(Daniel Shapiro)
TO IT’S HEALTH: The famed Per Se restaurant — helmed by Thomas Keller (top left) and reportedly co-owned by mayoral pal Steve Ross (bottom left) — keeps its hard-argued “A” rating concealed behind a shrub at the Time Warner Center. (
)
One of the city’s highest-end restaurants won’t have to post a dreaded “grade pending” sign next to its three-star Michelin rating thanks to a well-placed call to the Health Department.
Officials downgraded violations issued on Jan. 31 to Per Se, a big-bucks temple of the culinary arts in the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, so that it could post the top sanitary grade of “A” even though an inspector slapped the eatery with a “B.”
Records show that inspector Shauna Thompson filed violations totaling 22 points during her two-hour visit.
That meant Per Se — whose co-owners reportedly include real-estate magnate and Mayor Bloomberg buddy Stephen Ross — was facing a subpar grade of “B,” pending an appeal before an administrative tribunal set for Tuesday.
But a restaurant manager placed a call to Beth Torin, executive director of the Bureau of Food Safety, to “clarify the rules around the storage of their ice tray,” which was one of the violations, a Health Department official said.
And it also knocked down another violation by insisting the inspector made a mistake when she claimed a kitchen worker didn’t wash her hands after eating a fried donut and returning to food prep.
The Per Se manager told Torin the worker did wash her hands but that Thompson, the inspector, left the kitchen momentarily and missed it.
Suddenly, enough violations were stricken to give Per Se its “A.”
John Kelly, a Health Department spokesman, insisted Per Se didn’t get special treatment. Mayoral spokesman Stu Loeser added that Ross never spoke to Bloomberg about the restaurant.
“Everyone has the same opportunity to call attention to an error via the phone number provided on all reports,” said Kelly, adding that a couple dozen food establishments have done so.
That came as a shock to Rob Bookman, an attorney who has represented restaurants before the Health Department for 25 years.
“I’ve never heard of a provision where you could challenge aspects of the inspection before a hearing,” said Bookman. “I’m thrilled to learn of it because I know of hundreds — if not thousands — of people who will take advantage of it.”
The owner of a diner in lower Manhattan that was shut by health inspectors — and reopened quickly after loud protestations of an unfair inspection — told The Post he got nowhere when he tried to call the agency.
“They told me to screw myself,” recalled Bill Koulmentas of George’s diner.