April 5 Restaurant Report - NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News

April 5 Restaurant Report

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By Heather Sullivan - bio | email

  • Critical ViolationsCritical Violations

  • Friday, May 17 2013 9:06 AM EDT2013-05-17 13:06:39 GMT
    It's one thing for a state health inspector to catch restaurant workers not washing their hands before they touch food. But in this edition of the Restaurant Report, the inspector wrote that it happened
    It's one thing for a state health inspector to catch restaurant workers not washing their hands before they touch food. But in this edition of the Restaurant Report, the inspector wrote that it happened again when he went back.

  • Thursday, May 9 2013 11:15 PM EDT2013-05-10 03:15:09 GMT
    Long before the state banned smoking in restaurants, it had already banned smoking in restaurant kitchens. That's so your food won't be contaminated by the cigarettes or smoke. When a health inspector

    Long before the state banned smoking in restaurants, it had already banned smoking in restaurant kitchens. That's so your food won't be contaminated by the cigarettes or smoke. When a health inspector wrote up a restaurant for smoking in the kitchen, we went straight over.

  • Thursday, May 2 2013 11:15 PM EDT2013-05-03 03:15:13 GMT
    No one wants to hear about rodents in a restaurant. When an inspector reported finding rodent droppings in a popular fish store and restaurant, the owners replaced the manager. Cameron's Seafood Market,

    No one wants to hear about rodents in a restaurant. When an inspector reported finding rodent droppings in a popular fish store and restaurant, the owners replaced the manager.

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RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) -

For this Restaurant Report, we went back in time to the century old Hippodrome Theater, newly restored and reopened just six months ago.

Ron Stallings, the developer who brought it back to life, told us, "Richmond's Hippodrome is one of what's called the Chitlin Circuit. The Chitlin Circuit ran up and down the east coast, where performers went from venue to venue to venue."

Performers like Bojangles Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald, and James Brown used to light up its stage. Now the theater is filled with live music again.

"It's geared toward grown-ups," said Stallings. "It's not rock, it's not hip hop, it's blues, R&B, jazz and soul."

The adjacent Mansion 526 restaurant was once the home of Reverend W.L. Taylor, who chartered the first African American bank. And behind the Mansion, a speakeasy, just like during prohibition.

We asked Stallings if visitors used to use a code word to get in. "Absolutely," he laughed, "'I brought cash!'"

The Hippodrome had 5 critical violations on it's last health inspection, but they were all corrected on the spot, including that a food worker didn't wash their hands before donning gloves.

Stallings told us staff was retrained on hand washing requirements immediately. "We did it right then. The health inspector took the time to give everyone a mini-lesson."

Stallings also had the fridge fine-tuned to keep food at least the required 41 degrees, and it's all dated properly. He says the violations were minor, but important learning opportunities for the new restaurant. "We learn from those things and since then, I'm the person who makes sure the line stays perfect."

Perfection is his goal so that guests will continue to enjoy the tastes and sounds of the Hippodrome.

This week's NBC12 Hall of Fame Winner is Jersey Mike's Sub Shop at 708 England Street in Ashland. It has aced 3 of it's last 4 inspections, and hasn't had a critical violation in two years.

Check out "Dine," Richmond Magazine's Spring/Summer cuisine guide. It features an article about Richmond's recent boom of breweries and craft beers.

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