Wayne Gretzky

  • Toronto restaurant fined maximum $20K for heavy cockroach problem

    Posted: November 17th, 2009 - 9:31am by Doug Powell

    Oh Scarberia, suburb of Toronto, home to Mike Myers and some of the Barenaked Ladies. Why do your restaurants suck?

    A takeout restaurant in Scarborough was fined $20,000 - the maximum penalty - after pleading guilty to four food-safety violations, including a "heavy" cockroach infestation.

    The guilty plea last Friday by Chandra's Takeout Restaurant and Catering, at 201 Markham Rd., related to problems that closed it Aug. 24 to Aug. 28. It has since reopened and passed full inspections on Aug. 28 and Nov. 6.

    The restaurant was fined $5,000 for each of four infractions: not controlling a pest/insect infestation; failing to protect food from contamination; not having a certified food handler; and for obstructing Toronto Public Health's red closure sign while the restaurant was shut down in August.
     

    Your rating: None
    Bookmark and Share
    Handwashing, Restaurant Inspection  |  1 Comment
    Catering', Chandra, Cockroaches, Mike Myers, Scarborough, Takeout, Wayne Gretzky
  • BBQ safely with Douglas Powell

    Posted: July 2nd, 2009 - 11:09pm by Doug Powell

    Look, I’m goofy. Probably the Brantford, Ontario, water, cause hometown pal Wayne Gretzky sure looked goofy on The Young and the Restless in 1981.

    I don’t want to be on video. But if that’s what it takes to get the message out about how to safely grill burgers this holiday weekend, then why not.

    As I wrote the N.Y. Times today in response to their July 1, 2009 piece, The Perfect Burger and All Its Parts, Chef Seamus Mullen’s recommendation to use any thin piece of metal into the side of a burger, and “if it’s barely warm to the lips, it’s rare. If it’s like bath water, it’s medium rare” only demonstrates the divide between food safety and food pornography.

    The only thin piece of metal that should be stuck into the side of a hamburger is a tip-sensitive digital thermometer.

    Color is a lousy indicator of burger safety, as is the taste of metal sticks. Rather than putting E. coli O157:H7 on precious testing lips – stick a thermometer in.

     

    Your rating: None
    Bookmark and Share
    Food Safety Policy, Raw Food, Thermometers  |  0 Comments
    Brantford, Hamburger, Hockey, Wayne Gretzky
  • Tennis star Federer's weakness might have been an illness

    Posted: March 9th, 2008 - 3:41pm by Doug Powell

    "I thought I had mono when I was a teenager but it turns out I was just really bored."

    One of my favorite lines from Wayne's World, if only because it was so apt: I had mononucleosis when I was 17, and would sleep for hours on end, but maybe I was just really bored.

    That probably doesn't apply to Roger Federer, 26.

    Last month, after falling ill for the third time in six weeks, he had extensive tests in his native Switzerland and in Dubai, where he lives part time. According to Federer, the conclusion was that he had contracted mononucleosis.

    Federer had already said he experienced food poisoning before the Australian Open, which he said disrupted his preparation for that tournament.

    But Federer, who complained of feeling sluggish during the Open, said it appeared that the mononucleosis was the more serious issue.

    Mike Myers can empathize.



    Your rating: None
    Bookmark and Share
    Celebrity, Food Safety Policy  |  0 Comments
    Mike Myers, Roger Federer, Wayne Gretzky