Restaurant Report Card: A wine bar, a bread bistro and an A+ for Bittersweet

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DENVER — FOX 31 Denver’s Restaurant Report Card features a Highlands Ranch wine bar that earned an F for where health inspectors found an open can of chewing tobacco.

Indulge Wine Bar

The establishment at 1601 Mayberry Dr. gets a failing grade for 14 critical violations in its last two inspections. Inspectors found “a container of sour cream…contained mold, a flat of apples were stored on the floor under a rack of meat” and “an open can of chewing tobacco was stored above a food preparation sink.”

In May, inspectors found, “Employees lacked knowledge regarding food safety, including proper food temperatures.” Inspectors found “cheese, duck, cold cuts and fish” were held at too warm of temperatures. The general manager of Indulge Wine Bar refused to talk to us, but sent this statement:

“One particular prep cooler was having a difficult time keeping the recommended temperature…we have taken every measure to correct the issue…the health department has revisited us and…all critical violations have been corrected…”

Udi’s Bread Bistro

Next, we hit Udi’s Bread Bistro on East 29^th Avenue for our second failed restaurant. The Stapleton sandwich shop earned 12 critical violations in its last two regular inspections.

In June inspectors “observed an employee handle dirty dishes. The employee then washed his gloved hands and then handled clean dishes.” Inspectors noted that single use gloves cannot be washed.

“Sliced cheese, cut melon, feta cheese and cucumber/tomato salsa” were held at too warm of temperature. Denver Inspectors also “observed an employee assemble a salad for a customer with their bare hands.”

Udi’s Angie Hoagland said, “We take this very seriously, we take responsibility for it.” Hoagland said food safety is their highest priority and that they are using the bad inspections as a training tool. “We pride ourselves on cooking real food and serving healthy and fresh food and we will continue to do that today and every day.”

Bittersweet

And the sweet taste of success for Bittersweet at 500 East Alameda Avenue. The Denver restaurant known for its garden fresh ingredients touts perfect back-to-back inspections.

Bittersweet’s owner Olav Peterson said, “We don’t ever look at the health department as our foe, we look at the health department as our friend.” Good food plus a clean kitchen makes us think this “Farm-to-Table” restaurant could really grow on you.