The bakery at 129 Eldridge St. scored 65 violation points during an inspection July 2.
Panade Puffs & Pastries has been closed since last week, when city health inspectors issued seven violations, four of them ranked “critical.” The paperwork noted issues such as roaches and food-storage temperatures. The tiny neighborhood joint, which is owned and run by sole proprietor Yvette Ho, has received good grades in three previous inspections this year. We spoke with Ho at her place a little while ago, where she chalked up most of the problems to refrigeration challenges brought on by the hot weather and the bureaucratic red tape that underlies the city’s restaurant grading system.
“It’s an unfortunate reality of the business, but restaurant owners are at the mercy of inspectors,” said Ho, who has operated the bakery and cafe since 2007.
She was waiting for a reinspection this afternoon, and planning to reopen tomorrow morning if authorities gave her the green light.
[UPDATE, JULY 10] Panade has reopened following a reinspection on July 8 that cited only 4 violation points.
Yvette does an awesome job of keeping the place clean, neat and tries to go above and beyond health inspection standards. I’ve seen her plugging up cracks and crevaces to keep out vermin and what not. I eat at Panade because it has got to be one of the best kept operations in the area, the pastries are top notched, it’s clean as a whistle, and I’ve never seen a roach or anything live other than happy humans in it!
Yvette(Panade) blocked me from commenting on their Facebook page. Hmmm….exposing the downplay of blaming the shut down on equipment failure where the real problem is RATS and ROACHES! Unfortunate, but you don’t get closed down for DAYS due to equipment failure. Pay attention people.