Tavern re-opens after salmonella outbreak

By Aaron Lee

Published: August 7, 2008

Janet Tevendale and Susan Hodous eat at least one meal a week at The Tavern.

They call the owner, Shelly Gordon, by his first name, usually ask for a booth and sometimes stay for an hour.

And they were there Thursday morning when The Tavern re-opened two weeks after the local health department showed up at the restaurant amid concerns that some customers were showing symptoms of salmonella poisoning.

In Gordon’s 27 years in business the restaurant has violated health codes before — ones he’s tried to fix and then move on.

But he was “embarrassed” when he was told about the salmonella July 24.

“The responsibility stops here, Mr. Truman,” Gordon said, paraphrasing the 33rd president.

It’s been two weeks of fits and starts for Gordon and his employees.

Last week they thought the ship was in shape and opened for three days, only to be re-inspected and found out of compliance with codes. It wasn’t until Wednesday that inspectors gave the OK to re-open.

The changes are still taking hold.

On Thursday morning Gordon was busy teaching one staffer about checking food temperatures.

And while the staff needed training, Gordon said he was being “too easy or lax” about safety before the recent inspections — perhaps with himself as much as anyone.

Gordon is now having a staff member with food-safety training come along and check behind him to make sure he’s not missing steps.

It’s also led to warnings on the menu about dangers of eating undercooked meats and eggs.

Eggs are probably how customers got salmonella poisoning, although Elizabeth Davies, an epidemiologist with the Thomas Jefferson Health District, said nothing is definitive yet.

Davies said nine people have tested positive for salmonella in the last two weeks and that each is believed to have been to The Tavern recently.

Gordon suspects the eggs because his entire staff was tested and one of the cooks came up positive for salmonella.

That cook, who worked at The Tavern for 16 years, has not returned to work because he may still be infectious, Gordon said.

Because of the concern about eggs, The Tavern is no longer using shelled eggs for most orders, substituting pasteurized eggs that are pre-blended.

Precautions have also spread into how The Tavern monitors food refrigeration and how closely it monitors hand washing and sanitized workspaces.

On July 24 inspectors cited The Tavern with violations that included employees with “poor handwashing procedures” and for failing to sanitize food pans. In that report inspectors listed four critical citations.

In a follow-up inspection on July 29 The Tavern received zero critical violations, down from the eight it received July 11 during a routine inspection.

With that, Gordon is hoping to rebound.

“Obviously, our business is suffering, and it will suffer, for a while, because of the publicity,” he said of the restaurant that serves, by Gordon’s count, 100,000 meals a year.

Some of which go to regulars Tevendale and Hodous.

“We were talking about other places in town,” Tevendale said. “[And] this has the atmosphere, this has the feel about it, and if you’re loyal you’re gonna be here.”