http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...689,full.story

COLUMN ONE

Where 'A' Is Not on the Menu

Chinese eateries in an L.A. County enclave struggle with hygiene ratings. An
inspector knows the challenges unique to the cuisine.

By David Pierson
Times Staff Writer

September 28, 2005

"After concluding a three-hour inspection, Los Angeles County health officer
Siu-Man Chiu sat down at a table in a closed-off banquet room to tally the
letter grade for a Chinese dim sum eatery in the heart of the San Gabriel
Valley.

She noted the uncovered glass left in the food preparation area. No paper
towels by the hand sink. A moldy refrigerator. Dead bugs in a plastic
container used to hold pig's blood. The restaurant's current grade was a B,
but as Chiu began tabulating violations, she knew it was in jeopardy. "Right
away, it's borderline," she said. "What killed them was the red beans.
That's six points."

The cooks had left 7 pounds of cooked red beans cooling overnight on a food
preparation table to make desserts for the next day. When food is left for
three hours at room temperature, bacteria growth can reach unacceptable
levels.

"I hope I have a C in the car," Chiu said.

At that moment, the doors swung open. A manager told Chiu that the
restaurant was so jammed with lunch-hour customers that he needed the space.
Before Chiu could finish, servers with steam carts began to unload
glistening spareribs and braised chicken feet onto tables filled with noisy
patrons.

"Some places, you don't feel like you're making a difference," Chiu said.
"Some of the violations you see again and again, and they're still making
good business. Even with a C, Chinese people don't care."

C is the lowest grade a restaurant can get before being shut down. It is
given when a restaurant scores 70 to 79 points out of 100. Scoring 80 to 89
points lands a restaurant a B, and an A is 90 or higher.

According to a recent study in the Journal of Environmental Health, the bold
letters posted by the health department at entrances to restaurants have
helped reduce hospital visits for food-borne illnesses 13% in the county
since the system was introduced seven years ago.

Many diners check out the letter grade before they check out the menu.

But in the San Gabriel Valley, home to the nation's largest Chinese American
community, the letter-grade system is often viewed as little more than a
minor intrusion on a proud cuisine - if diners consider it at all.

Patrons of one cafe in Monterey Park, which has repeatedly been cited for
health violations and recently received a C from Chiu, are undeterred.

"I've been coming here forever," said Melvin Jin, 25, as he headed for
lunch. "I'm getting the fried rice. It's quick, it's easy. Besides, my
friend used to work here and he says it's OK."

Michael Ke, 30, a USC student who frequents the restaurant, is equally
unconcerned. "I don't even know where they post the letters. B and C is so
much gray area."

The county does not categorize restaurants by their cuisine. But,
anecdotally, officials have long believed that Chinese restaurants elude A
grades at a rate greater than any other type of restaurant. Consider this:
80% of the county's eateries have an A. So why is it so hard to find an
authentic Chinese restaurant with anything other than a B or C?

Chinese restaurateurs argue that their kitchens simply use too many
ingredients and too many cooking techniques to comply with the all the rules
of health inspectors like Chiu.

They say inspectors are overly strict and that a perfect score is tantamount
to destroying the flavor of their food. If a roast duck were kept at the
temperature the county wants it at all times, for example, chefs say you'd
be left with duck jerky, not the succulent flesh and crispy skin diners
expect.

And if diners were getting sick, restaurant owners say, they wouldn't be
coming to eat in such large numbers.

"We've been cooking like this for 5,000 years," said Harvey Ng, owner of
Mission 261 in San Gabriel. "Why do we have a problem now?"

Ng's restaurant has a strong clientele, both local Chinese Americans and
foodies drawn by the glowing write-ups in national magazines. But if he gets
an A, he doesn't keep it for long.

Chiu, a Hong Kong native, doesn't buy the excuses.

