Country’s weeklong nightmare is over, restaurant rep Jay Strell tells us. The DOH inspector has come and gone, and the place has passed inspection and is open again. Dinner service will start as of 5 p.m. tonight.

Related: Country Fails Reinspection, This Time for Fruit Flies

Like any New Yorkers, we here at Grub Street are overly fond of statistics that demonstrate our city’s dominance over the rest of the country. Hence our pleasure to have found some simple calculations, based on readily available public figures, on New York Restaurant Reminder, a blog more commonly devoted to recounting big meals. Listen to this:

Country didn't open last night, and, apparently, it wasn't because of their not having filed a DOH-approved sous vide plan. No, the city came down on the place for the presence of fruit flies, Eater is reporting. They quote a source within the DOH who says, “28 points needed to fail and 28 points awarded in fruit flies at the bar and storage areas.…The DOH is being tough on fruit flies when many restaurants are riddled with vermin." Chef Geoffrey Zakarian has released a statement that was readied earlier in the day and addresses the sous vide issues, but apparently thought he was out of the woods on the insect issue. Not so. But given the ubiquity of fruit flies near storage areas in the summer, this latest development seems a little draconian, even by DOH standards.

DOH Chronicles: Country Can't Catch a Break, Fails Reinspection [Eater]
Related: Country Hoping to Be Open As Early As Tonight

Country's closure by the DOH might come to an end tonight, Geoffrey Zakarian tells us. Then again, it might not. The restaurant was closed Friday for, as a DOH rep told Eater, a "poor inspection history" combined with the lack of an approved sous vide plan on file. The chef tells Grub Street that he has filled out all the necessary paperwork with the city, particularly in regard to the thorny issue of having a DOH-approved sous vide plan. Country is waiting for a reinspection, after which it can reopen; Zakarian hopes this will be as soon as tonight, but everyone is at the mercy of the city in these matters, and no one knows for sure.

Earlier: Zakarian Says He’s Still at Country
DOH Chronicles Coda: The DOH Weighs in on Country [Eater]

Seymour Burton, as if it needed any more trouble (they’ve been struggling with business somewhat, despite having built a cult following amongst burger lovers), has now been closed by the Department of Health. We reached co-owner Adam Cohn, who explained, “The biggest thing is a paperwork problem. We never changed the D/B/A line on our food handler’s permit, and it still says Le Tableau, which was the name of the former space. It’s a big hassle to get it straightened out.” He adds that there were also some “minor violations” — placement of handsinks, screen doors, and refrigerators not draining properly were some examples mentioned — that need to be fixed. Cohn says that he hopes to have the restaurant back open by next week.

A reader tells us that Chatham Restaurant (no relationship to adjacent Chatham Square Restaurant, which remains open) has been temporarily shuttered by the Department of Health. Strangely, no violations were recorded during a January inspection, which might explain why Just an hour ago, employees were milling around in what you might call a state of “sticker shock.” They might want to jump on one of the Atlantic City buses outside, to make back whatever tip money they’re going to lose while management puts its house in order.

Update: A few hours after this post the stickers were down and a sign on the door indicated the restaurant would reopen on Saturday, July 5.

Shiki Kitchen, the precious Brazilian-themed sushi joint in the East Village, has been closed by the Department of Health. A sign on the window explains, “Due to the old Building there are gas leaking. We will be open SOON.” Here’s hoping none of the colorful pieces of origami on the walls, made by chef Shiki himself and often given to lucky customers while Shiki serenades them with “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You,” have been compromised. Renovations are under way — we hope Shiki will reopen before this coupon for a $19.95 all-you-can-eat sushi meal expires on July 22.

Update: According to the DOH, the restaurant received 71 out of a possible 175 points on a June 11 inspection, for violations such as inadequate plumbing, improper pest control methods, and evidence of flies, mice, and rats. Shiki had better walk over to Veniero’s to ask them how to deal with this.

