GITY RESTAURANT

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 2, 2 July 1943, Page 5

GITY RESTAURANT

THREE CHARGES LAID

DIRT AND RATS ALLEGED

Allegations that the proprietor of the '< De Luxe Cafe, 80a Willis Street, conducted his premises in a way that harboured rats and constituted a dan-! ger to health, and that he conducted the cafe without being registered by the city authorities, were made in the Magistrate's Court yesterday afternoon, when Dennis Gerondis faced two charges brought tinder the Health Act and one under regulations passed in April, 1923, providing for the registration of eating-houses. Evidence was given by an inspector of dirty conditions in the kitchen and yard and indications of the presence of rats, but the defendant said the premises were cleaned regularly and that preventive measures were taken against the rats. The case, part heard, was adjourned until next Thursday. Referring to. the prosecution of Gerondis and four similar prosecutions set down for hearing, Mr. A. R. Cooper, for the City Corporation, said that the complaints in practically all the cases related to the condition of the kitchens, pantries, and yards. He should point out, he said, that the diniiig-rooms, on the whole, were in a quite satisfactory state. Perhaps it was unfortunate that the most important part of a restaurant —from the corporation's viewpoint— did not come before the public. The restaurants were inspected on May 17, and his instructions 'we're that since then there had been a certain amount of improvement in some of the cases, but it did not, on the whole, amount to very much. . . : John .Edward Hedderwick, inspector for the corporation, who inspected the De Luxe Cafe at 1.30 p.m. on rMay 17, said the kitchen was without flyscreening or self-closing doors, and there were a number of flies present. A five-gallon oil drum used as a receptacle for refuse was kept in the kitchen, and it had no lid. It contained decomposing refuse, which was adhering to the sides, and it obviously had not been cleaned for a long time. All the.utensils in use in the kitchen were grease-encrusted, including pots, pans, baking dishes, kerosene tins, and jam tins. The kerosene - tins and jam tins were used for cooking and also for the storage of uncooked vegetables, such as potatoes. In his opinion the tins, because of rough edges and cavities at the folds, could not be cleaned effectively. . .. ■ Thje kitchen floor was greasy and encrusted with dirt, particularly near the cookers, where some grease had run on to the floor and collected in the form of a stalagmite some four or five inches high. The walls were very greasy, and the ~main bench, used for the preparation and service of food, was dirty and greasy. In the storeroom was a freezer in a filthy state, greasy and foul-smelling, and packed with high-smelling meat and milk in containers. The walls of the pantry were covered with dust, and there was dirt from rats in the bread cupboard. A box in the pantry contained a mixture of haricot beans and rat dirt, and there was a rat hole in the lid. Benches used for the preparation of food in the pantry were dirty. CONDITION OF YARD. The yard was roofed with iron, with a small opening to the sky of about 18 square feet, the roof greatly restricting the lighting and ventilation of the kitchen. On top of the roof; was an accumulation of refuse, sacks, and boxes. The yard was mostly filled with sacks of potatoes and other vegetables, all without protection from Tats and other vermin. There was evidence of rats in the yard, and a bench theref or nrepai-ing uncooked fish and oys~?rs was filthy. A men's lavatory was ii ;; a filthy state. There were tms oi lat jr soap there, and the entrance was obstructed by sacks of potatoes. The women's lavatory was in a similar state. The drain in the yard was blocked and general waste material was flowing round,, mostly grease and creasy, septic-smelling water. A large quantity of uncooked vegetables was stored in the yard, and close to the dirty grease-trap , and . sewage. There was also ..-some ifish ; that had been thrown on to the concrete All parts of the premises he inspected showed evidence of rats, and food and .uncooked vegetables in the yard provided an ideal harbourage for rats. . Flies were present in large numbers in the pantry, bvit there were not so many in the dining-room. _ „ , Cross-examined by Mr. R. E. Hauling who appeared for the defendant, witness said he did .not see any sign of rats in the dining-room. . He told Mrs Gerondis that the premises were shocking and had slipped considerably, meaning since they had last been inspected She said there were staff difficulties and Emitted that the premises were in a bad state, but said she would do her best to put them into shape again. The kitchen was very 3l and he would agree with counsel that the business would be much easier to cope with if there were more Sn. He could not suggest any reason why the summons had not been issued until six weeks after May 17 There was sawdust on the floor ot the ! kiEdward Charles Alexander, chief i sanitary inspector for the corporation, said he had received no application foi the yearly registration up to May 17. He received an application ten days ago and it was dated June 10.In his opinion there was a very considerable danger to health in the conditions deSCS? d H K e S Sh?Sdical officer .of health for Wellington, said that flies and unclean conveniences were a direct danger to health. There was .not very much danger from not cleaning utensils that were constantly being used for cooking, as cooking acted as a steiilising agent. Meat that smelt high was not necessarily a danger, as cooking overcame most of the contamination of meats unless it was deep. To the Magistrate 0, Dr. Smith said that from the conditions the inspector spoke of he thought there would be more danger of contamination after cooking Asked by Mr. Harding it he could give a specific instance of a person suffering ill effects from contaminated food ' Dr: Smith said that not so very long ago in Wellington quite a number of food-poisoning cases were laid down to infected pies made from handled meat in a catering establishment. PROPRIETOR'S EVIDENCE. The defendant, in evidence, said he had been in the restaurant business for 30 years and in the De Luxe Caie for seven, and had always had a licence until this year. He had never had any difficulty in obtaining a licence, and his premises were inspected sometimes several times a year. Last year a licence form was brought to him by the inspector lor his signature, and. he expected the same procedure to^be followed this year. All the inspector told him to do .was to move the boxes off the roof over the,yard. i *- The same cleaning programme was followed every day. Sawdust was put on the kitchen floor to keep it clean, was changed after lunch, and swept up at night. The floor was washed every day and scrubbed when necessary The' presence of the "stalagmite" of fat under the stove—it was not four or five inches, but might have been one inch—was because the normal griller, which had a proper grease protector, was being repaired and a temporary griller supplied by the Gas Company was being used. The cooking utensils were cleaned regularly after rush hours, .and the, griller was mopped clown for each new grill. No food was left out at night. The bread was put on a tray, covered up with a clean tea towel, and put on top of a milk can so that rats could not get at it. The yard was cleaned several times a day, with hot water when necessary. He had a grease-trap for the gully and it was cleaned evary day, but someone, against his instructions, must have put hot fat into the drain, and so caused the stoppage. The plumbers said the overflow was not sewage, but merely storm. water. Vegetables were stored on shelves put in on the instructions of an inspector. He had had trouble with rats and had used traps, cats, and poison, and any rat: hole found was blocked with tin. Flour and I rice, etc., were kept in tins, "and iri- ; secticide was used for flies, but flies } were present in, any private kitchen. The tin for scraps could not be covered, as it xvas used so frequently, and it was washed every time it was emptied. I . The kerosene .tins were used for boiling tea towels, but a few jam tins | were used for cooking because of the