A big break for germs

Add another restaurant casualty to the list of recession victims: Food safety in one of Texas’ major cities. A local TV station reported today on the web that Arlington has laid off the five health specialists who monitor sanitation conditions within the municipality’s 2,000 restaurants.

Officials told reporter Janet St. James that the city would outsource oversight to a contracted third party. “However, no deal to do that has been publicly discussed or finalized,” St. James wrote.

The article notes that the sanitation inspectors will work until next Thursday, after which restaurants will be expected to police themselves.

The estimated savings: $100,000, or $50 per restaurant.

Tom Colicchio's slam dunk

Chef Tom Colicchio seems to have discovered a form of kryptonite against the irresistible forces of recession. His idea of turning space within his celebrated Craft into a two-days-a-month private restaurant where he does the cooking has only been put to the test three times. But the 32-seat restaurant-within-a-restaurant is selling out “five or 10 minutes” after the reservations blackout is lifted for upcoming dinners, Colicchio said today on theCBS News program Sunday Morning. That’s at a fixed price of $125 to $175 per person, excluding wine and other beverages.

On the night when the CBS camera crew dropped in, Colicchio was getting the full $175 a head. That’s $5,600 on a fall Tuesday, just for the food.

The former Grammercy Tavern chef and partner explained that there are people in New York who’ll always have that kind of money. And, he asserted, they’re actually getting a value for what they’re paying.

The special service is called Tom: Tuesday Dinner, and is offered every other Tuesday. Given the success of the program, the Rolls Royce set will soon have its pick of high-ticket meals offered on a limited basis by celebrity chefs.