GREENFIELD — A local Indian food restaurant that had its food service license suspended indefinitely until the ownership could come up with a plan to fix ongoing food safety issues intends to reopen in the coming weeks under new management and new staff.
The Clay Oven at 286 Main St. is to be run by Madan Rathore, one of three co-owners who previously ran the business. However, Rathore said he’s been absent from the establishment for at least a year and a half, leaving to open another restaurant in Keene, N.H. He relied on the other two former co-owners, Shashi Sharma and Swostik Rana Magar, to run The Clay Oven.
“I’m taking over,” Rathore said. “I’m working hard on it so we will open as soon as we can.”
Rathore is hoping to change the restaurant’s name and said he’s working with an attorney to see whether that’s possible. He’s also hoping to make several renovations to the restaurant, including replacing the floor and possibly the ceiling, and repainting the walls. He said he wants to make it “a totally different restaurant.”
“There’s a lot of money involved,” he said. “It’s a really big expense building a restaurant from scratch.”
Rathore plans to hire new staff and management that are fully trained in ServSafe food safety standards, and said there will be better communication with the town’s Health Department.
“I’ll fix everything that the previous management did not finish, so it will be a totally different atmosphere,” he said.
Health Director Nicole Zabko said no official plan or paperwork has been submitted to the Health Department yet, but the restaurant is still within the 60-day period the Board of Health allowed before it has to come back with a solid plan to fix the food safety issues that have plagued the eatery since it opened.
She said it’s her understanding that new partners are taking over the restaurant, including Rathore, but added she has no official confirmation at this time.
“As we get closer to the 60 days, if we don’t hear from them we will reach out to them and ask for a response,” she said.
Since opening in December 2013, the Clay Oven has had health violations. According to the health agent’s June 22 report, the restaurant has been “written up for the same violations since their first routine inspection conducted on March 20, 2014.” Three routine inspections were conducted and the same violations were occurring between March 2015 and January 2016. At this point, the health agent began spot checking the establishment, where she “continued to observe the same critical violations.” This led to the current shutdown.
Eric Nusbaum, a Greenfield-based food safety consultant recommended by the health board, has been hired by the new management to conduct an active training program to make sure all personnel know how to properly handle food in a safe and sanitary manner.
Nusbaum said he believes Rathore and his management are committed to running the restaurant correctly.
“They have experience in other restaurants and they have always passed their health inspections in other operations, and they will bring that same sort of commitment to this operation in Greenfield,” he said.
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