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Blue Fish closed for health/sanitary conditions,
reopens Monday
And no, you cannot have my camera
Follow-up:
You want wasabi with those flies?
November 22, 2004
 BD
loves to eat sushi, although many folks in Texas consider it as
a very expensive form of bait. When well-prepared and presented
- usually on a giant ice-carving - it is a delicacy of the gods.
But it’s no secret that handling fresh fish in a restaurant environment is not something you take for granted - temperature, serving equipment, sanitary conditions, etc.
The City of Dallas’ Food Inspection teams closed down Blue Fish Restaurant on upper Lower Greenville last week after it failed its latest inspection. But the restaurant will reopen on Monday evening, according to an employee passing out business cards to dismayed lunch customers today.
Update 5 pm - According to the City’s Dep’t of Environmental Services, the Blue Fish folks were getting a little bit ahead of themselves. As of 3 pm, an inspection had been scheduled but not yet conducted. So for them to say they would be open was a very big assumption on their part.
According to the City’s Food Scores web site, this location was last inspected in late April, and received an 80 (Good - Regular 6 month inspection); the company’s Dallas Parkway location was last inspected in late May and received a 91 (Very Good - Regular 6 month inspection). Based on those inspection records, this location was getting its regular six-month inspection when it was busted.
 The
question BD has for you: Why would you bother going back?
According to a sign posted at the front door, the restaurant was closed in cooperation with the City, which is a politically correct way of saying
We got busted, but don’t tell anyone
What makes this usually normal, run of the mill story so funny is the reaction of the owner.
He apparently does not want anyone to know that he was closed down because he had a dirty restaurant.
This is not new on Lower Greenville, or even Dallas. Whisky Bar was cited for having bugs dancing the Macarena in its liquor bottles some years back.
BD had a number of calls about this closing over the weekend, including a comment about an Under Renovation sign on the sidewalk (which was not there on Monday).
The fact that Blue Fish was closed by the City is a public record, if you know where to find it (click here). Their score is not yet online, and the inspection report itself is not public until you ask for it, which BD has.
You want this camera? You cannot have this camera!
BD went out this morning to get some pics of the sign and building for the web site.
He walked around the property, noted staff working inside, saw the chairs stacked on the patio, and heard an employee tell a customer that they would be opening this evening. He repeated the same statement to BD.
So far, no big deal.
BD walked across the street to his truck, parked by Snuffer’s, and heard some noises behind him.
There was a man standing on the sidewalk, dressed nicely, yelling at BD.
The conversation went something like this -
Manager: Why are you taking pictures?
BD: I don’t have to explain anything to you.
Manager: You bring that camera back to me.
BD: You cannot have my camera.
Manager: I want you to give me that camera
BD: If you want this camera, you come over and try to take it from me (imagine Rocky yelling while standing on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, and you get the idea of what BD sounded like).
 At
this point, BD falls into his truck, laughing hysterically.
Okay, so maybe you had to be there, but it was too funny.
So BD decides he needs a picture of the manager for the web site or no one would believe this story. So he drives around the block and parks in the gas station to get a full-frontal pic of the building.
Just like a Swiss cuckoo clock, the same manager comes running out of the restaurant and starts yelling at BD to give him the camera immediately.
Thank goodness for three-shot burst mode on digital cameras.
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I would like to know just what the manager had in mind. What did he think he was going to do once he had in it? Take the film out of the digital camera? Destroy the microfilm with the spy secrets?
On his planet, he obviously has the right to take other people’s property (i.e., a camera and film) and damage their property if they dare take a photo of a property he doesn’t even own.
It’s easily one of the dumbest things I’ve heard of in a while. - BC
You should’ve given your multi-hundred $ digicam to the nice man! ;-) - GS
Apparently someone failed the First Amendment part of the US Citizenship test - DW
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BD believes that when trained food-service inspectors shut your business down, they really had a bunch of good reasons to do so. The City’s web site notes:
The scoring system is based upon 100 weighted points assigned to 44 different categories that summarize all the health and sanitation regulations from food protection to conditions of walls and floors.
Critical violations (a provision that, if violated, is more likely than other violations to contribute to food contamination, illness and/or injury) are assigned a higher weighted point value than non-critical violations.
The score is obtained by subtracting the sum of the weighted points assigned to each category where a violation has been found from the total of 100 points. For more information, you may call the Food Protection and Education Section at (214) 670-8083.
Blue Fish scored a 59 or lower, defined as Unacceptable - Closure; requires reinspection before reopening
If you cannot stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen and shut the place down.
But don’t even think you can tell someone to give you their camera just because you want to keep your dirty little secret a secret.
Any questions?
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