If you’ve been reading my posts for these last few months, you may have gleamed that my husband and I do not come from a food service background. We come from a background with an even greater emphasis on safety, sterilization, and sanitation – dentistry! Even with all of the strict rules to follow to maintain a clean and safe dental office, the idea of our first Health Inspection at Perspective Cellars admittedly made me nervous.
Of course, there were hoops to jump through just to obtain our health permit in order to open our doors back in November. But now, it was time for our first inspection after being in business for 60 days. While the rep from Gillespie County was courteous in our email exchange to schedule the inspection, I still wasn’t sure what I was in for.
I arrived an hour earlier than our appointed time, and because everything had already been thoroughly cleaned when we closed previous, there was nothing for me to do…so I cleaned everything again! After all, I had an hour’s worth of nervous energy to deal with. When the Health Department rep arrived, right on time, I started by introducing myself and then pelleted her with questions about the specific rules regarding service animals. If you know me at all, you know that I love animals even more than I love wine. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a wine safari? Where you drive through a beautiful landscape viewing exotic animals while also sipping excellent wines and having tidbits of trivia about both?! But I’m getting off topic…. The reason for my questions to her was simply because we have a lot of guests who walk with their dogs down Main Street and want to stop to rest with a glass of wine. I love to accommodate these guests on our front porch, where we have heaters if needed, a bowl of water for the furbaby, and even treats – not to mention the great wine choices and excellent people watching. Recently, however, we had a couple who arrived with a smallish furry white dog in a pink stroller, and they insisted the dog was a service animal and must be allowed inside. I explained that I’m very dog friendly personally, and if they made a stroller big enough, I’d wheel my 100 pound bird dog around town, but the health department just won’t allow dogs inside, unless they could provide the registration card that shows the pet is a service animal. They left unhappy with me, and I’m sure won’t return, but I was unsure of what the real fine print is when it comes to the claims of a pet being a service animal.
The rep was very informative and even shared some horror stories as means of driving home the point. So my questions have been answered and I’m better prepared to help our leash carrying friends in the future. She then went on to begin her inspection, beginning with the Hand Wash Only sink – testing the temperature and soap dispenser. When we first applied for our permit to serve wine and food, we had ordered a dishwasher from Lowe’s. Did I already mention that we don’t come from a food service background? Upon our first review of the application, we were informed the dishwasher is residential and not commercial, and thus does not get hot enough to be approved for use. We had to have it uninstalled and then have the county back out again. We obtained our permit with no dishwasher in place and instead, a plan for properly hand washing and sanitizing all glasses and plates. Lowe’s kindly took back the dishwasher and we order the appropriate kind online, once we finally found one that I could afford. It took nearly two weeks for the washer to make it to us. Then we took another week to line up an electrician to change out to the appropriate breaker, and yet another two weeks to get a plumber able to install the machine. It had been installed the day before the inspection, but had not yet been used, because the bucket of dish soap and sanitizer that I ordered had not yet arrived. Ugh!
No worries, the rep and I instead discussed the three-step process we had been using the clean the classes by hand, including a chat about the appropriate amount of soap and sanitizer. Ends up, I had incorrectly purchased the chlorine test strips needed for a swimming pool and not a dish sink. So I had been using more sanitizer than is necessary. Good thing I can cut back, because that stuff wasn’t cheap. She helped me find the correct test strips on Amazon and we moved on. She inspected the fridge for proper temperature. And, admittedly, complimented me on the organized storage and labeling of the foods on the shelves.
I answered a few more questions, and was granted a 100% on our first Health Inspection. I’m pleased to report that not only did we pass with flying colors, but now the dishwasher is properly installed – with all of the appropriate products needed for its effective use – and I no longer have dish water hands! We are also ramping up to begin serving a cheese and charcuterie board later this month, so stay tuned for details and pics.
