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Food

Kitchen At Occupy Wall Street Gets "A" Rating


By

John Del Signore

Published Oct 24, 2011

Modified Oct 24, 2011


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By

John Del Signore

Published Oct 24, 2011

Modified Oct 24, 2011


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Some joker had some grade A fun last night with the kitchen at Occupy Wall Street last night by putting up a fake Health Department inspection sign. Stand up comedian and writer John Knefel spotted the sign and took this photo, writing on Twitter that volunteer kitchen workers told him the A rating came from city health inspectors. But the kitchen has not been inspected by the Health Department, as far as we know, and Knefel later tweeted that he was "asked not to discuss it further by Kitchen. I tweeted it too early, got excited." He wasn't the only one.

The kitchen staff reportedly "erupted" in cheers when they coveted A grade first went up, and unemployed chef Sean Dolan told the Post, "We keep clean no matter what people say about us—that ‘A’ proves them wrong!" But the occupiers soon realized the sign was not authentic, and one kitchen worker told the tabloid, "It seems someone made a kind gesture, but it turned out to be false. It’s kind of sad that we got our hopes up, only to have them dashed like this."

Last week, curmudgeonly NY Post dining critic Steve Cuozzo reviewed the food served at the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Zuccotti Park, writing that the spaghetti bolognese served at "Chez Zuccotti" featured "grass-fed beef so tough the beasts must have swallowed stones, too." The Occupy Wall Street kitchen committee has been trying to find a commercial kitchen to base their operation out of, but it's unclear if that would be subject to Health Department inspections. We contacted the department's press office for comment, and we'll update if we hear anything.

Tagged

health department

letter grades

occupy wall street


John Del Signore

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Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

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