She has patrolled the restaurants of the San Gabriel Valley for more than a
decade, cajoling, sweet-talking and even scolding the most grizzled of
Chinese chefs. But her task - bridging a cultural divide over hygiene - is
foundering on the long lines outside eateries with B and C ratings.


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It was 10:33 a.m. when Chiu entered the dim sum house with the red bean
problem, which like several other restaurants permitted a reporter to follow
Chiu through the inspection process provided their names not be used. Chiu,
who stands 5 feet tall, conducts her inspections wearing casual clothes and
a county ID card.

In preparation for the noon dim sum horde, four chefs worked frantically in
a back room behind the kitchen, forming row upon row of miniature dumplings
and pastries.

A giant floor mixer stirred a pasty combination of shrimp and pork, later to
be stuffed into yellow dumpling wrappers. Heated cabinets held trays of
baked roast pork buns, milk buns and taro cakes. Strips of fatty pork were
being defrosted under running water, to be ground for more dumplings.

Chiu acknowledged that no other type of restaurant can compare to the
Chinese kitchen in volume and variety of dishes - and therein lies the
problem. Each dish requires more handling, more ingredients and less time to
do it all.

Chiu stabbed bowls of pork with her thermometer and crouched beneath sinks
with her flashlight to check for vermin. She ordered the manager to remove
greasy rags from table tops and clean a chopping board with bleach.

"Here is very bad," she said, pointing to grease on a hood above a wok
station.

"We clean it once a week, maybe twice," a cook replied in Cantonese.

The owner arrived, appearing agitated. Chiu spotted an open plastic
container of shrimp on a table and ordered it covered. The owner pointed at
the shellfish and barked at his staff in Cantonese, "Are you kidding me?"

Chiu rolled her eyes. It's all for show, she said later.

In the end, the restaurant maintained its B, but barely, scoring 80.

The inspection, one of hundreds Chiu has done over the years, reinforced her
long-standing belief that it's nearly impossible for large Chinese
restaurants to earn an A.

The pressure on the employees would be tremendous, she said. It would force
them to work several hours on top of 10-hour workdays just to clean up. The
Chinese restaurant business is notoriously competitive, and owners cannot
afford to pay more for cleaning staff.

"Sometimes I feel sorry for them," she said. "I don't take their attitude
personal."

Chinese restaurants don't have the efficiency of major chains, which pack in
just as many customers, she said.

"A place like the Cheesecake Factory or Acapulco, a lot of the food is
precooked," Chiu said. "They have cleaning crews. In a big Chinese
restaurant, the dishwashers have to do the cleaning. They have six or seven
refrigerators. What are the chances that they're all going to be clean?"

The cultural gap became vividly clear when Chiu visited a Chinese restaurant
in Monterey Park that had come under new management, which requires an
inspection. The restaurant was prized for its roast duck and pork.

In Chinese cuisine, uncooked ducks and geese are hung to air dry, ridding
them of as much moisture as possible. Drying allows the skin to become
exceptionally crispy when roasted, as with Peking duck. The debate is over
how long the birds can be left to hang in the bacteria-friendly danger zone
from 41 to 135 degrees. The law allows only four hours.

The first thing Chiu noticed when she walked into the kitchen were the raw
ducks and slabs of pork hanging on silver hooks, waiting to be barbecued.
She immediately prodded them with her thermometer, explaining to the cooks
that in two hours they would have to cook or refrigerate them.

Chiu walked to the takeout area and told a manager that a side of golden
roast pork must be heated to 135 degrees and that he was in violation.

The manager pleaded with Chiu for some leeway. "It will be so dry we won't
be able to sell it."

"Yeah, I know, I know, I know," Chiu said, her eyes still on the report she
was filling out.

After four pages of handwritten notes on violations - including dirty
gaskets, a lack of hot water in the bathrooms and unrefrigerated garlic in
oil - Chiu was done. She had the manager sign each page and then walked
toward the main entrance, where at least 30 people were waiting in line for
a table.