Just as the Tim Donaghy scandal gave credence to every bad call that ever affected an NBA game, the arrest of a Department of Health inspector for extortion, reported in Newsday this past Thursday, is going to make everybody wonder just why their favorite pizzeria, gastropub, or Chinese restaurant was closed down. The story is exactly what the most cynical observer might expect: A health inspector went into a Brooklyn restaurant, said he could close it because of violations, but also let it be known that he could be bought off. The price of escaping the city’s wrath? $500 and a bottle of tequila. Such shakedowns used to be par for the course in the restaurant business, especially in the outer boroughs, but we haven’t heard many complaints in recent years; it only takes a few, though, to make you wonder.

NYC investigators arrest restaurant inspector [Newsday via Eater]

The Observer comes out with a list of the city’s real-estate power players, and, not surprisingly, plenty of restaurant folk make the cut. Scary to us is that none of them rank as high as Christine Quinn — the anti-nightlife councilwoman who will, according to the piece, help determine the fate of billions of dollars of development in the next months — or Daniel Boyle, the chairman of the New York State Liquor Authority. Nevertheless, Danny Meyer clocks in at number 24, followed by Robert De Niro (26), health commissioner Thomas Frieden (82), Tom Colicchio (84), and Keith McNally (90). Steve Cuozzo, “the Andy Rooney of New York’s real estate and restaurant worlds,” has to be smarting over being ranked several notches below Frank Bruni, the man with the “ugh more feared than any other reviewer.” We're wondering where Nicholas Gray is, who, with Gray’s Papaya stands (and their imitators), is fighting back the scourge of ATM machines with hot dogs, a noble fight if ever there were one.

The 100 Most Powerful People in New York Real Estate [NYO via Eater]

After a brief brush with the Health Department, Veniero’s opened again on Friday after passing a follow-up inspection. A friend of Grub heard someone in line ask, “Are these cookies safe?” Owner Linda Martella assures us that indeed the cookies are safe. Although she questions why an unprecedented three inspectors stayed six hours during their first visit, she says the department was ultimately fair with her and is working with her family to prevent more infestation as the bakery closes its next-door prep area and moves it upstairs. Onward, dough!

Related: Veniero's Closed Owing to a Sh**load of Mice Droppings

Yesterday, Veniero’s was closed by the Department of Health and a sign went up saying the 114-year-old patisserie was renovating. Today, the skeletons have come out of the closet — or the mouse droppings have come out of the chocolate box. According to a report that Eater has obtained, “over 300 mice droppings were found in six separate areas of the café. Two dead mice were found, live roaches were observed, and mice droppings were found in a 10 lb box of chocolate.” Mama mia! Better double-check that cake you bought for Mom’s Day.

DOH Chronicles: Mice Droppings Found in Veniero's Chocolate [Eater]
Related: Holy Cannoli! Veniero’s Shuttered by Health Department

A reader writes in with some unhappy intel:

I walked past Veniero's around 4:30 p.m. today and it had a "closed due to health code violations" sign on the entrance door. Two women (owners?) were also putting up a handwritten sign in an adjacent window regarding the closure, something to the effect of, "After 114 years … we are closing due to renovations that created the health code issues." The women putting up the sign said they were addressing the problem, to check back soon and that they would be reopening again.

Eater has a photo from the scene. Here's hoping the matter is resolved in time for our mother to get an Italian-style cheesecake for Mom’s Day.

A while back, Gowanus Lounge brought news that Kellogg’s Diner was closed by the DOH for racking up 77 violation points. (That’s not why it’s currently shuttered: Owner Tony Fiotos tells us it will reopen in a couple of months with a full liquor bar, brand new fixtures, and a capacity of 185.) Not really surprising that the greasy spoon was shuttered, but get this: The Grand Central Oyster Bar racked up a similar amount of points (75) on its last inspection, on April 15. Among the cited violations were improper plumbing, conditions conducive to vermin, evidence of flies in food areas, bare contact with uncooked food (please, it's an oyster bar), and food not cooled by an approved method. The violations were remedied before the DOH made any move to close, but today Eater brings news of a less-lucky establishment: West Village spot Les Deux Gamins was shuttered on Tuesday. Quel dommage.

