When video surfaced of a rat scampering across the floor of Manhattan’s historic Balthazar restaurant, owner Keith McNally angrily dismissed the whole thing as a “stage.”
Now DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal that just weeks after socialite Michelle Manning Barish’s video went viral, both Balthazar and a second celebrity McNally’s establishment have been hit by a series of hygiene breaches.
The violations occurred after the New York City Department of Health conducted inspections of Balthazar and Pastis.
When inspectors visited Balthazar in Soho on May 3, 2024, they found that kitchen equipment and surfaces were not made of acceptable materials or maintained in a manner that allowed access for proper cleaning.
Pastis, McNally’s famous fine dining restaurant across town, fared even worse when it was inspected on January 4, 2024.
After video of a rat running through Keith McNally’s Balthazar restaurant went viral in April, two of his hotspots in New York City have been hit with health code violations.
McNally (pictured), who is no stranger to controversy, claimed the incident was staged as a backlash for criticizing Lauren Sanchez on Instagram.
The stomach-churning report found ‘Fly-associated filth or food/garbage/sewage (FRSA) flies or other nuisance pests in the food and/or non-food areas of the establishment. FRSA flies include house flies, blowflies, bottle flies, flesh flies, drain flies, Phorid flies, and fruit flies.
What’s more, inspectors observed that “the establishment is not free of shelters or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests.”
McNally, 72, has maintained that the rat filmed shooting around Balthazar’s tables and boards was deliberately released by a “suspicious-looking man in his 40s”, who, he claimed, sat near the door and left a bag containing white laboratory rats before. making the hasty exit from him.
Sponsors and viewers have pointed out the fact that the rat in Manning Barish’s video appears to be brown.
For his part, Manning Barish described the event as “Absolutely REVOLTANT” and “like a scene from Ratatouille.”
She wrote: “Rats were found in the dining room at Balthazar NYC tonight…can’t imagine what the kitchens are like.”
With Health reports it is not necessary. Findings posted on the department’s public website show that a number of violations have been found in both Pastis and Balthazar over the past three years.
Balthazar has numerous health department violations, including a May 3 report that found kitchen equipment and surfaces were not made of acceptable materials or maintained in a manner that allowed access for proper cleaning.
A Jan. 4 inspection at Pastis (pictured), another of McNally’s French restaurants, found even more sordid violations.
Pastis’ most recent inspection found flies and conditions conducive to the presence of rodents in the establishment. He had previously been cited for improper food storage and attracting vermin.
Balthazar has previously been cited for ‘food, supplies and equipment not protected from possible… contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or serving’ and ‘raw, cooked or prepared food… adulterated, cross-contaminated or not disposed of in accordance with the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) plan,’
Inspectors found Pastis in violation for inadequate “personal cleanliness,” of staff members who were observed to have “soiled outer clothing with possible contaminants” and “unused effective hair in an area where food is prepared.”
Both facilities have been criticized by the health department over the years for “harboring or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests.”
McNally has recently faced backlash following insulting comments about Jeff Bezos’ fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, which he posted on his Instagram account in April.
In the highly criticized post he wrote, ‘Does anyone else find Jeff Bezos’ new wife, Lauren Sanchez, ABSOLUTELY REVOLTANT?’ What an ugly, fucking stuck-up couple they make. Is this what having $1,000 billion does to people?’
The famously ornery restaurateur is no stranger to controversy. Two years ago, he banned and then unbanned James Corden following allegations that the comedian mistreated members of Balthazar’s staff and demanded free drinks when they ruined his wife’s order.
McNally said he’s faced backlash for calling Lauren Sanchez “disgusting,” but admitted that the Amazon founder and his future wife “looked stunning” at the Met Gala.
McNally accused Corden of being “the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago,” before relenting and saying he believed in second chances, “having screwed me over more than most people.”
McNally, whose memoirs will be published later this year, also drew attention for her support of Ghislaine Maxwell and her refusal to believe sexual abuse allegations leveled at Woody Allen by her adopted daughter, Dylan.
His 15-year marriage to wife Alina ended in divorce in 2018. A few years later, McNally complained that “divorce and COVID” had cost him $10 million.
At the time, Alina wryly commented that since she hired the same legal counsel as King Charles during his divorce from Princess Diana and Paul McCartney during his from Heather McCartney-Mills, “I imagine his legal fees must have been quite a bit.” expensive.”