Chiu stripped the green B placard from the glass door. Because it was an
inspection prompted by a change in ownership, the restaurant would operate
without a visible grade until another inspector arrived in the following
weeks.

Otherwise, "They would have gotten a C," Chiu said. "It was pretty bad."


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----


Chiu grew up in Hong Kong, a city with one of Asia's richest culinary
traditions and where residents still buy food from "wet markets," outdoor
stalls where slabs of meat hang from hooks without refrigeration and
shoppers eat cooked food from unlicensed hawkers.

"Our stomachs must be used to the germs," Chiu said.

Chiu went to Cal State Northridge to earn a master's degree in epidemiology
and biostatistics. But she did not complete her thesis, opting to take a job
with the Department of Health Services in 1987.

She joined the department amid a major demographic shift in the San Gabriel
Valley, as largely white suburbs such as Monterey Park, Alhambra and San
Gabriel became the epicenter for a wave of Chinese immigration. Suddenly,
the area became home to hundreds of Chinese restaurants.

The first six months on the job were not easy for Chiu, who was still
adjusting to life in the U.S. She was too passive, she said, and was often
intimidated.

"Some of them would chew me out," Chiu said. "But I got more confidence in
myself from the job because I know what I'm doing."

She believes the restaurant owners' attitudes toward her also changed with
time.

"When I started, they thought I'd be easy on them because I'm Chinese," said
Chiu, now the mother of three teenage daughters. But from the beginning, she
said, she was a stickler for the county's rules.

And over the years, she has come to command the respect - and fear - of the
Chinese restaurant owners.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----


The most gratifying inspections are the ones that produce results, Chiu
said. Take Au 79, a Taiwanese cafe in an Arcadia strip mall that boasts an
A.

On her first visit, Chiu found numerous temperature violations and handed
out a C. It took a year of encouragement and educating on the part of Chiu
and other inspectors for Au 79 to earn an A. It meant translating the rules
into Chinese for the kitchen staff, teaching the correct way to wash dishes
and how to store food to prevent cross-contamination.

"She is very, very strict. My heart was pounding so fast when she came in,"
said Megan Lee, 27, who manages the business for her parents. "We moved here
from Taipei. There were a lot of new rules to learn. It's completely
different from Taiwan."

But Au 79 is an uncommon example.

More typical for Chiu was her trip to a Hong Kong-style restaurant in
Monterey Park that serves a distinct Chinese take on Western food, such as
chicken a la king and grilled steak smothered with brown pepper sauce.

The restaurant had been clinging to a B for more than a year. Heat from a
deep fryer, a grill top, two stove tops, four woks and six stock pots raised
the tartar sauce and Thousand Island dressing on an adjacent counter 19
degrees above the highest allowable temperature.

A container of rice porridge had a dead fly in it, food was stored in the
employee changing room, a rice scooper was left in standing water and a meat
slicer was encrusted with dirt.

Chiu sat down at a booth to write up the report. She refused a drink, as she
always does. The owner, a Chinese immigrant who came to the U.S. in the
1960s, sipped hot tea and sat across from Chiu, hoping again to elicit some
sympathy.

"We're month to month now," he said. "The owner won't renew our lease. I
can't even change the plates. We wanted to renovate. We're barely paying our
bills."

Chiu flashed a wan smile and said, "I hate to give you a bad grade."

"I don't mind, I don't mind," the owner said. "You're doing your job. And I
get to scream bloody murder at the staff tomorrow."

The restaurant dodged closure by only two points, with a 71.

As Chiu left the restaurant, she stripped the green B placard from the
window with one swipe.

She walked to her car, grabbed a red C from her back seat and returned to
the front door. There, she taped up the new grade without attracting any
attention.

Soon, customers filled the restaurant, as if Chiu had never been there."

/

On Sun, 02 Oct 2005 21:17:17 GMT, "Gregory Morrow"
gregorymorrowEMERGENCYCANCELLATIONARCHIMEDES@eart hlink.net wrote:

Where 'A' Is Not on the Menu

Chinese eateries in an L.A. County enclave struggle with hygiene ratings. An
inspector knows the challenges unique to the cuisine.