Restaurant Inspection Information: Oyster Bar [NYC.gov]
DOH Chronicles: Les Deux Gamin West Village Hit, Down [Eater]

Earlier, Serious Eats revealed that Nathan’s makes an appearance in Grand Theft Auto IV (hardly a surprise) as Johnson’s, “Home of the Weiner,” and today brings something truly hilarious: Cluckin’ Bell (obviously a Taco Bell–KFC) has been shuttered by the DOH. True to life, the virtual restaurant’s signage puts a positive spin on it: “New Look Returning Soon.” We’ve also heard there’s a bar called Perestroika — Pravda, perhaps?

IOFH Chronicles: Cluckin' Bell in North Algonquin Shuttered [Serious Eats]
Related: Grand Theft Auto IV Knocks Off Beer Garden, Dean & DeLuca

New Yorkers are one step closer to knowing how disgusting they are since a federal judge approved the city's efforts to mandate calorie counts on menus, according to the AP. The New York State Restaurant Association had appealed the law, claiming it violated First Amendment laws by forcing restaurants to be mouthpieces for the city's health-propaganda machine. The restaurants will appeal again, so you can still suspend disbelief at lunchtime.

Federal Judge Upholds NYC's Calories-On-Menus Law [AP]

Michael Touchard of the Hell’s Kitchen bistro Tout Va Bien speaks fluent French, fluent English, and kitchen Spanish. But he doesn’t speak — or read — a word of Chinese. Neither do many of his customers. So let’s hope nobody chokes.

As we reported yesterday, the Department of Health closed Cake Man Raven. In response, the DOH sent the following statement:

With the rat-infested Taco Bell on Sixth Avenue becoming a T-Mobile store, it’s only right to remind ourselves that a high-profile DOH closing isn’t necessarily the kiss of death. The department recently returned to Bubby’s and gave it a respectable score of six and gave Serendipity 3 an even closer to perfect score of four. Apparently the only thing infesting the places at present is celebrities — we’ve heard that Hilary Swank, Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon, James Gandolfini, Lou Reed, and Val Kilmer have all stopped into Bubby’s in the past couple of days. Hey, if it’s good enough for them…

Update: The Box, at one point the city’s most demerited restaurant, has also cleaned up its act with a recent score of just seven. How very conformist!

Restaurant Inspection Information: Bubby’s
Restaurant Inspection Information: Serendipity
Earlier: Bubby’s DOH Report: Closed Due to Biblical Swarm of Rats and Roaches
Serendipity 3 to Bounce Back by The Weekend

And here’s the Taco Bell on Sixth Avenue that spurred the Department of Health to strap on its boots and go to war. When we peeked in this morning, it looked rodent-free; according to construction workers, it will soon be a T-Mobile store. Meanwhile, down the block, the Beard Papa store, which was supposed to reopen in mid-October, is still closed for renovations. We have a call in to Papa himself to see what’s up, though his side project, Santa Claus, might be keeping him a little busy these days.

Related: Beard Papa Returning Downtown, May Hit the Slope

Nutcracker: Rated R, the downtown version of the official ballet of the holiday season, was awesome enough last year: Clara became a rebellious late eighties club kid dancing through clouds of cocaine dust. But this year’s version has an even more timely twist. Its Mouse King and his furry followers will be fighting against an even more deadly enemy than last year’s corporate suits: the devastating armies of the Department of Health. Our friends at the Theater for the New City, where the ballet will be shown through the 23rd, won’t say who comes out on top. But our guess is that it’s not the health inspectors.

Nutcracker: Rated R [Official site]

What is it with cockroaches that DOH inspectors always seem to spot them in multiples of 100? First Serendipity is shuttered partially for hosting over 100 live cockroaches, and now we get the official word about Bubby’s: Inspectors spotted no less than 200 live cockroaches in four areas, fly infestations in four areas, bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food (does the place serve Corona?), and a multitude of infestation-causing conditions like standing water. Well! We're not even going to get into how inspectors can accurately count "over 200 live cockroaches," but if your restaurant is going to go out infested, you might as well go hard.

