A well-known Isle of Wight restaurant and tea room has been given a one-star hygiene rating.
Isle of Wight Council environmental officers found God’s Providence House in St Thomas’s Square had generally poor standards of hygiene, with peeling paintwork, a mouldy patch of ceiling and an electric fly killer positioned above the food preparation table.
Build up of food debris and cutlery on floor
At the time of the inspection, the restaurant had a large build up of food debris and cutlery on the floor behind the hot holding cabinet in the kitchen and spilt oil from the fryers along the side of the oven, in the unit beneath and on the floor.
Food debris had built up in the seal of the dairy fridge and on the bottom of fridges in general in the kitchen.
Crumbling plaster could get in people’s food
The general upkeep of the property was also a main issue in the report where flaking paint and crumbling plaster could get in people’s food and exposed parts of the wooden door could trap dirt hindering effective cleaning.
The ceiling throughout the kitchen was cracked and peeling and a patch above the washing up area was mouldy. A storage shelf beneath the mouldy patch held clean chopping boards and crockery.
Other failures
Inspectors said the ceiling was ‘not suitable for use in a room where food is prepared’.
The milk dispenser had started to rust and had flaking parts which was said to be not easy to clean.
No water in staff toilet sink
There was also an ‘insufficient’ number of hand washing basins provided considering the number of food handlers and the size of the establishment, and there was no hot or cold running water, cleaning or drying materials for the basin in the toilet area at the rear of the kitchen.
Documents as part of the Safer Food Better Business pack were out of date and, when asked about it, staff were unsure what the paperwork was and where to find it.
Crawley: “The issues are structural related”
Robin Crawley, front of house manager at God’s Providence House, said steps have been taken to fix points made in the report, but there are no problems with the food.
He said:
“The issues are structural related — the nature of the listed building is hard to contend with.
“The main issues they had with us was the ceiling but work has been started to make amends. We have been getting repairs done.
“What we can fix, we will fix. I won’t make excuses for it, we are putting it right and it is nothing to do with the food, that wasn’t the issue.
“The management problems were with the log book — I hold my hands up, it was out of date but we have brought it up to date and printed new sections.”
Other issues have been fixed which included disposing of the milk dispenser.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may be been made by OnTheWight. Ed
