So, as my brother-in-law had a similar inspection job for adult care facilities, let’s be clear that no establishment EVER will clear 100.
There will always be a minor ding for an A grade.
So, addressing the “major” violation noted, procedures & records is likely from HAACP. If you weren’t made aware of HAACP for cryovac prior to inspection, no record. Makes sense to me. Food in good condition. Let’s go back to HAACP for cryovac. And food that’s not straight out of fridge not time stamped. Have you ever had food that’s unintentionally chilled beyond belief? Chilled so much that something tastes dull? I have never had a bite at Hayato that’s not perfect. That room itself is temp controlled. If chef casually tells me exactly how many minutes and seconds in the freezer the katsuo goes in before it causes degradation to get to the right texture before making the tataki over burning hay, I am fully confident he and the staff know how to keep food SAFE and delicious.
Food safety certification - Yeah I have one for serving alcohol and I don’t remember the expiration year. That’s a human error.
Compliance for HAACP - you can’t comply if you were not aware of it until that inspection.And you can’t create a manual on the fly in the middle of service.
RE: food contact surface. I have a huge thing for this one. Hinoki wood has anti-bacterial, anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties.That’s not in an AMERICAN safety handbook is it? I’d be more pissed at plastic cutting boards allowed to get scratched up and potentially harbor germs. Dunking those in bleach? I don’t want to taste bleach or pine-sol with my food, ever. If you’ve dined there, you will have seen those hinoki cutting boards.
Standards that keeps institutional cafeteria food from causing food-bourne illnesses (because of the lack of personal hygiene and common sense) isn’t the standard that should be applicable here. Some of those practices cause more harm than good.