The Horn of Africa sits at the top of the restaurant review site Zomato as Ottawa’s best place for African cuisine. It also has a seat close to the top of another list — restaurants with the most health violations.
The Horn of Africa had 13 food safety violations this year so far.
The small Ethiopian restaurant is located on Rideau Street, only a few storefronts down from the popular Rideau Bakery. As this Friday evening came around, the Horn of Africa stayed dark and silent, its doors shut and the neon ‘open’ sign turned off.
Several unsuccessful attempts were made to get in contact with the owners of the restaurant for comment about its food safety inspections and whether the poor results have any ties to its recent closure.
Only two weeks ago, 19-year-old Jeanvieve Massicotte went to the restaurant with her friend.
“It was not the greatest experience,” said Massicotte. “I found it to be very unkempt, not very welcoming, and kind of dirty.”
A food safety inspector visited the Horn of Africa on November 10th. One of the restaurant’s most recent infractions was for failure to keep things clean and in good maintenance. An infraction like that could mean something as simple as sanitizing kitchen counters and equipment.
This category of violations is pretty broad, according to Franco Pagani, the acting supervisor for Ottawa’s Public Health Food Safety program.
“We’re talking about general cleanliness and the whole physical location,” said Pagani. “It could be grease under the fryer, it could be dust under the cooler. Is there a hole in the dry wall, is there a loose tile? Is it dirty, in need of painting?”
It’s usually nothing that that can’t be resolved with a little spring cleaning or basic renovations.
The food safety inspection report also stated that the restaurant failed to “maintain carpeting in food service room in clean and sanitary condition”. One of the regulations laid out in Ontario’s Health Protection and Promotion Act requires restaurants to keep floor coverings “tight, smooth and non-absorbent” in order to maintain a clean space.
“When we sat down, I saw something behind my friend’s head move on the wall,” said Massicotte. “I’m not sure whether it was a cockroach but it was definitely some kind of bug.”
Massicotte felt sick after eating at the Horn of Africa and said that she definitely won’t be returning to the restaurant.
The Horn of Africa has an unfortunate long history of food safety violations. In 2011, they racked up more than 60 infractions. The latest warnings, about keeping things clean and guarding against pests, are nothing new.
Most of these infractions have been non-critical so far, allowing for the owners to come into compliance with the rules.
“It’s really preventative at this point,” said Pagani. “Make sure you are doing everything in your power not to get an infestation. We want to make sure every food premise has a good integrated pest management program. Some of the things could be as simple as having a screen on the back door.”
As the violations build up these issues are more likely to become critical and a serious threat to public health safety. If there is an imminent health hazard, Public Health Ottawa could take legal action or even close down the restaurant.
“We see ourselves as educators as well as enforcers,” said Pagani. “We’re there to work with them and develop plans.”