UPPER WEST SIDE — Michelin-starred restaurant Dovetail has been slapped with a C grade by the city's Health Department after inspectors found possibly contaminated food and an unclean kitchen, among other issues, the health department said.
The popular dinner spot, which sits across from the American Museum of Natural History on West 77th Street, was hit with 35 violation points after a late May visit, records show. Restaurants that score more than 28 points receive a C — the lowest grade an establishment can receive before the city shuts it down.
The department noted in its report that Dovetail's "food contact surface [was] not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred." Food was also not kept at proper temperatures, the department stated.
Additionally,"raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with [Hazard Analysis and Critical Points] plan," the DOH found.
The restaurant also had problems with its plumbing system, a less important violation in the DOH's estimation.
The modern American restaurant, which opened in 2007 and earned a prestigious three-star review from The New York Times in 2008, was named one of the city's top 20 restaurants by New York magazine in 2011. It had garnered "A" grades in recent years, but racked up 49 violation points at the end of April during an ungraded inspection, according to DOH records.
During the May visit, inspectors found "Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored," and "wiping cloths soiled or not stored in sanitizing solution," records show.
Between the end of August and October, the DOH will begin a new cycle of inspections, including another graded inspection of Dovetail, said a spokesman. It was not immediately clear when the inspection would take place.
The restaurant currently has a "Grade Pending" sign in its window that it is allowed to post until it has an opportunity to be heard at Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings Health Tribunal, the spokesman added. It was not clear when or if that hearing would take place.
The restaurant did not immediately return request for comment.
