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(c) Elliott Publishing.

Rats!
Err Travel · August 22, 2000

Writing this week's Err Travel column should have been an effortless task.

I read that the New York City Department of Health had posted the inspection records of all of the city's 19,000 restaurants on the Internet. What could be easier for a smug Californian like me than to point out the hazards of eating a big apple in the Big Apple? All I'd have to do was look up a few of the city's more famous eateries on the Department's Web site, note the violations, make a few acerbic remarks about rodents running between the legs of diners at these establishments, and get back to my day job.

That's what I had hoped. No such luck.

Look what I found when I looked up the first five famous restaurants that popped into my stomach.

Danube - No violations. (Shoot!)

Russian Tea Room - Not listed. (Argh!)

Sardi's Restaurant - No violations. (Geez!)

Studio 54 - No violations (Rats!)

Tavern on the Green - Two violations: (1) "Hot food not held at or above 140°F," and (2) "Food worker does not use a proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment." (Big deal.)

Okay, I needed another approach.

I'd pick the New York restaurants rated best for dining in Zagat's Restaurant guide, look up their miserable ratings with the Department of Health, throw in some sarcastic dialogue, then sign off. I'd call the column, "Zagat and Gag It." Brilliant!

So I looked up restaurants again, this time using the seven highest rated restaurants, all receiving an "extraordinary to perfection" in the Zagat guide. Here are the results, sorted alphabetically. (As you can see, things started out poorly for someone looking for problems.)

Aureole - No violations. (Uh-oh!)

Daniel - No violations. (Curses!)

Chanterelle - "Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding." (Whoopty-do. A minor transgression at worst.)

Jean Georges - "Milk or milk product undated, improperly dated or expired." (Not much of an infraction.)

Then the picture changed.

Le Bernardin - "Vermin* or other live animal present in food storage, preparation or service area." (Vermin? Now were talking.)

Nobu - "Vermin* or other live animal present in food storage, preparation or service area." (Vermin again.)

Peter Luger Steak House - "Vermin* or other live animal present in food storage, preparation or service area." (And again!)

Ah-ha! There you have it. Just as we artichoke and avocado left-coasters would like to believe: PESTILENCE IS PANDEMIC IN NEW YORK CITY RESTAURANTS!

Okay, maybe that overstates the hazard since the Health Department defines vermin as any creature from a disease-carrying rat to an annoying fly. But what ticked-off traveler would want to read: "Some New York restaurants have flies"?

Dr. Terry Riley is a psychologist and travel security authority. His column appears on Wednesdays. He is author of the popular book Travel Can Be Murder. Visit his site at http://www.appliedpsychology.com or e-mail him at terry@ticked.com.