I once had a PT job doing after-closing cleanup in some restaurants,
one of which was--and is--in Seattle's International District. I've
never been in a Chinese restaurant's kitchen when it's at work, but
based on what I saw and cleaned, 'challenges' puts it weakly.

--
-denny-

"I don't like it when a whole state starts
acting like a marital aid."
"John R. Campbell" in a Usenet post.

Denny Wheeler wrote:
On Sun, 02 Oct 2005 21:17:17 GMT, "Gregory Morrow"
gregorymorrowEMERGENCYCANCELLATIONARCHIMEDES@eart hlink.net wrote:

Where 'A' Is Not on the Menu

Chinese eateries in an L.A. County enclave struggle with hygiene ratings. An
inspector knows the challenges unique to the cuisine.

I once had a PT job doing after-closing cleanup in some restaurants,
one of which was--and is--in Seattle's International District. I've
never been in a Chinese restaurant's kitchen when it's at work, but
based on what I saw and cleaned, 'challenges' puts it weakly.

After reading that article I think it's absolutely without a doubt
racist... Chinese restaurant kitchens are no filthier than any other
ethnic restaurant kitchen, in fact the truth be known they're very
likely more sanitary than others (they cook with no dairy and
everything is scorched to temps unheard of). Save the big chain fast
food joints no restaurant kitchen is even close to reasonably
sanitary... yoose place your orders and yoose takes your chances...
were there no door on restaurant kitchens you'd never eat at most but
once.

Sheldon

Sheldon wrote:
[snip]... Chinese restaurant kitchens are no filthier than any other
ethnic restaurant kitchen, in fact the truth be known they're very
likely more sanitary than others (they cook with no dairy and
everything is scorched to temps unheard of).

The patrons lining up at the doors to get into these restaurants know
better than the inspectors.

Save the big chain fast
food joints no restaurant kitchen is even close to reasonably
sanitary... yoose place your orders and yoose takes your chances...
were there no door on restaurant kitchens you'd never eat at most but
once.


Decades ago, when L.A. Chinatown flourished, my family's two favorite
restaurants had parking lots in the rear. Those in the know parked
there and entered the restaurant through the kitchen. As a child, I
was always instructed, "don't look around, just keep walking..."
-aem

On 3 Oct 2005 17:04:44 -0700, "aem" wrote:

Sheldon wrote:
[snip]... Chinese restaurant kitchens are no filthier than any other
ethnic restaurant kitchen,


WHAT?? Filthy kitchens range the gambit of truck stop to the Ritz
Carlton. Ethnicity has nothing to do with cleanliness.

Cleanliness is the primary job of the Head Chef.

Ward Abbott wrote:
On 3 Oct 2005 17:04:44 -0700, "aem" wrote:

Sheldon wrote:
[snip]... Chinese restaurant kitchens are no filthier than any other
ethnic restaurant kitchen,


WHAT?? Filthy kitchens range the gambit of truck stop to the Ritz
Carlton. Ethnicity has nothing to do with cleanliness.

Cleanliness is the primary job of the Head Chef.

LOL you are assuming family owned hole in the wall restaurants have a Head
Chef. The little joint down the street from me is run by a family. The
husband is the "chef", the wife and sometimes the kids (both well under age
16) take orders, run the cash register and package stuff up. Ain't no
"chef" there unless you call being able to throw stuff in a wok and turn out
decent cheap food being a chef. Hmmmm, come to think of it, perhaps he *is*
a chef. And I now have a craving for their egg rolls.

Jill

Gregory Morrow wrote:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...689,full.story

Where 'A' Is Not on the Menu
(snippage)

This post set off a major craving So I went to the little hole in the
wall Chinese place called Fortune Inn and ordered the chicken egg foo yung,
steamed dumplings and an extra egg roll. When I walked in the first thing I
did was check for the inspection certificate on the wall. 90 = A. Good
deal Great food, too.

