The pop quiz of the restaurant world took Espresso Roma Cafe by
surprise on Aug. 27. Its health and safety inspection resulted in a
two-day closure and reopening with a “C” grade.
The coffee shop in The Anderson School at UCLA scored a 71 (out
of 100) on their last inspection, said Akiko Tagawa, a consultant
for the California Department of Health Services, Food and Drug
branch.
They were shut down because, among other minor infractions, the
cafe had two live adult cockroaches under the food preparation
table and 100 nymph, or baby roaches, on the wall and floor behind
the oven, she said.
Any roach or rodent problem automatically results in a two-day
minimum closure to ensure the problem is taken care of, Tagawa
said.
The co-manager of Roma Cafe, Mike Molnar, contributes the
“C” grade to two things.
First, he said the Roma Cafe staff became complacent and their
pest control service didn’t look carefully for problems
because it was used to the facility being clean.
Secondly, Roma Cafe is unable to request a re-evaluation because
they had one last October at the request of Sandy Boyd, the owner
of the cafe. Facilities are only allowed to have one
owner-sponsored inspection every 12 months, so the cafe must wait
until this October to be re-inspected.
Molnar said he is glad that the health inspector spotted the
roach problem and stopped it before it got worse.
In addition to the pest problem, which was a high-risk violation
resulting in a six point deduction, Roma Cafe had three mid-risk
violations, at four-point deductions each, and ten low-risk
violations deducting one point each.
The mid-risk violations included food being out of temperature,
which can allow bacteria to grow, food stored on the floor, and
food displayed without a sneeze guard.
Tagawa said everything was taken care of during the two-day
closure. Roma
Cafe reopened on Aug. 29.
Molnar said the cafe has never been cleaner.
“It took us by surprise, but we are more deserving of an
“˜A’ now. I’d love to have a health inspector come
every day,” Molnar said.
The key to these inspections is their surprise, “we go in
unexpected and take a picture of how (facilities) are
normally,” Tagawa said.
Any California resident can obtain a copy of a
restaurant’s last health report, as mandated by state
law.
The L.A. grading system comes in handy for summing up eateries
off-campus, but those run by the university are not under L.A.
county jurisdiction and thus have no grade posted.
On-campus restaurants and coffee shops are not free to operate
as they see fit, however. They are still subject to multiple
surprise inspections each year, conducted by Steve Fuller, an
environmental health specialist.
Each UC campus has an inspector, like Fuller, to oversee the
health and safety of its facilities.
Fuller conducts spontaneous inspections and then instructs each
establishment to repair any non critical items. Fuller can close
facilities down for major problems such as vermin infestation, lack
of hot water or electrical problems.
Fuller inspects all UCLA eateries run by dining facilities or
the Associated Students of UCLA. Rubio’s Baja Grill, Panda
Express, Tsunami, Roma Cafe, Relaxation and La Cucina by Sbrarro
are not under Fuller’s jurisdiction because they are
privately owned enterprises that are licensed through the
county.
Any facility that is inspected by Fuller must provide customers
with their latest inspection upon request.
John Roper, the manager of Kerckhoff Coffee House and Tsunami,
was more than willing to share this information. He keeps the
inspection on file in his office and said the state inspects the
coffee house two to three times a year. He conducts his own
inspection following county standards once a month, while Baskin
Robbins conducts inspections twice a year. ASUCLA also recently
initiated its own inspections.
Fuller, who previously worked in the public arena, said that
“everyone has been surprisingly more receptive and
cooperative (at UCLA).”
“There are quality operators on top of things and willing
to do what we ask,” Fuller said of UCLA.