The orange letter

All around New York City, bold letter grades are appearing in the windows of restaurants. Most of them are As, printed in a dark blue that suggests pure water. A few are Bs, in a shade of green that looks pleasant but could also remind you of something growing in the back of the refrigerator. Many more simply say “Grade Pending.”

The public letter grades help confirm what Orwell revealed in Down and Out in Paris and London—that the fanciest restaurants often serve dirtier food than the humble eateries.

Famed brasserie Les Halles has received 20 ‘violation points,’ which translates to a B.  Inspectors found roaches and unprotected food in Les Halles’ kitchen, both critical violations.  Poor plumbing and a lack of vermin-proofing were also listed on the Health Department’s Restaurant Inspection Information website.

Lahore Deli, on the other hand, a tiny hole in the wall around the corner from my office in Soho, gets an A (and strong reviews on Yelp).

A restaurant with a poor rating is given a chance to redeem itself, which explains all the “Grade Pending” signs. In fact, so far I have seen only one C posted: an ominous orange letter in the window of the Manhattan Bistro on Spring Street. On the evening that I noticed it, the scarlet—I mean, orange—letter didn’t seem to be deterring customers. The place was doing a brisk business.

The other day I walked past the Manhattan Bistro, hoping to take a picture of the orange C. It was gone, replaced by “Grade Pending,” so the place has apparently been given a second chance.

Not so for Baluchi’s Indian restaurant, a little farther down Spring Street. The health department shut it down months ago, and it reopened after a few days. Now it appears to be shut down for good.

I am fond of the place, though the quality of food was always what my mother calls “good not great.” After many takeout orders of fish curry with samosas, I was recognized as a regular, and one of the staff members found out about my day job and used to grill me for investment advice.

A couple of years ago, when Jenn and went out for an anniversary dinner, we headed for an interesting-looking Middle Eastern restaurant next to the Occitane store in Soho. It was closed, for good. We went next to Union Square to eat at Zen Palate, but that was gone too. Finally we ended up at Baluchi’s on Spring Street, and were treated like honored guests.

Baluchi’s has several restaurants, and I was amused to see that the one on West 3rd Street (also shut down by the health department) has been reopened as Baburchi, with a name and menu more than reminiscent of its old self.

P.S. A friend has let me know about a clever variation on the rating certificate, employed by the Three Lives bookstore in the West Village.