Upper Farinon Dining Hall, Lower Farinon, Gilbert’s Café and Marquis Dining Hall all received health code violations during the most recent inspections by the City of Easton Health Bureau.
On March 26, both Farinon dining establishments were found to have four total violations for improper temperature for hot holding cabinets, missing counter laminate and refrigerators and walk-in freezers that required cleaning. Marquis had two violations for single-service, single-use articles being stored at floor level and soiled knives being stored with clean ones. Gilbert’s had one violation for a missing temperature measuring device for the dishwasher. The latter two were both inspected on March 20.
These violations do not necessarily indicate a failing report, or even that a facility is out of compliance, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture website.
“Inspections are a snapshot of the day and time of the inspection,” the website reads. “Also, at the time of the inspection, violations are recorded but are often corrected on the spot prior to the inspector leaving the facility.”
“There’s two [inspections] done,” Christen Gonzalez, supervisor of dining services, said. “One by the city, and there’s one done by [Parkhurst]. They hire a third party to come make sure that we’re up to standards.”
Health violations are not uncommon. Since Aug. 5, 62.09 percent of all inspections by the City of Easton Health Bureau found some violation.
Lafayette’s dining facilities have received a total of 19 health code violations this academic year. In the 2022-2023 academic year, they received only 11, four of which were found during an Emergency Response inspection after a small electrical fire in Marquis.
This year’s violations include a report in which Upper and Lower Farinon were found to be out of compliance following a Dec. 11 inspection. At that point, the Farinon dining options had seven violations, six of which were fixed by a follow-up inspection on Dec. 19.
Gonzalez attributes these struggles to “growing pains” after the dining provider change.
As part of their efforts to maintain cleanliness standards, the Marquis front-of-house staff holds daily meetings.
“They let us know what we’re doing good and what we can work on,” Gonzalez said. “I think they’ve improved since last semester and hopefully we’ll just keep improving.”
Multiple dining employees at Upper Farinon expressed a desire to comment but declined to do so.
Tony Williams, resident district manager of Parkhurst, agreed to comment but did not respond to questions via email.
