‘I was embarrassed.’ Roach poop among reasons a Coral Gables eatery failed inspection
Bad news for a Coral Gables restaurant: A state inspector closed it last week after an inspection that included “roach excrement.”
Worse news: That might not have been Namaste Miami’s worst inspection of January. An earlier inspection featured 15 more violations and “food with mold-like growth.”
Namaste Miami owner Shravan Kulshrestha said the “food with mold-like growth” wasn’t food and the growth wasn’t mold, but said he took immediate action after the Jan. 16 inspection.
“I told the inspector, ‘Even if you don’t close us, I’m going to close us,’” said Kulshrestha, who also said he and restaurant staff worked all night getting the place to where they got back open after a 9 a.m. re-inspection.
“We took care of it in one night,” Kulshrestha said. “I was embarrassed, to be honest. But, we took care of it.”
Though Namaste Miami is back open at 211 Navarre Ave., around the corner from the Target on Ponce de Leon Boulevard, it still doesn’t have a “Met Inspection Standards” result from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation inspector.
READ MORE: Restaurants in Miami and Coral Gables named the best places to eat in 2024
Inspection No. 1 at Namaste Miami, Jan. 5
Complaint inspection, 34 total violations, seven High Priority violations.
A Stop Sale hit tamarind as “food with mold-like growth ... tamarind mix with mold-like growth was stored inside a standing cooler next to the dish machine.”
Kulshresthra said what the inspector saw wasn’t even a food item, but something put in the walls of a tandoori oven so the walls don’t crack.
That “tamarind mix” also got mentioned in a “stored food not covered” violation. Joining it were raw chicken and cooked chicken in the reach-in cooler next to a bread oven; cooked lamb in a hallway reach-in cooler; and rice on a shelf next to the dishwasher.
“Uncleanable knife block” stored knives on a kitchen prep table.
“In-use tongs stored on equipment door handle between uses. ... Tongs hanging from trash can next to bread oven.”
Two bowls without handles were used to scoop food, meaning hands on the bowls probably touch the food. One bowl was inside a container of cooked lamb and the other was in a sauce container.
“Reach-in cooler door handles with a buildup of old food debris,” a lack of cleanliness shared by handles on the conventional oven and microwave oven.
“Cutting board has cut marks and is no longer cleanable.” Where? “Throughout the kitchen area.”
Two people were working with food but no hair restraints.
Cheese thawed at room temperature under a kitchen prep table.
“Wet wiping cloths used for occasional spills on equipment, food contact and non-food contact surfaces were not clean.”
The three-compartment sink, used for washing, rinsing and sanitizing cookware, measured zero-point-zero on the chlorine sanitizer.
Unfortunately, the same could be said of the dishwasher. “I instructed the manager to set up the three-compartment sink and to use it until dish machine is fixed.”
The restaurant couldn’t measure the sanitizing mix at the triple sink, dishwasher or for wiping cloths, which are supposed to be kept in a sanitizing solution. No test kit in the house.
Result: Follow-up Inspection Required
Inspection No. 2, Jan. 16
Complaint inspection, 19 total violations, four High Priority violations.
This is the inspection that got Namaste closed.
Over here was one roach on a kitchen shelf. Over there were six roaches on the floor at a storage area and next to a dishwasher.
“Roach excrement present ... roach droppings around an outlet in the kitchen close to the prep area.”
Kulshresthra said an exterminator comes every 30 days.
“Accumulation of debris on exterior of warewashing machine.”
“Accumulation of lime scale on the inside of the dishmachine.”
A bag of vegetables sat on the floor.
The trash dumpster’s lid was open and the “inside/outside of dumpster not clean.”
The kitchen wall was “soiled with accumulated grease, food debris, and/or dust.”
“Employees changing tasks from clean to dirty” without washing hands.
“Food-contact surface soiled with food debris, mold-like substance or slime” might be the ultimate basic yuck violation. Someplace food touches isn’t clean. In this case, it meant “containers with food in the kitchen (were) soiled.”
Result: Facility Temporarily Closed.
Inspection No. 3, Jan. 17
Callback inspection, two total violations, one High Priority violation.
While Namaste Miami could reopen, the inspector hit it with two violations related to sick employees letting their supervisors know they’re sick.
“No proof provided that food employees are informed of their responsibility to report to the person in charge information about their health and activities related to foodborne illnesses.”
Also, “establishment that serves a highly susceptible population failed to exclude food workers ill from the following symptoms not caused by a non-infectious condition: sore throat with fever, vomiting or diarrhea.”
