County faults restaurant

The Coyote Creek Cafe & Lounge was snagged last week by relatively new, tougher state food handling procedures.

The restaurant was closed for 24 hours on Monday, November 13 for not keeping hot food hot enough, according to owner Eric Metzel.

"One item was not up to temperature," Metzel said. The item had been pulled from a cooler and put on the steam table to heat. However, a steam table is designed to keep already hot items hot, not bring them up to temperature, he explained.

When tested in a visit by the county sanitarian's office (which conducts examinations for the state), the food was below the required temperature. Neither environmental health department director Roger Everett nor inspector John Mason could be reached for comment.

Substantially tougher food handling rules were passed by the State of Oregon in 1994 following outbreaks of food poisoning in other states. Visits by the health department to restaurants are required twice a year. Penalties for violations have increased, and the new rules demand closure if critical problems are found in two subsequent visits. Coyote Creek had been tagged with a similar violation in February, hence last week's 24 hour closure.

A number of central Oregon restaurants have been caught by the new standards.

"We had to change procedures before, and we have had to change them again. We monitor it (food temperature)every hour now, we have back ups and every hour we switch them," said Metzel.

Metzel does not quibble with the regulations but says "awareness of the health department has increased tremendously."