Cafes Try to Make the Health Grade
By Michael Reicher | April 23rd, 2009 | | 
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- Published in: City Limits
Michael Reicher
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Some mom-and-pop restaurateurs fear their businesses will be hurt by a city plan to post health inspection grades. But Siobhan Letchford (above), owner of The Islands restaurant, isn't worried: She says her customers know she runs a clean kitchen.
As she sliced a raw jumbo shrimp and dropped it into her sweet coconut calypso sauce, Siobhan Letchford said her customers at The Islands know she runs a clean kitchen. They can’t help but notice – the homey Jamaican joint in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn that Letchford owns and operates is so small that diners pass within six feet of the frying pan as soon as they open the front door.
Prospective diners may begin to prejudge her as soon as next year, though, when the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene posts letter grades showing restaurant inspection results.
