El Dorado County files complaint against two restaurants continuing to operate without health permit

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - Two restaurants in El Dorado County that have been operating without required health permits had complaints against them filed in Superior Court this week. The County filed complaints against Apple Bistro and Danette's Brick Oven Pub for continuing to operate, even though they'd had their health permits revoked in 2020 after they both defied the State's orders to not offer indoor dining at the height of the pandemic.

The two restaurants continued to operate which is in violation of the State’s Health and Safety Code and County Environmental Health ordinances. The lawsuit seeks an order from the Court requiring the restaurants to close until they obtain a health permit.

The permits for the two businesses were suspended in the summer of 2020 and revoked in September 2020. They were ordered to close after administrative hearings addressed the owners continuing to operate.

The complaints were given to the Apple Bistro, owner Jennette Waldow and International Farmers Kitchen, LLC, as well as Tom and Danette Winslow at Danette's Brick Oven Pub.

Apple Bistro, located on a prominent bluff on US50 east of Placerville, advertised the fact that they were staying open during the pandemic, didn't require masks when they were required, and had donation boxes on the front counter collecting legal defense funds.

The pub is located at 2875 Ray Lawyer Dr. in Placerville.

The Apple Bistro website has a tab on it titled "Say No to Tyranny."

The County issued a cease and desist letter to each establishment on October 21, 2021, stating the County would seek all applicable damages, fines, and relief, including a closure order from the Court, if the restaurants continued to operate without a valid health permit by October 29, 2021. The letters were ignored.

“For more than a year, the County has tried to work cooperatively with these establishments to ensure the health and safety of their patrons and to ensure compliance with the health permit requirement,” said County Counsel David Livingston. “For more than a year, the owners and managers of Apple Bistro and Danette’s Brick Oven have ignored our efforts and allowed, by virtue of continuing to operate, patrons to assume that they have a valid health permit to operate and that the food they consume is safe when in fact there have been no health and safety inspections since the suspension of their permits. Unpermitted restaurants are, by definition, operating illegally and are not subject to inspections. An unsuspecting public may not know that.”

County inspections are done twice a year at approximately six-month intervals. Apple Bistro was last inspected by County on November 11, 2019. Danette’s Brick Oven was last inspected on January 1, 2020.

The Cease and Desist delivered to Intemational Farmers Kitchen LLC, and Jennette Waldow, the owner of the Apple Bistro:

“The County has provided ample opportunity for the owners of these establishments to appeal the suspension of health permits prior to their revocation, to correct course, or cease operations for the health and safety of their patrons. They have defied state law, County ordinances, and administrative orders to close. They have left the County no other course of action than to involve the Superior Court,” Livingston added.

As you are aware, County EMD suspended your permit to operate Apple Bistro on July 30,2020 and ordered Apple Bistro to close. You requested a hearing, pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 114409, to show cause why the permit should not be suspended, but then failed to appear at the hearing. After the hearing, your permit was revoked on September 1,2020. However, in defiance of County EMD's order to close, state law, and County ordinances, you continued to operate, and currently operate, Apple Bistro without the required permit. These state and local permit laws were enacted to safeguard public health and to ensure that food provide{ to the public is safe for
consumption.

To avoid the initiation of legal action by the County, please contact either of the offices identified at the top of this letter within seven (7) days of the date of this letter, or by October 29,202l, to confirm that you have ceased all operations relating to Apple Bistro and that Apple Bistro is closed. If you wish to continue to operate Apple Bistro, you must obtain a new permit from County EMD before any further operation. The issuance of any new permit does not act as a waiver of all overdue fees, fines, and penalties.

If you instead choose to continue to operate Apple Bistro unlawfully and without a permit after October 29,2021, the County will file its lawsuit and seek all available relief, remedies, pena\ties and fines, including a court order requiring Apple Bistro to close all operations unless and until a permit is obtained from County EMD

.