As Far as Restaurant Closures Go, This One Ain’t Chopped Liver

Even back home in Peoria, the two visitors were saying, the media doesn’t turn out when a restaurant is closed down for health code violations. Clearly, they said, eyeing the television cameras, this was no ordinary closure.

Quite correct.

This was the hammer falling on Jerry’s Famous Deli in Studio City, an institution where the stars of the sitcom “Seinfeld” slurp the beloved matzo ball soup alongside the local plumber, where all-night show-biz party-goers are still sipping coffee when aging ladies show up for pre-temple breakfast.

The question was whether the deli--which reopened Thursday after 27 draining hours--had suffered a deserved penalty for sloppy food handling or had been caught in the cross-fire between TV news and the county bureaucracy.

The county Health Department has been under fire since a local television station began an undercover series on health violations at restaurants around the city.

Each night has brought grainy images of yet another stomach-churning kitchen atrocity, such as a cook licking his fingers and then using his hands to toss a salad onto a plate, or an ash from another cook’s burning cigarette falling onto the grill where he’s whipping up the evening’s entrees.

Jerry’s has not been featured in KCBS-TV Channel 2’s investigative series, a producer at the station said.

County health officials concede that in their embarrassment they have launched a cleanup campaign, but deny that was the reason for the inspection at Jerry’s.

Health inspectors stopped by about 9 a.m. Wednesday and, during a tour of the restaurant’s busy, sprawling kitchen, said they discovered food not refrigerated at the proper temperature, unclean utensils and other violations. By 1:30 p.m., the inspectors had closed the doors, said an apologetic Isaac Starkman, chief executive officer of the chain.

“I’ve always complied with the Health Department and I will continue to comply,” said Starkman, who oversees nine restaurants in Southern California and one in Florida. “I apologize for the inconvenience and ask our customers to have faith in us.”

He wanted customers to have something else as well: a $5 gift certificate.

“We’re closed,” a smiling greeter said all through the lunch hour as she handed certificates to one would-be patron after another. “Doing some renovations.”

Indeed they were. Workers toiled throughout the night, cleaning virtually every square inch of the kitchen, installing new refrigeration equipment and adding new shelves to separate the stored foods. Even the brass, like chief financial officer Christina Sterling, pitched in, wiping down shelves.

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Of course, restaurant renovations seldom lure television cameras either, and would-be customers William and Katie Geelan were a bit suspicious of the greeter’s “renovation” explanation as they walked away clutching their gift certificates.

“Ah ha,” William said upon learning about the health-related closure. “Well, I’m a nurse myself, so I think it’s a great idea.”

So did several others Thursday, virtually all of whom had seen at least bits of the KCBS footage. Some of them blurted things like “Oh! Did you see that one where the chef picked his nose?”

“What I see is a [county agency] that wasn’t doing its job, and some people finally got tired of it,” said Jennie Lake, a catering manager at the nearby Sportsmen’s Lodge as she and two co-workers took their gift certificates and headed for a nearby hot dog stand.

“I think they should have done this a long time ago.”

“But not to Jerry’s!” said friend Norma Ortega.

Well, it wasn’t only to Jerry’s.

Another 22 restaurants got the thumbs-down from Health Department inspectors the same day.

“Are the inspectors feeling more diligent about handling the task?” said Health Department spokesman Fred MacFarlane. “I would say yes.”