.
Those directly endanger the public health and immediate remediation is required.
For example, after Mancy’s Steakhouse at 953 Phillips Ave. was hit with 20 critical violations and 32 non-critical during an Aug. 3 inspection, the family-run landmark immediately went to work cleaning surfaces and storing its beef stock more carefully so that most of the violations had been resolved for an August 23 reinspection.
The Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen store at 3214 Secor was hit during a Sept. 6 inspection with 9 critical violations and 15 non-critical, according to a health department report. Those included not having a person in charge of food safety in the store during the inspection, using a handwashing sink for other purposes and storing raw chicken in a cooler above a container of pickles.
Another violation was having a can of insect spray in a food preparation area vs. the required approach for pests of getting treatment from a licensed pest-control company, the report noted.
In some instances, food on premise has to be discarded because it wasn’t stored at the proper temperature, Mr. Zgodzinski said.
That was the case during an inspection on August 29 of Awesome Wings at 1488 W. Sylvania Ave., where raw chicken and other food in a walk-in cooler was discarded after being found above the 41-degree or lower requirement to inhibit pathogen growth, according to the report.
A man who identified himself as a manager of Awesome Wings said during a brief phone call with a Blade reporter that the location has no food safety issues before hanging up.
What puts a restaurant at risk of being temporarily closed is a refusal by management to cooperate with the department to remediate, Mr. Zgodzinski said. That happens very infrequently, he said.
Removing rats or roaches can be attained by hiring a licensed pest control company to take care of the violation, he said.
Though inspectors typically are happy to advise companies on how to operate safer, enforcement of codes protecting the public health is their primary role, Mr. Zgodzinski said.
To take safety consultation a step further, the department is considering hiring a designated trainer to assist companies with their food-safety needs, he said. That hire would have to be part of the department’s next budget, he said.
Mr. Kato said Kengo Sushi has sought out the department’s help in organizing shelving and better ways of sanitizing equipment – advice that was freely given.
For Mr. Kato, food safety has been made a part of the restaurant’s culture every bit as much as excellence in cuisine and service.
To that end, 10 of Kengo Sushi’s 15 employees have completed ServSafe training to become certified in food-protection processes and management, Mr. Kato said.
“We’re always concerned about food safety. As a chef, it’s something you lose sleep over,” he said.
First Published October 2, 2022, 12:30 p.m.
