Le Petit Marche Owner: ‘This Is Breaking My Heart’

By on November 23, 2009 9:40 pm in Food

Le Petit Marche may re-open before Thanksgiving, owner Daniella Silone told BHB tonight.

Silone said that last week’s closing by the DOH following three failed inspections since August was a “tremendous setback.”

“We were not prepared for this,” she said. “This is breaking my heart that this is happening.”

Silone said she was hoping to re-open the three-year-old restaurant as soon as possible, hopefully either tomorrow evening or Wednesday, pending another re-inspection from the city. The restaurant failed its first re-inspection effort today.

She declined to comment on the clerical error sign the restaurant posted above the closed DOH sign over the weekend.

“We’re very sorry,” she said. “I hope people don’t forsake us.”

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  • AEB

    Well, I for one won’t forsake LPM.

    I don’t foresee professional compromise of the health-threatening kind; it’s a business we should all continue to support.

  • Cranberry Living

    No comment on the “clerical error” lie? What about the fact that LPM opened in spite of the Department of Health order closing it down? We gave you our trust and business and you betrayed it. The prices are high, the food mediocre, and there is too much good competition in the area for us to go back.

  • tb

    we will forsake them. It’s too late. Im sorry LPM. We used to love you.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    I was sorry to see the news that LPM had been closed. I’ve eaten there but twice. The first time, shortly after it opened, I found the food uneven but basically good. the second time, during “restaurant week” this past spring, I found it very satisfying, if not stellar. It seemed to me an honest French bistro style place, which is unlike anything else in this neighborhood.

    When I saw the clerical error explanation, I wanted to believe it, though it seemed fishy. This is why, when my friend called on Saturday evening with the news that one of the owners had called and told her that LPM would re-open the following day, I threw journalistic caution to the winds and posted this “news”, albeit with a cautionary question mark and the qualification that I had a call in to the restaurant for confirmation.

    So it was that I was delighted, on Sunday afternoon, to see people in the place (though it had the look of a private party) and the DOH closure signs not in view. I quickly added to my previous post the good news that LPM was back in business. When, on Monday morning, I saw the DOH signs once again exposed, I felt foolish, and rightly so. I wish the owners of LPM had been more forthright about the problem instead of trying to spin it.

    Nevertheless, I hope LPM can pass a re-re-inspection and open again. It offers something unique to the neighborhood. Also, there is value in having a “restaurant row” on that block of Henry which, I’m sure, makes the owners of Henry’s End, Noodle Pudding and the Wine Bar eager to see LPM up and running again. The availability of several choices means that someone can, at the last minute and without a reservation, go to that block and, if their first choice is full, likely find a table at another. This translates into more business for all the restaurants, as well as convenience for neighborhood residents.

  • FoodFan

    Here’s hoping that Mark Lahm acquires the space after they close.

  • No One of Consequence

    Where is Dan Kaufman when you need him?

  • AEB

    I’m with Claude, as I expressed above.

    Putting aside the issue of the excellence of the food, which is irrelevant to the matter at hand, the apparently failed attempt to manage PR doesn’t outweigh the importance of maintaining a “better” restaurant in the Heights–which, god knows, can use every attempt to provide cosmopolitan fare it can get.

    It’s also a pleasant place to look at–and to be in, particularly when the weather’s warm. And the service is welcoming and warm.

    Let’s put aside draconian, high-horsey attitudes about trust for the general good.

  • north heights res

    Though, as I’ve posted here a couple of times, I did get food poisoning from eating bad snails there at the end of September. Given the types of violations and the lack of seriousness with which the restaurant seems to regard them, it’d be pretty tough for me to go back there and trust that the food is stored and prepared well.

  • dave

    LPM shouldve spent more time cleaning and less time thinking of lies to tell their customers.

    Hopefully a humbling experience like this will have them bring their prices down. You’d think with what they charge, they’d have enough cash to buy enough cleaning equipment to have their kitchen sparkle.

  • promenade

    what is the problem here? LPM is given violations, they know what they are, they don’t correct them and yet ask for re-inspections which they then flunk. and you want to trust them to make you food? give me a break – this is breaking MY heart!!!

