Local eateries issued food inspection fines
The Pointe-Claire Deli has been a mainstay in the Valois Village of Pointe-Claire for over 50 years.
But the venerable deli has been fined several times by the Montreal Food Inspection department in recent years, most recently in April when the restaurant was hit with a $1,000 fine.
The fine came after an inspection of the restaurant, located at 51 Donegani Ave., on Nov. 8, 2016.
A $1,000 fine was levied April 26 for the following infraction:
“Premises, vehicles, equipment, materials and utensils used in preparation for the packaging, storage, transport, labelling and servicing of products, as well as other sanitary installations and premises, must be clean.”
Toula Pantemis, manager and part-owner of the deli, was not aware of any such fine when contacted by the Montreal Gazette.
Pantemis said that city food inspectors drop by two or three times a year.
“They find always stuff. You know them ... they have to find something, right? They’re doing their job.”
Pantemis said she was on hand for the Nov. 8, 2016 visit by city food inspectors.
“They tell us to clean, that’s it. Clean this, this and this and we do it and they come back and they’re fine, and they find something else.”
The Pointe-Claire Deli in the Valois Commercial Centre was also hit with fines from food inspectors twice in 2015 and once in 2016.
The total of the four fines is $3,850, but the only fine Pantemis can recall paying is one for $300 because a “cook did not wear a hat (hair-net).”
Despite the fines, Pantemis said the deli is kept clean.
“I’m trying to keep it clean,” she added. “That’s why we’ve been so many years here.”
Other West Island eating or food establishments that were fined this year for infractions include Restaurant Pushap in Pierrefonds ($2,800 and $2,500); Restaurant Sahib in Pointe-Claire ($2,500); Côte St. Luc B.B.Q. in Dollarddes- Ormeaux ($2,000); Déjeuner Cosmopolitain in Pointe-Claire ($1,500); Golden in Dollard-des-Ormeaux ($1,450); Bonbons Oink Oink Squish Candy in PointeClaire ($1,000); Madison New York Bar and Grill in Kirkland ($1,000); Restaurant Saveurs Thai in Pierrefonds ($900); Marché Akahavn in Pierrefonds ($700), Klondike in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue ($750); Restaurant Lahore Karahi in Pierrefonds ($600); Les 3 Maria in Dollard-des- Ormeaux ($250); Coco Pralin in Dollarddes- Ormeaux ($250); Eggsclusif in Dorval ($250).