Inspector finds handwashing issues, orders juices tossed at Miami’s Zak the Baker
An inspector found dirty hands and dirty equipment at Miami’s Zak the Baker during an check done for the FDA by the Florida Department of Agriculture.
The inspection was conducted March 14 — 15 days before Zak Stern’s Wynwood establishment at 295 NW 26th St. was named a James Beard Award finalist as one of the best bakeries in America.
READ MORE: This Miami favorite might be the best bakery in the country
The Ag Department inspects retail bakeries and wholesale bakeries, along with supermarkets, other sellers of packaged food, food distributors, food storage and food processing facilities. On the Ag Department website’s list of inspections for Zak the Baker, the inspection summary is listed as “Re-Inspection Required,” the worst result possible for an inspection done by a state inspector.
An email to Zak the Baker from Inspector Araceli Harvie pointed to an open processing area problem as the reason for one of Miami’s favorite bakeries getting a “Re-Inspection Required.”
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A “Re-Inspection Required” result doesn’t close down the establishment as a failed Department of Business and Professional Regulation inspection does a restaurant. Inspectors can, however, put Stop Sale orders on products and Stop Use Orders on areas of the establishment.
Here’s what Inspector Harvie found at Zak the Baker on March 14:
▪ An employee making a croissant at the Beard Award nominee “was not wearing a beard cover.”
▪ A cook going into the cooking area didn’t wash and sanitize his hands before getting bread for a sandwich with a bare hand.
▪ In that sandwich prep area, the handwash sink didn’t have soap or paper towels, nor was there hand sanitizer where ready-to-eat foods such as sandwiches and breads were fixed and packed. When Inspector Harvie returned the next day, the sandwich prep area sink had soap and all the handwash sinks had hand sanitizer.
▪ And, even if there had been soap or paper towels at that sandwich prep area handsink, its placement “is not convenient to wash hands properly as it’s next to the fryer with no guard.” The next day, Harvie noted, a shield guard had been placed between the fryer and handwash sink.
▪ “The fly trap lamp is located above the bread cutting machine in the packing area.”
▪ “The A/C vents are heavily soiled in the bread production, pastry, and by front counter where bread is displayed for consumers.” The next day, Harvie wrote, the vents were cleaned by the bread production area.
▪ Air conditioner condensation dripped on a dry storage rack with food covered by plastic.
▪ “The dough shaping and mixing areas are open and exposed to the consumers in the dining area,” leaving it vulnerable to a sneezy customer.
Harvie said staff moved the tables and created some distance by inserting plastic delivery crates. When Harvie dropped by Thursday, it was noted the bakery was in the process of enclosing the processing area and a re-inspection would be done “in a few weeks.”
▪ Harvie dropped Stop Sales on one bottle of beet juice and three bottles of green juice from Miami Beach’s Poppy Jacks because, the inspection said, they were considered “adulterated” because they were made at a facility without the proper permits.
This story was originally published April 12, 2023 at 10:20 AM.
