Fig & Olive - A New York Chain, Based on Simple, Olive Oil-Based Mediterranean Cuisine - Palmer Alley in CityCenterDC

[eatruneat]

Follow up from the Washington City Paper.

According to the article, Fig&Olive was nearly shut down:

In response to the customer's complaint, DOH sent an inspector to check out the restaurant the next day, Sept. 9. What the inspector found was not a pristine kitchen. In fact, the restaurant was nearly shut down for a number of other health code violations.

The inspector found ten critical and six noncritical violations: Employees were not frequently washing hands or changing gloves between tasks while preparing and serving food. The temperature of the water in the hand washing sinks was not as hot as it was required to be. The prep table and other food contact surfaces as well as a rusty can opener were unclean. Wiping cloths were not stored in a sanitizing solution bucket. Some cold food items were not stored at the proper temperatures. The ice box had visible mold. Flies were found in the kitchen and at the bar. And the restaurant had no written employee health policy for the prevention of foodborne illnesses"”an infraction that the health department first noted before the restaurant's June opening.

Despite all of this, the restaurant was able to correct five of the 10 critical violations to the health department's satisfaction, which meant it could stay open. It takes six critical violations that cannot be corrected on site for the health department to automatically suspend a restaurant's operations"”Fig & Olive was just one shy.

But this is what it was telling the public:

That evening, the Washington Post reported that several people had been hospitalized with salmonella-like symptoms that appeared to be linked to Fig & Olive. The restaurant's VP of Food & Beverage Fabien Guardiola claimed nothing was wrong. "This morning the health department conducted a full inspection of our premises," he told the Post. "We are not aware of any violation or risk found." (Guardiola did not respond to City Paper's request for comment.) General Manager Ian Kitzmiller likewise told the Post that the restaurant had gone through all its products and food-handling procedures and "there were no issues."

[DonRocks]

[Josh]

Bring out the Hellmans...

[Simul Parikh]

Interesting... Wonder if you can't trust major companies, or if you just can't trust any restaurants. Who knows what ingredients and products anyone is using ???

[The Doctor]

I wonder if they were using Hellman's olive oil mayo -- which also includes modified potato starch.

[eatruneat]

The post from pesenti (#4) had it first, and now the result of the Washington City Paper's FOIA request:

"Investigation Reveals Fig & Olive's Kitchen Relies on Pre-Made Meal Components"  by Jessica Sidman on washingtoncitypaper.com

[pras]

Do they also use Hunt's Catsup?

[DonRocks]

The post from pesenti (#4) had it first, and now the result of the Washington City Paper's FOIA request:

"Investigation Reveals Fig & Olive's Kitchen Relies on Pre-Made Meal Components"  by Jessica Sidman on washingtoncitypaper.com

Bravo, pesenti - you nailed it!

Please, step forward, introduce yourself, and take a bow.

Fig & Olive is so far down in the Mount Vernon Square Dining Guide right now that they can't even see the top.

[Genevieve]

But they've raised their prices - now that's chutzpah.

[iolaire]

The city paper has done a very good job reporting on the restaurant.

[MattCraft]

I walked by F&O yesterday at around 8 PM. It was packed. Boggles the mind.

[petercarrjones]

Tim Carmen interviewed Fig and Olive's president. The questions were pointed but appropriate. Then Greg Guly offers the greatest non-apology apology ever. 

[monkeyrotica]

So he doesn't apologize for making customers sick. He apologizes for "being misrepresented in the media." Alright then.

[Bart]

And he never actually says what the media misrepresentation was.

I wasn't inclined to eat here in the first place, but after reading that interview, I wouldn't set foot in that place if you paid me.

[MsDiPesto]

Translation: "I'm sorry we got caught!". He should run for congress.

[jayandstacey]

Good grief.   There was hardly a definitive statement in there anywhere.

Choice cuts:

"We are not freezing any product at the commissary or in-house.   The only item that we are freezing are the products that require it for the preparation."

Notice how the number goes from 0 to 1 to multiple, all in a span of only 27 words!  Impressive!

"...and why did we resume food preparation in-house extensively....The new executive chef was hired back in July to help transition some of the production and preparation items made in the commissary to each units.  So today, all the foods are produced in-house"

Extensively, some or all?  And notice a few turns of words here:

• items vs. food - I suspect this is corporate speak for ingredients vs. dishes.  So maybe some ingredients are still made in some central place - while the dishes are prepared on-site - which has always been true (but not the issue).
• units vs. in-house - I believe that units mean actual restaurants, like the one in DC, while in-house means anywhere under a Fig and Olice roof.  So while they may have closed the commissary - is it at least possible that one location is feeding others with "items"?  

Translated, I think he's saying "we no longer use the commissary - but our business model relies on centralization of some preparation...so we've re-tooled all that in a way that doesn't use a commissary (but I still can't say that every dish is built from the raw ingredients in the kitchen a few feet from your table.)"  I can't prove that - but why all the song and dance?

Personally, I'd expect restaurants to do some of this, even the best ones.   Mix up the 'secret spice' somewhere and send it to the kitchens in gallon jugs.  Whatever, that's fine to a degree.   But to "Shkreli" this to Tim Carman?  (yes, that's the verb form of that name...)  C'mon, get over yourself. 

Never been, never going but enjoying this thread.

