Health Board Threatens To Shut Down Sabrina Wong III

The said Monday night that will be shut down on Friday morning if the restaurant does not hire a food consultant, to address critical and repeated food safety violations.

Sabrina Wong III, located at 790 Water St., had been cited for violations in the past and was ordered to hire a food consultant to ensure food safety protocols were being followed. As of Monday night’s Board of Health meeting, the food consultation was not complete.

Christina Lei, translating for the restaurant owner, said Sabrina Wong had engaged the services of a food safety consultant who had later been forced to stop working for them due to personal issues. Lei said the restaurant had then tried to hire a food consultant from Chinatown, but had not been able to arrange it yet.

Board of Health members were not satisfied with this explanation, noting they had already given the Nobscot restaurant a list of local food consultants, several of whom speak Chinese.

Felix Zemel, the Sanitarian who had inspected the restaurant, presented a slide show with photos he had taken at the last inspection. The pictures showed raw pork being stored at 46 degrees and raw shrimp stored at 52 degrees.

Photos of the refrigerator showed raw chicken and shrimp stored on a shelf above cooked chicken wings; in that position, raw meat could leak onto and contaminate the cooked food below. Photos also showed uncovered raw meat stored in a walk-in freezer, as well as uncovered raw foods in a walk-in refrigerator.

"Common sense says that you should know better how to store foods than we're seeing in these pictures,” said Board of Health Chair Michael Hugo. “If you're in the restaurant business, you need to know these things. My wife would never keep our refrigerator like this, and we're not in the restaurant business."

In addition, there were photos of a dented pot covered with brown residue that may have been food residue.

"There are scrub brushes and there is soap, and those are disgusting to look at. It doesn't take a food consultant for that," said David Moore, MD, vice chair of the Board.

"It's no secret that I'm one of your customers,” said Board member Nelson Goldin, “and Mike Hugo is one of your customers, and your mother knows that, but we're both very disturbed by this...I don't understand how you can store foods so indiscriminately like that and expect this board to understand and allow you to continue operating."

The owner claimed these issues were not normal occurrences, stating the chef had been nervous when he saw the inspectors, and put the raw meat into the freezer uncovered.

"Three weeks later, and that happens. Unless you consider me an idiot, I can't believe that just happened that day," Dr. Moore said.

Hugo said to Zemel, “Felix, did you dispose of any of the food while you were there?”

“No, I didn't,” Zemel said.

“So that food got used?” Hugo said. 

“Yes,” said Zemel.

“That's gross,” Hugo said.

“There's no reason for this to continue. We can't prove that somebody's sick because of this, but we can't wait for that point," Dr. Moore said.

Hugo added, “I think it's up to us to make sure that doesn't happen." 

The Board passed a motion stating Sabrina Wong III has to have a food consultant in the establishment, under contract, no later than 8:30 a.m. Friday morning, July 22, or the restaurant’s license will be suspended and its doors shut that day.