High-profile uptown restaurant gets a C rating for health-code violations

Stoke, the local-food-focused restaurant in the Marriott City Center, was one of three local restaurants that received C ratings in November, according to records with the food protection program, part of the N.C. Department of Health & Human Services.

Stoke’s Nov. 19 inspection gave the restaurant a score of 76, a C rating. In the last two inspections, in June and September, the restaurant had been rated A, with scores of 90 and 90.

Restaurants must have a score of 70 or above to remain open, according to Stephen Graham, food and facilities program manager with the Mecklenburg County Health Department. Establishments can make corrections during inspection; any critical violations that are not corrected are rechecked within 10 days under department policy. Graham says if critical violations aren’t corrected, it can lead to a variety of enforcements, depending on the severity of the issue.

If a restaurant scores below 89 and asks for another inspection, it’s reinspected within 15 days. A Marriott spokesman says Stoke has requested a reinspection.

Restaurants must post their ratings in a public place. The inspector is required to post all grades before leaving.

Seamus Gallagher, director of guest experience for the Marriott, told The Observer in an email Monday that the company expects a reinspection this week. “Marriott takes food safety very seriously,” Gallagher said in the email.

It’s unusual for a fine-dining restaurant to get a C rating, especially after receiving consistent A ratings. In the inspections available online at public.cdpehs.com, which date to 2016, similar hotel restaurants, including Evoke at Le Meridien, Angeline’s at the Kimpton, BLT Steak at the Ritz-Carlton and Caffe Siena at the Holiday Inn Charlotte City Center, show all A and B ratings for the last two years. Of the 18 restaurants that have ever scored C ratings, according to the searchable listings, most are small restaurants. The only fine-dining restaurant in that group is Chima Brazilian Steakhouse, which received a C before 2016, but which the database shows has maintained A ratings since.

The other restaurants that received C ratings this November were Cheddar’s at 620 University Place and Pudina in Brevard Court.

Among the violations cited by county health inspectors at Stoke: Holding temperatures that were too low, improper hand-washing by employees, handling clean utensils without gloves, and holding prepared foods past the times allowed.

This story was originally published November 26, 2018 at 4:09 PM.