The DOH’s official statement follows:

While we're still waiting to hear the final vermin count on Bubby's, the beloved Tribeca joint that the DOH unceremoniously shut down this morning, owner Ron Silver has appeared in Eater's comments, revealing that the final, fatal inspection was due to a neighborhood complaint; he also calls bullshit on something regarding an open-can count. Right, right — there are always these nitpicky problems. But was there something more? We decided to take a look at their last inspection, which was October 25, wherein they racked up an impressive 43 violation points. We can't say how many of the previous wrongs have since been righted, but we hope they had at least cleaned up that roach problem in the past few weeks.

Tribeca's comfort-food haven Bubby's has been closed by the Department of Health, or so sayeth Eater. No additional intel yet, but let's take a moment of silence so that we might pray that the details aren't half as disturbing as those behind yesterday's Serendipity 3 closure. In related news, all of your favorite restaurants are vermin-laden cesspools, and you'll never be able to eat anywhere good again.

Update: Was there some bad karma floating around the DOH?
UpdateUpdate: The Official DOH Report: Closed Because of Roach Swarm!

Earlier: Breaking: Serendipity 3 Closed by DOH

So they're not the best pictures — but did you really want to see close-ups of mice poo? (Don't answer that.) Nevertheless, a sad scene. Between the Broadway strike and this latest development, the holidays are headed toward a touristy triage.

Earlier: Breaking: Serendipity 3 Closed by DOH

Eater has rumblings, and our trusty Channel 4 has just confirmed that Serendipity 3, that Upper East Side bastion of desserts and diabetes, has been shut down by the Department of Health. Let's hope it's because of some anal plumbing violation and not, y'know, because there are rodents near the Frozen Hot Chocolate.

BREAKING: Serendipty Shut Down By The Department of Health? [Eater]

Update With Bonus Vomit: "In last night's inspection, the inspector observed a live mouse, mouse droppings in multiple areas of the restaurant, fruit flies, house flies, over 100 live cockroaches." Holy mother.

We still don’t know what was behind the August 24 shutdown of the Box. Was it partner-or-is-he-just-a-consultant Cordell Lochin going to trial for his involvement in a weed-dealing ring? (“Page Six”’s initial account of patrons being searched for drugs has been called into question.) Or was it the health inspection? That night’s evaluation yielded violations totaling a whopping 168 out of 175 points — the most out of all 23,126 restaurants in the Department of Health’s online database. Let’s put this in perspective, shall we? The infamous KFC–Taco Bell on Sixth Avenue received 62 points less. One of the violations: “Sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly.” Or were the toilets just backed up from dubious flushing?

Related: Restaurant Inspection Information: The Box [DOH]
Earlier: Serge Becker: Drug-Dealing “Consultant” Is Not a Co-Owner of the Box, La Esquina [NYM]

We were a bit surprised to find out that the place with the rules posted in the bathroom was flaunting the rules of the Department of Health — at least, according to inspectors who shut Milk and Honey down after it racked up 83 points in a July 31 inspection (the citywide average is 13 points; inspections of Milk and Honey in previous years yielded 17 and 4 points). The most scandalous thing about the violation report isn’t the “other live animal” that was present in the bar but that the inspection report printed the place’s coveted unlisted phone number! Is this why the number was changed? And was this the city’s revenge for all those calls a 311 operator told us the help line gets asking for the digits? Either way, rest assured that from now on those ginger roots will be shaved with gloves on.

Related: Restaurant Inspection Information: Milk and Honey [NYC.gov]

Cesar Fuentes, the official face of the Red Hook food vendors, released a statement today, detailing some of the specifics of the vendors' arrangement with the Department of Health. Though there’s little here Cesar didn’t tell us about the other day, the upshot of it seems to be that the vendors and the DOH are trying to work it all out and that the former has a shot at not getting shut down before the season ends. We hope so. That isn’t to say it’s a lock, and we would feel better if the statement included word of an actual promise by the DOH not to break out the bleach and shutdown notices. But we’re pulling for them. The full release is below.