Restaurant temporarily shut after poor rating

AN Italian restaurant in Goring has temporarily closed after it received a low food hygiene rating.

Don Giovanni at The Leatherne Bottel in Bridle Way received one star out of five as part of the national Scores on the Doors scheme.

Environmental officers at South Oxfordshire District Council visited the pub on August 14 and said that “major” improvement was necessary.

A Freedom of Information request found that the seafood being served was at risk of parasites.

The report said: “There isn’t a written safe system for your high-risk foods i.e. chicken liver pâté, (offal), marinated fish etc.

“The invoices shown at the time of inspection don’t indicate the fish is frozen, and there is no evidence that you have achieved the required temperature to kill parasites.

“A staff member was also observed using the blue board for raw fish for cutting food that was evidently not raw fish.”

Cleanliness was also an issue with spiders being identified at the location.

The report said: “The wash hand basin was dirty, the flooring in the external storeroom was dirty and there was evidence of spiders and cobwebs at a high level in the storeroom.

“There was dirty water pooling on the floor between the ice machines in the external storeroom.”

The report also said there was a risk of mould due to visible dampness on the wall in the bar and the tiles behind the hand wash basin area. The restaurant was also at risk of pests such as mice and rats due to the store area not being suitably pest proofed.

Antonio Santelia, who runs the business alongside his son Erasmo said he was “upset” about the report.

He said: “My business has been closed for about two weeks because of cancellations. We had no more bookings coming in for the next two, three or four weeks, so I just closed the business down because I can’t afford to lose £1,500 a day.”

Mr Santelia said that while he may not have had a safe system written down, he has 40 years of experience in food preparation.

He said: “Never once in my life has somebody got poisoned or ill. In the last five years we have had the same dish and last year on the invoice the same fisherman. The same questions were asked previously which was okay last year. This year, they want the temperature recorded.

“They said that everything was cut on the blue board but it was to be cooked, it doesn’t matter if it was pre-cooked halfway in the morning, you’ve got no danger of poisoning or contaminating because it’s going to be cooked.”

Mr Santelia also said measures were put in place to limit pests in the kitchen but it was difficult to keep on top of cleaning in the external storeroom.

He said: “All the fridges, all clean. All the machines, all clean. All the chopping boards, all clean and disinfected and you don’t even mention it, but then you look for the cobweb in the corner.”

The district council said it was working with the business to ensure it complies with hygiene standards.