[Simul Parikh]

After reading that, I hope that people don't go there
That guy sucks. He couldn't even say sorry.
He was sorry for the misrepresentation by the media.
Greg Galy sucks. Sorry Don. He sucks. He is welcome to message or email me, if he thinks the personal attack is unfair. This is incredible.

[jondagle]

Mr Galy's interview performance certainly wasn't good. But, if you think the president of company being sued is going to apologize for something related to their conduct or product, you don't understand the legal system in the United States. No lawyer would allow it. Boeing doesn't apologize when one of their aircraft crashes. This isn't a defense of Fig & Olive or their response, it's just a statement of fact. You can't get blood from a turnip.  

[jayandstacey]

Boeing doesn't apologize when one of their aircraft crashes.

Very true.

Nor does Boeing arrange for an interview with an industry critic, have the boss talk but a PR person sit there, use purposely obtuse language, provide apologies for other's actions (alleged actions), get into a little he-said, she-said with the interviewer, deny knowing their own sales figures or fail to deliver information promised at a later date.

The guy would do well to STFU. Like a real business like Boeing would.

[Pat]

Very true.

Nor does Boeing arrange for an interview with an industry critic, have the boss talk but a PR person sit there, use purposely obtuse language, provide apologies for other's actions (alleged actions), get into a little he-said, she-said with the interviewer, deny knowing their own sales figures or fail to deliver information promised at a later date.

The guy would do well to STFU. Like a real business like Boeing would.

It seems the reason for the interview was to deflect attention from the Jessica Sidman/City Paper FOIA investigation, while simultaneously piggybacking off it to get their side of the story out there but without talking about any of the issues under legal contention.  That's quite a contortion, but it was impressive that he managed to contort all the way around to apologizing to his customers for being subjected to misrepresentation by the media.

And I must say I was amused at the answer he gave when asked why he was speaking to the Post and not City Paper, and he said it was because they would be more objective.  Apparently, Mr. Galy is unaware that Tim Carman used to have the job Jessica Sidman has (and, I might say, does quite well) now.  It's not like he's from another universe, and Tim certainly didn't roll over when he was getting stonewalled.

[lekkerwijn]

I'd describe this as a lesson in how not to do crisis PR when you have a food safety problem and have made people sick. So much so, that I'm going to save it and use it as a training tool with my team. This is also why if you have a nationwide outbreak from your restaurant and the CDC is involved and you don't continue to use your publicist who does lifestyle PR and hire an agency experienced in crisis and litigation communications who won't put you in a situation like Mr. Galy was put in with Carman. This interview should never have happened. He should have called me and my team. 

[pras]

My cousin is a doctor in Austin Texas.  A long time patient slipped in his office and was suing them.  At a deposition, my cousin said "I am sorry you slipped at my office."  The patient dropped the lawsuit.  Sometimes an apology (which incidentally does not admit guilt) goes a long way.

[Simul Parikh]

Mr Galy's interview performance certainly wasn't good. But, if you think the president of company being sued is going to apologize for something related to their conduct or product, you don't understand the legal system in the United States. No lawyer would allow it. Boeing doesn't apologize when one of their aircraft crashes. This isn't a defense of Fig & Olive or their response, it's just a statement of fact. You can't get blood from a turnip.

I heartily disagree. As someone said above me, an apology goes a long way in the litigious United States. Many medical malpractice lawsuits are avoided when people apologize. It's not that you're admitting guilt. People don't need that. They need the apology for an adverse outcome. It sounds like litigation is ongoing currently. If the client saw this, it would make them even madder. If they saw an apology for the adverse outcome of being sick, they may relent. They may not. But, in no way, is an apology an admission of guilt. "I'm sorry people got sick. The facts of the case will show that we aren't at fault, and I assure you we weren't, but at the same time this is quite unfortunate."

Similar to, "I'm sorry the treatment didn't work. We followed best practices, and the facts will bear out that we aren't at fault, but I still feel bad that the patient suffered."

Sometimes you don't have to follow a script - sometimes you follow basic decency and things may work out. Or not. But don't be a jerk.

[Simul Parikh]

Mr Galy's interview performance certainly wasn't good. But, if you think the president of company being sued is going to apologize for something related to their conduct or product, you don't understand the legal system in the United States. No lawyer would allow it. Boeing doesn't apologize when one of their aircraft crashes. This isn't a defense of Fig & Olive or their response, it's just a statement of fact. You can't get blood from a turnip.

Trust me when I tell you this, the decrease in medical malpractice has much to do with the more recent instruction of apologizing to patients, NOT ADMITTING GUILT, but saying you are sorry about bad things. This is now taught in medical school. Don't say you did anything wrong, but be a human being, for chrissakes. This guy Galy, at the end of the interview, renounced his humanity. Apologizing for media misrepresentation??! Come on...

The legal system does not care if you say sorry or not. But human beings do. Jeez

[Kibbee Nayee]

It was Thursday afternoon, and I was heading to a corporate dinner at Cuba Libre, but I was early and nursing a cold. So I stumbled upon Fig and Olive and stopped in for a spot of hot tea at the bar.

Directly across the bar from me was Betsy DeVos, our new Education Secretary, having a white wine and a small snack with a female companion with whom she was engaged in conversation. I was surprised to see a cabinet secretary so visible, but what the heck, it was only Education. And no one was bothering her for selfies or autographs....

 

[dcs]

Robert Trump mourner allegedly punches restaurant worker, breaks nose, by Jon Levine, August 22, 2020, on nypost.com.