Contrary to the comments of Ocean City Restaurant spokesman Simon Chang on Tuesday, Health Department environmental health director Ethlyn Joseph said Wednesday morning that she saw no way the restaurant could be ready to re-open later in the day.
Joseph said she closed the Havensight restaurant Tuesday because it has exterminating and cleaning problems, and because only one employee was able to produce a valid food-handler card when she arrived for an unannounced inspection Tuesday.
According to Chang, the other employees had left their cards at home. He said Tuesday that he expected "to be ready for her" — Joseph — on Wednesday and to reopen after reinspection.
The Chinese restaurant is the third eatery in the immediate area that Joseph has closed for environmental health violations. Kum Wah, another Chinese restaurant, and the Wendy's fast-food restaurant, both at Mandela Circle, were temporarily shut down in recent weeks.
Joseph said she closed Ocean City Tuesday after finding one roach too many. "I was going to let them go ahead and finish serving lunch," she said, "but as I continued my inspection, I was astonished. I've never seen so many roaches in my life! They were everywhere – in the vegetables, the chicken, the water, on the ceiling, the floor, in the cabinets."
So "I told them that they would have to close right then," Joseph said. She said she asked Chang "how in the world" he could let such conditions exist, adding that "no way in the world would I let you stay open to feed the public."
Chang said the restaurant is exterminated once a month. Joseph said that couldn't be true, noting bags of cornstarch and sugar in the kitchen that had roaches crawling out of them, and ordering Chang to throw them away.
Joseph said, "I really don't know what these people think. The other restaurant closings have been in the newspapers and on the radio – you'd think they'd listen." She said she doesn't enjoy closing restaurants, but "you have to protect the community's health."
Also, she said, if she simply found one employee somewhere without a valid health card, she would tell the management to be sure the person got one right away, and let it go at that. But when it's only one employee who does have a card, she said, it's a different matter.
"Let me tell you, I don't like doing this, I don't like closing people down," Joseph said. "It's not my nature. I don't get any fun out of it."
Joseph said she would reinspect the restaurant later Wednesday. "Chang told me he was going to have the exterminator in last night," she said. "But unless he has new employees with valid health cards, I don't see how he can open."
