SOHO — Dominique Ansel Bakery has been cleared by the Department of Health to reopen and resume serving Cronuts, after being shut down for what officials called a "severe mouse infestation," the DOH said.
Two inspectors spent three hours examining the pastry shop at 189 Spring St. Monday afternoon before giving the green light for the bakery to reopen Tuesday morning, according to Amy Ma, a spokeswoman for the bakery.
"It was a bit stressful because while we were waiting for the results, there were news crews outside waiting too," Ma wrote in an email to DNAinfo.
The Department of Health confirmed that the bakery had passed its inspection but did not immediately provide details.
Inspectors had closed the bakery on Friday after finding "several hundred mouse droppings," a Health Department spokeswoman confirmed.
The DOH had targeted Dominique Ansel Bakery for an inspection after a widely circulated Internet video showed a mouse scampering behind the counter. The agency treated the video as a complaint like any other, a representative said.
In addition to following all of the Department of Health's directives, the bakery also brought in additional "healthcare consultants" over the weekend to make further recommendations, Ma said.
"This included completely re-cementing our kitchens and basement, and not one but 2 exterminators, as well as a deep cleaning plan approved by both our consultants and the DOH," Ma wrote in an email.
Ma said the 20-person bakery staff spent 16 hours a day cleaning.
"We threw away all ingredients and food and started completely fresh," Ma said Monday afternoon. "The team will take the rest of today and tomorrow to produce [pastries]."
The bakery has received rodent-related violations several times in the past year, but had not previously been shut down for them.
Ma said the bakery was being unfairly targeted by the Department of Health.
"In the past year, we have woken up daily knowing that our success has made us vulnerable to more malicious attacks than any small, one-shop business should ever have to suffer," according to a statement attributed to "The Dominique Ansel Bakery Team." "But we refuse to believe that we live in a world where success turns people into targets of spite and contempt."
The bakery is offering a "Rocky"-themed Cronut on Tuesday to celebrate its return. The special Cronuts will be black with a yellow golden star, as "a symbol of our dedication and resilience," a press release said.
The statement from the bakery team concluded with a quote from the fictional boxer: "In the words of Rocky Balboa — whose theme song has been playing on our radio all weekend long while we worked to deliver everything that was required of us and more — 'getting hit and keep moving forward... that's how winning is done!'"
