Oh, Rats!

Oh, Rats!

Several readers have asked where the name of my blog came from.  I was watching a rerun episode of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares.  Gordon screamed for the sous chef to step forward after a guest returned their entrée.   The tirade that ensued has become a Ramsey trademark.  “You could have killed somebody, this chicken is raw” he yelled.  He then slammed the plate to the kitchen floor and told the chef to “Feed it to the dog!”  

Gordon Ramsey’s reality shows aren't just about television ratings to me.  They have shined the spotlight on the restaurant industry’s dirty secrets that are hidden behind swinging doors and closed walls.   Eating undercooked food is never a good idea, but mistakes do happen in restaurant kitchens.  The fact is being served undercooked food is the least of your worries when dining out.  I was going to title this article “How healthy is your favorite restaurant,” but decided a name change needed to be made. The following story is true and without embellishment.

In the summer of 1978 I worked at a restaurant in my hometown of Gloucester Massachusetts.  It was located on the water and sat atop wooden pilings.  It wasn’t a glamorous job, but at age thirteen, it paid the bills.  I was paid the minimum wage $2.65 an hour to wash dishes and perform food prep work.  It was hard work that sometimes involved working sixty hours per week.  The pot sink was often piled high until midnight or later.  During those early morning hours, when the ovens were off and the cooks were gone, the wharf rats would arrive.  Despite the loud kitchen music, the rats would scurry behind the equipment and eat anything that had fallen on the floor.  They would dart in and out of the holes in the walls, trying to avoid the numerous traps.  Occasionally I would hear a loud snap, followed by the whimpering of the unfortunate prey.  The sounds gave me nightmares and I was forever petrified of rats.

The real scary part was, that despite the deceased vermin, the restaurant was still serving food and it didn’t seem to bother anyone.  As an outspoken teen, I complained to management that the problem needed to be addressed.  I’d like to tell you that the solution of chicken wire prevented further issues, but rats are very smart and always seemed to find a way into the kitchen.  As my career progressed into my early 20’s, I started any new job with mantra “When there’s time to lean, there’s time to clean.  I stole that phrase from Chef John Thrasher, who I had met in my late teens.   John gave me the impetus to make sure I would never work in a dirty kitchen again.

In 2009 I was managing a restaurant that I had spent seventeen years creating an environment of "clean".  The employees understood my philosophy and were committed to keeping this place the cleanest in Sanibel Island Florida.  I was never hesitant about allowing guests to enter the back of the house.  Life was good, but after leaving my job in early January of that year, my life was about to be turned upside down.

A few months later I found myself about to take a job at McT’s Shrimphouse & Tavern, also in Sanibel Island.  This restaurant was just down the street from my previous employer and was once the busiest restaurant on the island.  After twenty-nine years in business, McT’s had fallen on hard times; due in part to a nasty reputation that had been plaguing the establishment since the early 2000’s.  

When I went to meet the owners at the restaurant, the stench of the dumpster was chocking me as I exited my car.  The dumpster was placed just outside the kitchen door, and the garbage that surrounded it was an eyesore.  As I entered the kitchen, the smell of urine was nauseating, and followed me as I moved towards the dining room.  I could see live cockroaches moving around the food-littered floor.  As the owners greeting me, I could see a look of please help us in their eyes.  There was one year left on their lease, and they wanted to turn the business around and try to sell the name to the next owner.  After agreeing to give me full control of the business, I accepted the task of cleaning this place up and got to work immediately.  If there was anybody who could turn things around here, it was me.  I would quickly find out, I was about to relive the nightmare of my early teens.

My first night was filled with ant and cockroach sightings in the dining room.  In the office behind the bar, I could hear the rats running around the walls and the ceiling support beams.  At 1 AM after the bar had closed, I made my way through the dining room and could see rats dancing in the shadows.  I made my way to the kitchen with a flashlight, and was greeted by dozens of fleeing rats as I opened the door.  What had I gotten myself into?  

The following day I went on-line and researched the health inspections.  There were so many major violations; it was hard to understand why the state of Florida had not closed this business.  The lack of state oversight was putting the public’s lives in jeopardy.  The health department wasn’t the only party at fault here, and it was time to confront the chef.  Chef Ray was working in kitchen conditions that could only be described as third world.  His kitchen smelled of death and his only defense was “This is what I inherited when I came here four years ago.”  I was astonished that he had worked four years in the conditions.  A week later I would find several grease covered dead rats behind the kitchen equipment, and Ray was immediately fired.  

With the help of some dedicated employees, the daunting task of cleaning the business and killing the rats would commence.  .  A professional extermination company was called in, and the holes in the roof and walls were sealed.  Rat traps were set nightly, and a total of 190 rats were killed in the first thirty days.  The only rats that remained were the ones living in the building. I lost thirty pounds during the first month, and later learned I was being sickened by the rat feces and urine.  During the second month another 140 rats were killed and the building was finally rat free.  A decade of filth, in which this business had probably sickened hundreds or thousands of people, was cleaned up in months.  The business closed in June of 2010 and was sold soon thereafter.

I wish I could tell you my story is an isolated one.  There are thousands of restaurants just like McT’s serving food in America.  These days, I find myself disgusted when reading online restaurant Health Reports.  Dirty knives and cutting boards, warm refrigerators, lack of hot water, poor staff hygiene, cigarette smoking employees and improper chemical storage are just a few of the problem areas  that restaurants need to work on.  The majority of restaurants in this country don’t adhere to health codes, lack certified food managers, and are simply not clean.  

Check out your favorite restaurants health reports online, and get ready to be shocked.

Have a great night out, and when you get to the host desk, tell 'em Brian wants to know how clean the kitchen is!  Please leave comments and answer the poll question.  Thanks again!

Brian Silveira is a restaurateur and food lover from Fort Myers, Florida.