The Roanoke Times | File October

The City Market Building reopened in October with new chairs and tables and a polished floor.

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Zeroes dominated the most recent health inspection reports for food court vendors in the Roanoke City Market Building -- as in zero violations of health codes for all but two of the small restaurants.

During inspections that occurred Nov. 20 and Nov. 21, eight of 10 food court vendors passed full muster with the Virginia Department of Health.

At the other two, inspectors found a total of four critical violations, with three at Paradiso Cuban Restaurant and one at Tokyo Express. Two were corrected during the inspection. Critical violations are those that can pose a risk of food-borne illness.

Adel Eltawansy, owner of Zorba Restaurant, emphasized enthusiastically that his popular eatery had passed free and clear.

"All clean," he said. "Violation free. The king is back."

State health inspectors have monitored closely the food court vendors' restaurants since mid-September. On Sept. 19, the city temporarily closed the downtown building after inspectors found widespread evidence an infestation of mice in the city-owned, managed and maintained building, as well as food-handling problems among food sellers. The building reopened Oct. 4 after inspectors reissued the vendors' permits.

During follow-up examinations on Oct. 14 and Oct. 22, inspectors discovered 19 violations. At the time, they found eight critical violations at Zorba.

Robert Parker, a regional spokesman for the health department, has acknowledged that inspectors tend to intensify their scrutiny of restaurants if previous inspections have discovered problems.

The four violations reported from the November inspections included the following problems found at Paradiso Cuban: cooked rice not reheated in the microwave to a high enough temperature to "eliminate pathogenic bacteria"; stored ready-to-eat items not labeled for final date of consumption; and, soiled meat slicer and kitchen knives."

Such violations, especially related to cooking temperatures and date of consumption labeling, are not uncommon when health inspectors visit restaurants.

Architectural and engineering work

Vendors have said that publicity about the Sept. 19 shutdown and October inspections have cut revenues by as much as 50 percent. They have criticized the city's maintenance of the 86-year-old building and threatened to sue to recover money lost during the two-week closing.

Owners of the small restaurants have complained too about being left in limbo as the city ponders the building's future use, plans for major renovations and the potential impacts on their businesses. Most of the vendors will go to month-to-month leases at the end of February.

Meanwhile, the city is moving closer to selecting a company to perform design and engineering work for a makeover of the historic, three-story, Colonial Revival style building.

Brian Townsend, assistant city manager for community relations, said city staff have recommended one company to move forward with architectural and engineering work. The company was among the 11 that responded in early November to a request for proposals soliciting details about a firm's qualifications for such projects.

Citing purchasing department restrictions, he would not name the recommended company.

Townsend said the recommendation will be reviewed by the city manager and is subject to negotiation with the firm about the scope of work, related fees and other issues.

Attempts to define and plan the market building's future have been controversial. Many residents of the Roanoke Valley consider the structure to be a key part of downtown.

On the Net: www.vdh.state.va.us.