GREENFIELD — A new restaurant plans to open in the former Clay Oven Indian restaurant on Main Street under a new name following the suspension of the previous eatery’s food service license earlier this fall.
The Board of Health voted Wednesday night to accept an application to open from the establishment, which will be owned by former Clay Oven owners Madan Rathore and Swostik Rana Magar under the name Indian By Nature, contingent on a walk-through inspection.
A third partner, Shashi Sharma, who oversaw the restaurant while Rathore ran a second restaurant in Keene, N.H., is no longer in the partnership.
Rathore told the board Wednesday that the restaurant has been extensively renovated and cleaned, and the owners are working with Dr. Eric Nasbaum of Wheelwright Consultants to train the staff in proper safe food service practices. He’ll stay on full-time, indefinitely, to oversee the restaurant staff’s work, he said.
Nasbaum has also designed a custom cleaning plan for the restaurant, which all staff will need to sign off on at the end of each week.
Health Inspector Brianna Eichstaedt said the restaurant has come a long way in fixing the major health safety concerns that saw it closed in September after months of failed inspections.
“They’ve been working with Dr. Nasbaum, and if they follow the schedule, there should be no problem,” she said. “They’re showing a lot of effort, and everyone involved should be excited.”
The restaurant could be open before the end of the month, Rathore said. At that point, the establishment will be inspected on a monthly basis for at least two months. If those go well, the restaurant will be placed on normal biannual inspection, Eichstaet said.
You can reach Tom Relihan at: 413-772-0261, ext. 264
or trelihan@recorder.com
On Twitter, @RecorderTom