  • DrewB

    I’m really torn by this whole thing. I liked LPM a lot. And while the food was not mind blowing, it was good and a step above most places in the heights. And unlike some of the other aove average spots, you could almost always walk right in.

    So I was sad to see they had issues with the Health Board. But I was even more sad to see how they handled it. Based on the fact that they failed three times, then lied about it, then opened illegally and then failed again, it seems to me they don’t really give a damn about the health codes. I’m concerned that once they pass the new inspection they will quickly slide back into whatever behavior got them here in the first place. And while I’ve never had any problem with the food there, I certainly don’t want to be eating somewhere with mouse feces in the kitchen. I do understand that mice and rats are a serious problem in this city, and I’ve worked in enough restaurant to know that generally public would be appalled to know what really goes on in the kitchen. Still, most restaurants manage to pass their health inspection. The mere fact that they have now been cited 4 time for vermin, including during a re-inspection when anyone in their right mind would take extra steps to ensure maximum cleanliness, makes me wary of a return visit.

  • cat

    If they are now humble enough to improve the food, service, prices and cleanliness maybe the word will get out, and people will give them a second chance. It’s either going to be a wake-up call to the owner or the restaurant will go the way of many before it. It remains to be seen.

  • Cranky

    I will support them and go back. It just seems weird to me this whole thing.

    I mean you go into the dining rooms of a lot of other local places and even the dining rooms don’t seem particularly clean. They’ve been so conscientious about every detail when I’ve been at LPM, I can’t imagine they would ignore where the food is prepared – this whole thing just seems strange to me.

    I’ve also never found them anything less than warm and welcoming and never snotty. That’s been my experience.

  • BH-Guy

    There are some truly bizarre comments here. The neighborhood dining options are rather limited here in the heights, so why are so many of you attacking LPM and vowing never to dine there again? It is a perfectly nice french bistro, with a friendly, welcoming owner and staff. My wife and I have eaten there many times… Yes it is a bit pricey, but the food, service, and ambience is a step above most other neighborhood options.

    I admit that I don’t know what the problem is with the DOH violations, and it is NOT cool that LPM lied about “clerical errors.” Lying or deception is never OK, especially when it comes to sanitary issues that affect the public. Hopefully, this episode has taught them a lesson about that, even if the health violations were minor.

    If LPM gets its act together we will definitely continue to support them.

  • Peter

    BH-Guy, I agree 100% … seems like most of the posters on here are geizers gearing up for another hearty day of whining. Granted, some of the them are justified, but man the constant negativy of our residents certainly gets old really fast.

  • Nancy

    No Peter, I’m not a geezer gearing up for another day of whining. I’m just upset because I patronized this restaurant in the past never thinking that a place that was so good with its presentation would have mice droppings in the kitchen, or wouldn’t store its food at the proper temperature, or didn’t have the proper cleaning equipment in the kitchen. Everyone makes mistakes, but the fact the the owners lied about the reasons for the closure and open the restuarant in violation of the closure order make it pretty obvious that safety is not one of their priorities. LPM, you’re done.

  • XYZ

    I wonder how many people commenting here and vow never to go back to LPM actually have roaches in their kitchen.

  • SC

    Roaches in my apartment and roaches in a restaurant that I pay to eat at are two different things. Furthermore, we’re not just talking about roaches. We’re also talking about mice, improper food storage, and cleaning equipment that is not up to code. Add to that a restaurant owner who lies to the public about the reason for their closure and there is no reason that I should give this retaurant my business any longer.

  • Suzy

    If any of you think that any other Heights’ restaurants are not suffering from the same problems, then you are very naive.

  • peppermint

    I went there twice, when it first opened and just recently. While they were much improved in my most recent visit, very accommodating and better food, I actually wasn’t really impressed and found my steak served medium rare to be quite rubbery in texture. Because of this I will try to avoid the place in the future not because of the code violations. It is a mediocre alternative to Henry’s End and Noodle Pudding when they are packed. I don’t want to see anyone go out of business but there are so many great restaurants that could fill that space OR they could up their game and improve the food and apparently the cleanliness of the kitchen!