French restaurant in Northampton given one-star food hygiene rating

A French restaurant in Northampton town centre has been handed one of the lowest food hygiene ratings after a recent inspection.

Cafe Marseille in Sheep Street was given a one-star rating after inspectors identified areas in which the restaurant needs to improve.

The inspection, completed by a Northampton Borough Council food hygiene officer, took place on January 10 this year.

During the inspection, the restaurant was marked on three categories, including ‘hygienic food handling’, ‘cleanliness and condition of facilities and building’ and ‘management of food safety’.

The restaurant was ranked as ‘major improvement necessary’ in the category ‘management of food safety’, which includes the checks or systems in place to ensure food sold is safe to eat, evidence that staff know about food safety and whether or not the inspector is confident that standards will be maintained.

In the ‘hygienic food handling’ category, which includes preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage, the eatery was ranked as ‘improvement necessary’.

The third area, ‘cleanliness and condition of facilities and building’, the restaurant was marked as ‘good’.

Sergiu Andrievschi, the manager of Cafe Marseille, strongly disputes the rating and says he is appealing the decision.

He said: “The rating was for some paper work, hand soap that was under the sink instead of next to it and disinfector that was in the bar rather than the kitchen.”

However, Northampton Borough Council has confirmed an appeal was not received within the deadline.

After the inspection and before the findings of the report are published online, the restaurant is given 21 days to lodge an appeal.

As the appeal was not received, the restaurant will have to be re-inspected.

Usually re-inspections are completed around three months after the original inspection.