Michelin restaurant ends up in hot water over sous vide hygiene
ITS ability to tenderise meat and create mouth-melting morsels has made
one of those fashionable cooking techniques beloved of top chefs and cookery show contestants alike.
But its use has landed one of the country’s top restaurants in difficulty. Hygiene inspectors who visited the two-Michelin-starred Greenhouse, in Mayfair, found that a crucial form logging temperature control of the restaurant’s machine had not been completed correctly. It was one of a number of errors that led Westminster Council’s inspection team to give The Greenhouse an embarrassingly low hygiene rating of just one out of five.
The critical report comes after it was found that Michelin-starred kitchens tend to receive lower safety ratings than those of high-street chains.
Westminster inspectors also gave the Michelin starred L’ Atelier de Joel Robuchon a rating of just two out of five.
With a £110 a head tasting menu and dishes such as Limousin veal with tamarind and Orkney scallops with samphire, The Greenhouse promises a “unique dining experience” from its French chef, Arnaud Bignon. It has had rave reviews since it opened in 1977.
The declared: “In an age of vulgarity, low taste and dirty dining, The Greenhouse is one of the most civilised places we know. It has an almost Zen-like tranquillity.”
It will therefore come as a shock to many of its customers to discover the inspectors were so concerned about the restaurant’s standards that they decided it was in need of “major improvement”. They appear to have taken particular issue with the record keeping for at least one of its fridges and its equipment.
is a method of cooking at lower temperatures in which food is sealed in airtight plastic bags then placed in a hot water bath or steamer to tenderise it. However, care must be taken to avoid botulism poisoning, and health experts warn that eating dishes cooked in this manner exposes pregnant women and their unborn children to risk from unpasteurised food.
Research by the Food Standards Agency published earlier this year showed that only 55 per cent of Michelin star restaurants were given the best rating of five out of five, compared with 83 per cent of high-street chains
A spokesman for The Greenhouse said: “Retraining of staff in the affected areas has been undertaken and we would welcome another inspection.”