Dylan McGrath restaurant issued brief closure order after rodent droppings found – The Irish Times

Chef Dylan McGrath’s Rustic Stone restaurant in Dublin was briefly ordered to close after a health inspection found rodent droppings.

A Health Service Executive inspection report released Monday said the conditions threatened serious food contamination. According to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), a closure order was issued at the popular George’s Street venue on September 15 and lifted the following day. The report noted a loose wooden deck over a gap in a cavity wall behind kitchen appliances and next to a dry store.

“Inside this cavity wall and in the dry warehouse were rodent droppings,” he said.

“The droppings of the roaches were also noticed [an] under the stairs… this structure was open and led directly to the kitchen.

The report stated that these conditions created a risk of contaminating the food with pathogenic bacteria, rendering it unfit for consumption.

Closure orders are enforced when inspectors identify a “serious and imminent danger to public health” or the potential for it, or when improvement orders are not followed. They may refer to the immediate closure of all or part of the food premises, or all or some activities.

Owned by Prime Steak Ltd, Rustic Stone describes itself as a Dylan McGrath dining experience influenced by Japan, Spain and South Africa. Last August, Prime Steak was one of two companies Mr McGrath announced it wanted to restructure its debts. The firm appointed Baker Tilly partner and insolvency expert Neil Hughes as process adviser on August 5 under the Small Business Administration Process (Scarp).

The closure order was one of seven announced by the FSAI in September. Other food establishments in Dublin included Bow Lane Restaurant on Aungier Street and Lee Kee Chinese Restaurant on Parnell Street.

Ocean Palace takeaway at Blackcastle Shopping Center in Navan, Co Meath; Homesavers at City East Retail Park in Ballysimon, Limerick; Swift Fine Foods at Cooltrimegish Business Park, Laragh, Castleblayney, Co Monaghan; and also served King Pizza takeaway in Knocknagree, Co Cork.

Rodent droppings were found in various areas of the Bow Lane restaurant. Lee Kee, which had no cold water supply in the kitchen or staff bathroom, was found to be in a “very difficult condition”, with food waste and grease embedded in equipment and surfaces, including the floor and walls.

The unsanitary conditions found at the Ocean Palace takeaway restaurant “resulted in a serious risk of food contamination which could lead to foodborne illness”, they also criticized staff hygiene.

Mouse droppings were found on Homesavers premises and the inspection report stated management had denied access to pest control records.

At Swift Fine Foods, they found dead mice, flies and droppings. It was proven that the rodents interfered with the sheets of lasagna.

A “very heavy fly infestation” was found at King Pizza, “and flies were observed crawling on food, food surfaces and food-related equipment.”