LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Piero’s restaurant on Convention Center Drive is 'where Old School Vegas meets Italian fine dining.'
It’s a family-owned and operated Las Vegas institution that’s been in town since 1982... a gathering place for celebrities and public figures.
Piero's has made many an 'A list', and now, for the first time, it’s made our Dirty Dining list, in part because of spoiled food.
Piero’s was one major violation away from being shut down when it got a 38-demerit “C” grade on its Nov. 4 health inspection.
A tray of raw veal dated Oct. 1 was slimy and the meat had turned a greenish-grey color.
Moldy deli ham inside the walk-in dated back to Sept. 22.
There was expired “AP sauce” dated Oct. 15, stuffed peppers dated Oct. 28, pickled onions dated Oct. 14 and marinated olives dated Oct. 15.
All those spoiled food items went into the garbage after inspectors discovered them.
Other critical violations centered on food temperatures: chicken parmesan, eggplant parmesan, cream-based dressings, bruschetta, cooked potatoes, cooked peppers, and cooked onions were all at unsafe temperatures.
So were two large containers of cooked noodles and flour mixture for calamari with squid pieces in it. Instead of throwing those items out, Piero’s staff just had to properly label them with the amount of time they’d been out of temperature.
Several containers of egg yolks being cured in salt dating back to May 18 were growing mold, and they were pickling heat-treated strawberries which dated back to May 19.
The Health District told them to cease and desist from doing that until a proper plan was submitted and approved.
Pulled pork, marinara sauce, and clam chowder had to be thrown out due to improper cooling and not being actively monitored during the cooling process.
Chocolate and caramel sauce, mushroom stock, rice, raw veal, sauteed mushrooms, whipped butter, truffle butter, Pomodoro sauce, candied cherries, roasted garlic, tomato sauce, wedge potato fries, broccolini, and grilled onions were all in the temperature danger zone. Piero’s either discarded, relabeled, reheated or cooled items as required.
A food handler prepared raw fish and raw beef on the same surface, creating the risk of cross-contamination.
A rack of open food was stored in the splash zone of the hand sink.
Coffee machine chemicals were stored over clean coffee cups, and sanitizer buckets and chemical spray bottles were stored on food contact surfaces.
Open employee beverages sat on an active prep counter on the grill line.
There was no designated person in charge when inspectors arrived and the majority of the kitchen staff was unable to answer food safety questions.
Shelves in the wine cooler were dirty with yeast and dust.
An employee’s cell phone sat on a towel on the hotline.
Ventilation hoods were heavily soiled with grease and starting to drip.
There were gaps in the wall in dry storage and debris accumulated on the wine cooler floor.
Piero’s was warned that future failed unannounced inspections may result in more stringent administrative action.
It was re-inspected on Nov. 9 and received a 3-demerit "A" grade.
General Manager Evan Glusman said, "Two inspectors were at our restaurant for six hours. If you walk around any kitchen and look for six hours, you're gonna find some stuff. I stand by the restaurant being extremely clean, and we take the inspection very seriously. There are violations and some of the stuff was ticky tacky but a 'C' is a 'C' and that's horrible. We corrected and rectified what we could immediately. We're not arguing with the valid stuff but some were simple mistakes. Nonetheless, for us its sickening and heartbreaking. It’s a terrible report. We know we have to check our dates and will own our mistakes. I stand by us not being a dirty restaurant. We don’t get people sick. The stuff out of date is unacceptable for us and we threw it out right away. Some protocols weren’t followed and staff got lazy with labeling. I stand by what we do and how we run our restaurant. The moldy egg yolks were a chef project. We don’t have eggs on our menu and it’s not served to guests. As it was not for restaurant use, the chef had forgotten about it. We’ve corrected all the problems and it’s not going to happen again."
Click here to see the health report for Pieros Restaurant.
