Health Departments need to Standardize Inspection Process

Sam Duvall is an old time San Francisco restaurateur. When I was down to my last buck on one of my over-budget, under-estimated build out projects that was going south faster than the Gulf Stream, I contacted Duvall in an attempt to get him to buy the property.

"So, I hear you own two restaurants in San Francisco," I said to Duvall when he answered the phone. I had never met the man but his reputation is highly respected.

"No, actually I own three." He said.

"Well, I think you need a fourth property in Carmel. It would be a nice property to add to your collection," I said.

"Who the hell is this?" was his reply with a slight chuckle.

Duvall never bought my restaurant but after I closed it I managed to open a concept on Chestnut St. in San Francisco's Marina District. By mere happenstance it was around the corner from Izzy's Steakhouse on Steiner St. Duvall would frequently come into my restaurant for a plate of Barbecued Brisket slathered with sauce. We'd talk about our equal addictions and how much we both loved and hated the business.

As an operator he is one of the best.

I was amazed when I saw Izzy's on Steiner mentioned in an article in The San Francisco Examiner regarding health violations. It seems that the eatery had a 93 point health inspection last year and on a recent visit only garnered a 48 point score.

That in itself proves how unorganized The San Francisco Environmental Health department really is. It is almost impossible for a restaurant to drop from a 90 plus score to a 50 minus score unless the staff stopped showing up.

The point here has nothing to do with Duvall and company. It has to do with the Health Department across the country and the inspectors who interpret the law based on mood, manhood and whim.

Let's be honest, we have all been cited for violations ranging from high temperatures in the walk in to uncovered meat in the refrigerator. Our bleach buckets were either empty or too full. The milk was left out to long and Jose didn't wash his hands.

Remember the grease trap violations that were so big in the 80's. That's when everyone ad to have a grease trap installed to the tune of thousands. Now, the bio fuel people are begging to buy our French fry residue.

Go figure.

The violations business is big in most major cities and also in some small town. It is a revenue generating proposition. Hell, I was fined $50.00 by Inspector Debra Andersen in Minnetonka, Minnesota because a waitress brought in a home use pasta maker to el to another waitress and it was in the kitchen, in the box, while the waitresses waited for their shift to end. We later found out that Andersen had a citation writing disorder and Linda, the waitress, had to go to QVC treatment for her late night shopping addiction.

This of course brings us back to government involvement in restaurants. Their definitely needs to be health inspectors on the street. However, to only pop into a restaurant on a yearly basis is ridiculous. I have seen air conditioning water dripping into pasta sauce from a leaky copper pipe. I have seen salad being tossed with bare hands after the cook just swept the floor. We have all heard stories about the meatball going back into the sauce at many Italian restaurants.

The key to healthy inspections is the realization tat it is everyone's responsibility to keep the standards high and not penalize those operators who run strong, solid operations.

For Duvall to have his steakhouse listed in the paper was ridiculous. I am sure it hurt his business. The problem here doesn't lie with Duvall. The problem is that unless uniform standards are set for the health inspectors across the city, state and country, nobody can ever operate without violations, and that is bad not only for restaurants but for those who run them.