A North Laine restaurant gutted its kitchen after a hygiene inspector found a fruit fly infestation.
The owners of Kooks in Gardner Street also hired a new manager to make sweeping changes after Brighton and Hove City Council gave it zero stars in its latest inspection.
The report, written after the inspector visited at the end of October, said there was no food safety system in place.
And it blamed this for the dirty equipment, cross contamination risks, out of date food and waste stored next to full bins.
The report said: “At the time of the inspection, there was no system in place. Had there been one in place, conditions found to the structure/equipment and stock out of date would not have been found.”
It said staff needed both allergen and food hygiene training and stock control and cleaning systems needed putting in place.
It said: “It was evident that cleaning was not being completed. You must thoroughly clean kitchen, bar and store following a two-stage clean.
“There is a fruit fly infestation in the main kitchen and basement store. After thoroughly cleaning these areas (and maintaining in a clean condition) you should treat the problem.”
It also recommended repairing the walls to make them easier to clean – and not keeping the ice scoop in the ice machine because of cross contamination risks.
Owner Jonny Abrahams said the kitchen briefly closed after the inspection, and a new manager and head chef have since been hired.
After the kitchen was deep cleaned, Brighton and Hove City Council gave it the go ahead to reopen.
The zero rating also prompted Just Eat to send an inspector, who was reassured by the improvements which had been made.
Mr Abrahams said: “We took a number of decisive actions quickly. I’m very proud of where we’ve got Kooks to in a short space of time, from where it was.
“We are now in a great place.”
“We had a qualified food safety inspector come in within the last month, they were delighted with the change and they were happy with the kitchen standards and commented on the confidence they had in the management.
“They were concerned with a couple of structural points which we have since remedied.”
Last year seemed to be favourable for fruit flies. Not only do they love fruit and veg but they reproduce in the soil in your houseplants.
Another week and another restaurant or cafe in the city(?) has been revealed to be unhygienic. Yet another to avoid. Welcome to Brighton!
Remember – what does not kill you makes you stronger…
Very pleased to say that this restaurant is not to be passed by or Avoided!
With a new management in place and well retrained members of staff we got ourselves a 5* rating after today’s EHO visit!
If I could i would attach a picture but i guess you better to come over and find out yourself 🫶🏽