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DENVER — Every week, FOX31 looks at health inspections at restaurants in metro Denver and along the Front Range.

This time we’re seeing how Valentine’s Day dining hot spots in Denver rated.

Elway’s Cherry Creek

The Cherry Creek location failed the report card with 11 critical health code violations found during surprise inspections in June and December.

Elways Keg Room 1
Denver Health Department photo

Health department pictures show “excessive black mold” on shelves, walls and the ceiling of the keg cooler.

Other violations included:

  • Prime rib tossed for being held wrong temperature
  • Sanitizer measured zero for ammonium
  • Bare hand use

The restaurant’s representative Gene Van Horne said a new chef has been hired.

“We take the cleanliness of our kitchen and the health of our guests very seriously,” Van Horne said in a statement. “Working in full partnership with the Denver Department of Environmental Health Inspection Division, we completed a re-training of our staff, adjusted several procedures, and were declared to be in 100% compliance after the inspection on 12/29/17.

“We are steadfast in our commitment to serving great food and providing great experiences for our guests every time”.

Elway’s is at 2500 E. First Ave. in Denver.

Tag

Denver inspectors cited this Larimer Street favorite for 12 critical violations in June and December inspections.

The issues included:

  • Dish machine not sanitizing
  • Bare hand use
  • Food held wrong temperature
  • No thermometer in cooler

The manager did not answer questions. Tag passed its follow-up inspection.

Edge

You can treat your sweetheart to an “A” grade at the Four Seasons. Edge scored two inspections in a row with no critical violations.

Executive chef Simon Purvis said it’s a 24-hour operation.

“Let me tell you it takes a lot of effort from not only myself but my entire team,” Purvis said. “We have a kitchen team, we have a front house team, we have room service team, banquet team. There’s many of us all focused on the little things because the little things add up to big critical violations.”

The chef said it’s not just a clean kitchen.

“We got the love going on in the restaurant behind me,” Purvis said. “We also have the love in the kitchen. The love coming from all of our cooks that are putting the love into the food.

The Four Seasons is at 1111 14th St. in Denver.

How restaurants appear on the Report Card

Restaurant Report Card features health inspections in the city and county of Denver, Jefferson County, Weld County, Broomfield and restaurants under the jurisdiction of the Tri-County Health Department. The Tri-County Health Department includes Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties.

An inspection is a “snapshot” of what is happening during the day and time of the inspection. On any given day, a restaurant could have more or fewer violations than noted in an inspection. Also, at the time of an inspection, violations are recorded and can be corrected prior to the inspector leaving the restaurant. If violations are not corrected, a follow-up inspection is scheduled.

The criteria FOX31 Denver uses to give a restaurant a failing grade includes the evaluation of two unannounced inspections by county health inspectors. A failing restaurant must have five or four critical violations on their most recent regular inspection and five or four critical violations on the previous regular inspection. The restaurant may also fail for nine or ten or more violations in one inspection. Health inspectors may conduct critical or follow-up inspections, due to the number of critical violations found during a regular inspection. Those inspections may also be considered for our reports. We recognize restaurants with two regular inspections in a row, with no critical violations, by awarding them an A.

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