The Independent Weekly’s view on the news
Long-time Chatham County progressive activist and 2006 Independent Citizen Award winner Margie Ellison died of a heart attack last night.
Ellison, a Chatham native who fought tirelessly on multiple fronts advocating for populations who couldn’t stand up for themselves, will be sorely missed in the grassroots citizen landscape.
Read our 2006 profile here.
After 15 years of feeding big lunchtime crowds at its popular hot and cold buffet bar and offering sit-down fine dining featuring seafood and sushi, Ninth Street institution George’s Garage closed its doors last week.
A spokesman for owner Giorgios Bakatsias says the lease has expired on the building, and that Bakatsias is pursuing “new ventures.” The 15,000 square foot space also housed a bakery and a market for takeout food, as well as an adjacent private party space and lounge called the G-loft.
Bakatsias welcomes feedback and input from former patrons and the public on the restaurant’s Web site, www.garagerestaurant.com.
Food safety inspectors have pinpointed the problem that sickened patrons at Raleigh’s Evoo restaurant last month: Anchovies used in a Caesar salad dressing. At least 17 diners fell ill at the restaurant and in a nearby home, summoning multiple emergency medical teams to the scene.
Test results by federal Food and Drug Administration (PDF, 228 KB) revealed poisonous levels of histamine, an agent resulting from the decomposition of fish muscles, which causes nausea, vomiting and allergic-like reactions very quickly after exposure. The resulting illness is called scombroid food poisoning, and is most commonly associated with anchovies and sardines, as well as tuna, bluefish and mahi mahi.
The canned anchovies came from the manufacturer, Monarch, with histamine levels of 48 to 79 parts per million (ppm). The FDA considers levels of more than 50 ppm unsafe for consumption, and individual diners can experience sensitivity to the substance even at levels below that, says Andre Pierce, Wake County’s environmental health and safety director.
Monarch, a division of U.S. Foods, has issued a Class 1 (highest priority) recall of the anchovies, Pierce said.
“Today is a big sigh of relief for the restaurant,” said Evoo partner Robert Duffy. “We feel like we did everything right; there’s nothing we could have done to prevent this.”
Regulators tested both the anchovies and some tuna that were served on April 17, and while the tuna returned some results that could have caused some sensitive diners a problem, anchovies seem the more likely culprit because all of the ill patrons had eaten salad, Pierce said.
While not every diner had the Caesar salad, the same cutting board was used to prepare the anchovies and the salad greens, so other salads may have been cross-contaminated, Pierce said.
Duffy says Evoo has discontinued using anchovies in its salad dressing, and is inviting patrons affected by the illness to dinner on the house. The restaurant was cleared by inspectors to reopen the day after the incident, and continues to maintain its A rating.
Chatham County voters just said yes to mixed drinks this week.
With 19 percent turnout, a referendum that was the only issue in a special countywide election passed 65 percent to 35 percent, according to complete but unofficial results from the Chatham County Board of Election. The change, which takes effect immediately, means that restaurants and bars in Pittsboro, Siler City and throughout the county can serve hard liquor by the drink. Previously, only beer and wine were permitted.
PACs led by local elected officials and supported by business groups including the chamber of commerce raised funds in support of the measure, arguing that the change would provide new revenue for the county and help draw more restaurants.
The names and phone numbers of the callers have been redacted.
Call #1 (.wav, 3.7 MB)
Friday, April 17, 9:48 p.m. from Evoo restaurant.
Call #2 (.wav, 6.1 MB)
Friday, April 17, 10:11 p.m. from an address in the 1000 block of Vance Street, where two people who had eaten at Evoo earlier in the evening were severely ill.
Wake County health officials are trying to trace the source of more than eight possible cases of food-borne illness reported April 17, which may be connected to Evoo, a Mediterranean restaurant in Raleigh’s Five Points.
“We are currently investigating some reports of sickness,” said André Pierce, director of the environmental health and safety division of the county’s environmental services department. “The investigation is ongoing and we don’t have any results yet.”
Because epidemiologists had not yet identified the bacteria, virus or other agent that may have caused the illness, Pierce declined to speculate on any commonalities between the victims, including a restaurant where they may all have eaten.
“Typically we don’t implicate a facility until we have confirmation of lab results,” Pierce said.
However, shortly before 10 p.m., the Raleigh-Wake 911 Center received an emergency call reporting that someone was ill at Evoo at 2519 Fairview Road, said Walt Fuller, the center’s deputy director in charge of operations.
One paramedic unit was dispatched at 9:50 p.m. and called for backup upon arriving at the scene, Fuller said. A second paramedic unit, a quick responder vehicle and a fire engine all responded. In all, nine rescuers attended victims at the restaurant.
The paramedic units transported an unknown number of victims to Duke Health Raleigh, Fuller said.
In a possibly related incident, a second 911 call about sick persons, which came in at about 10:15 p.m., summoned two more ambulances and a district supervisor to the 1000 block of Vance Street nearby. Two people were taken to Wake Medical Center from that address, Fuller said.
