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FIT's Catering Kitchen Shut Down by Health Department

By Mathew Katz | August 21, 2013 4:43pm
 FIT's kitchen was shut down on Aug. 19, 2013.
FIT's kitchen was shut down on Aug. 19, 2013.
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CHELSEA — City health officials have found a kitchen at the Fashion Institute of Technology more shabby than chic.

The Health Department shut down the FIT catering kitchen after inspectors found evidence of mice.

The kitchen regularly serves meals to the big-name fashion luminaries who drop by the school for galas, shows and museum exhibit openings, including fashion luminary Daphne Guinness and W magazine editor Stefano Tonchi.

In addition to evidence of mice in the kitchen at 227 W. 27th St., inspectors also found that surfaces that came in contact with food were not properly washed and sanitized during the inspection on Monday.

In all, the kitchen racked up 41 violation points.

The inspection report came just days before the school's more than 10,000 students arrive for the first day of classes, but Loretta Keane, a spokeswoman, said that student meals would be unaffected.

For now, catering items will be cooked in the regular dining hall kitchen, she added.

Keane said the catering kitchen is next to a faculty and staff dining room, which is undergoing renovations, but that the separation between the two rooms was "inadequate." 

"These issues are being address immediately and I believe that we are expecting the Health Department imminently," she said. "We plan to reopen immediately."