Dept. Of Health Closes 'A' Rated Home Of The 'Cronut' Following Mouse Video
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It appears one Manhattan bakery was too sweet to resist, especially for the mice.
The Dominique Ansel bakery in SoHo, which brought you the "cronut" and the milk and cookie shot, was shut down by the Department of Health on Friday for several sanitary violations, including a severe mouse infestation.
As 1010 WINS' Gay Baumgarten reported, a customer at the Spring Street bakery filmed a mouse scurrying across the floor and behind the counter earlier this week, then posted the video to YouTube.
The video was also turned in to the health department, which investigated and determined that the bakery was in need of professional pest control services.
Over the past year, the shop has enjoyed international acclaim.
The "cronut," a croissant-donut pastry, was even called one of the best inventions of 2013 in Time Magazine, CBS 2 reported.
Dept. Of Health Closes 'A' Rated Home Of The 'Cronut' Following Mouse Video
On its last inspection, dated Oct. 1, 2013, Dominique Ansel received an "A" rating from the health department.
According to the city's Department of Health website, the bakery received an "A" rating despite the following sanitary violations:
- Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas
- Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility's food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.
- Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist.
The turn of events for Dominique Ansel comes in the wake of another similar situation at an "A" rated Midtown Dunkin' Donuts, which was shut down this week after a rat video went viral.
The 15-second cellphone video, which was posted to YouTube on Tuesday, shows a rat crawling around the doughnuts at the shop at 37th Street and Eighth Avenue, 1010 WINS reported.
The shop was closed "because of conditions could not be corrected at the time of the inspection, including a severe rodent infestation that requires professional pest control services," the health department said.
In a statement Friday afternoon, the bakery defended its reputation, saying there was never a "mice infestation" and claiming sensational media coverage had driven the Health Department to close the shop.
"We had a customer who took a video of one mouse that ran across the bakery floor and rather than address our staff, he sent it as a news tip," a bakery spokeswoman said. "After an entire night of deep cleaning (and not finding any mice) we were visited by not one, but four health department inspectors today."
The spokeswoman said any hole larger than a tip of a ballpoint pen is considered potential for "mouse infestation."
"Most bakeries would've been given a second inspection and would not have been shut down for this," the statement said.
The spokeswoman said the bakery will comply with Department of Health requirements, and will reopen Monday as the shop is closed over the weekend.
"We're grateful for our fans who have shown their support in us being a target of something that was sensationalized," the statement said.
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