I gifted the wife (who also went in the back to cook the fried rice and the
egg rolls while her husband worked on the foo yung and steamed dumplings -
these are some hard working people) with a silver Chinese hairpin. She has
lovely long thick black hair and I couldn't possibly pull off wearing it.
She was all smiles, exclaiming, "Thank you, thank you! It's beautiful!"
Although I didn't ask her to, she discounted the cost of my meal, which was
dirt cheap to begin with. This meal will feed me for a couple of days.
Quite a nice mutual bargain, and as they say, what goes around comes around.

Jill

aem wrote:
Sheldon wrote:
[snip]... Chinese restaurant kitchens are no filthier than any other
ethnic restaurant kitchen, in fact the truth be known they're very
likely more sanitary than others (they cook with no dairy and
everything is scorched to temps unheard of).

The patrons lining up at the doors to get into these restaurants know
better than the inspectors.

Save the big chain fast
food joints no restaurant kitchen is even close to reasonably
sanitary... yoose place your orders and yoose takes your chances...
were there no door on restaurant kitchens you'd never eat at most but
once.


Decades ago, when L.A. Chinatown flourished, my family's two favorite
restaurants had parking lots in the rear. Those in the know parked
there and entered the restaurant through the kitchen.

Some 30 odd years ago I frequented LA's Chinatown often, probably
walked through the same back door of the same kitchen.

As a child, I was always instructed, "don't look around, just keep
walking..."

Can say the same of any restaurant... and typically the more expensive
the filthier.

jmcquown wrote:
LOL you are assuming family owned hole in the wall restaurants have a Head
Chef. The little joint down the street from me is run by a family. The
husband is the "chef", the wife and sometimes the kids (both well under age
16) take orders, run the cash register and package stuff up. Ain't no
"chef" there unless you call being able to throw stuff in a wok and turn out
decent cheap food being a chef. Hmmmm, come to think of it, perhaps he *is*
a chef. And I now have a craving for their egg rolls.

First, I call the person who is in charge of cooking the head chef. No
French accent nor tall toque required. Secondly, if you think turning
out a good stirfry is just throwing stuff in a wok then you haven't
made much progress. -aem

aem wrote:
jmcquown wrote:
LOL you are assuming family owned hole in the wall restaurants have
a Head Chef. The little joint down the street from me is run by a
family. The husband is the "chef", the wife and sometimes the kids
(both well under age 16) take orders, run the cash register and
package stuff up. Ain't no "chef" there unless you call being able
to throw stuff in a wok and turn out decent cheap food being a chef.
Hmmmm, come to think of it, perhaps he *is* a chef. And I now have
a craving for their egg rolls.

First, I call the person who is in charge of cooking the head chef.
No French accent nor tall toque required. Secondly, if you think
turning
out a good stirfry is just throwing stuff in a wok then you haven't
made much progress. -aem

You're absolutely right. I don't stir-fry

Jill

On Mon, 3 Oct 2005 20:02:37 -0500, "jmcquown"
wrote:

you are assuming family owned hole in the wall restaurants have a Head
Chef.

"Someone" is always in charge. Having 16 yo underlings doesn't
qualify as someone in charge.

"aem" wrote:

Sheldon wrote:
[snip]... Chinese restaurant kitchens are no filthier than any other
ethnic restaurant kitchen, in fact the truth be known they're very
likely more sanitary than others (they cook with no dairy and
everything is scorched to temps unheard of).

The patrons lining up at the doors to get into these restaurants know
better than the inspectors.

Hardly. Folks do all manner of dammfool and unsafe things.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL

On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 19:27:08 GMT, (Derek Lyons)
wrote:

Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

Dum vivimus, vivamus!
--
-denny-

"I don't like it when a whole state starts
acting like a marital aid."
"John R. Campbell" in a Usenet post.