Pierce, whose department is responsible for inspecting the 1,800 licensed restaurants in Wake County, said as far as he knew Evoo remained open Monday. However, no one was answering the restaurant’s phone Monday afternoon.
Past inspection reports on file with the county show that the restaurant, owned by chef Jean Paul Fontaine, has struggled with cleanliness issues in the last two years.
The most recent report, dated March 20, noted two “critical violation risk factors”: unsanitary food contact surfaces, including dirty utensils, and improper holding temperatures for cold foods.
Statewide health regulations list 18 factors that are given highest priority in inspections, Pierce said.
“These are those items we know are more likely to contribute to food-borne illnesses,” he said.
Evoo received a score of 92.5 out of 100 possible points in last month’s inspection, despite the deductions for the two critical violations.
On Nov. 20, 2008, inspectors cited one critical violation pertaining to food storage; raw oysters were being kept over ready-to-eat items in the walk-in cooler.
Two months earlier, on Sept. 4, 2008, the restaurant was cited for the same two categories of critical violations as the March 2009 report.
Evoo received a 94.5 score in both September and November inspections.
Listen in as the Indy’s head honcho, Sioux Watson, chats with WUNC’s Frank Stasio on The State of Things at noon today.
An official-sounding notice from the landlord tells bakery customers to find their goodies elsewhere.
Handcrafted pastries sit moldering in the display case as disappointed would-be customers stop at the door to Hereghty’s patisserie and cafe in Raleigh’s Glenwood Village Shopping Center. The owners defaulted on their rent, and the landlord changed the locks, according to a letter posted on the glass door, dated Feb. 25.
The Triangle’s growing farm-to-table movement may sprout two new local markets next spring. Organizers for two new potential sites in Cary and Pittsboro will hold public discussions about the possibilities over the next two weeks.
Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m., residents of the Amberly subdivision will host a meeting about establishing a farmers’ market in their neighborhood, which is on the border of Wake and Chatham counties. A survey of 300 residents resoundingly supported a new market there, organizers say.
The Western Wake Farmers’ Market at Amberly meeting will take place at the Residents’ Club, 1075 Residents’ Club Drive in Cary. RSVP to Mia South at mia_south@yahoo.com or 380-4035.
In Pittsboro, Robert Poitras, the owner of Carolina Brewery, will host an informational meeting at his restaurant Thursday, Dec. 4 at 6 p.m. Poitras is pitching the idea of a Saturday morning market starting in spring 2009. Pittsboro currently has a farmers’ markets only on Thursday afternoons during the growing season, which is held at the Chatham County Fairgrounds.
Light food and refreshments will be served at the meeting. The Carolina Brewery & Grill is located at 120 Lowes Drive, in the Bellemont Station shopping center along U.S. 15-501 just north of downtown. Poitras is requesting RSVPs at robert@carolinabrewery.com or 545-2330.
While speculation and snarkage about Raleigh’s downtown restaurant scene continues unabated over at NewRaleigh.com, Indy food writer Jane Hobson Snyder caught up with Ryan Reavis, the manager of The Mint today, and here’s what he had to say about Internet-born rumors that his place is closing: “We were really surprised and taken aback. I don’t understand why someone would want to do that. . . . The Mint is not closing. We’re here to stay.”
Reavis says reports of The Mint’s imminent demise have no basis in fact, and no one at the restaurant was asked about them until the Indy called. On the other hand, he’s apparently relishing the old adage that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, after NewRaleigh bloggers posted a photograph of the restaurant’s sidewalk sandwich board.
“The $9 lunch sign, I mean… our lunches have always been $9, you know, we just put a sign out there! It sure is getting a lot of press!”
Meanwhile, Dana over at gogoraleigh.com has a great rant on the potential ramifications of such cyber rumors.
Contrary to Internet rumors over at the NewRaleigh blog, the principals of the beloved seafood restaurant Fins are happy to be in business on East Davie Street downtown and have no plans to close. Lisa D’Auvray, who runs the front of the house and is married to the chef, was shocked to hear of online speculation today that her restaurant was going the way of Riviera, which closed last week.
Any official comment? “I don’t know,” Lisa D’Auvray told Indy food writer Jane Hobson Snyder, laughing. “We’re surviving!”
(More than surviving: Bon Appetit just named Fins No. 2 on its Hot List for Seafood.)
Chef William called Snyder back to weigh in with his take: “To say we’re closing, there’s no way. I have no intentions of doing that. I don’t even have contingencies for that, I’m not even thinking of that right now. Gossip is gossip.”
On Riviera, and the downshifting economy that drove its demise, William D’Auvray adds: “Gorgeous, well-run, what have you, if you’re not making any money you’re not making any money, you can only hold on to it for so long … Raleigh’s got to do their job, if they want all these nice restaurants to be around, they need to patronize us, it’s real simple.”
As to the companion speculation that The Mint is not long for the capital city scene, we’re looking into it.
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