WASHINGTON (WUSA9) Dean and Deluca is better known for $30 a pound Parmesan cheese than the mice that congregate near it, but this week - in its second health closure order in a year - inspectors cited live and dead mice in the Georgetown store and around it's high priced cheese cases.
The store passed re-inspections both times and today, is back in the business of selling specialty cheeses, foie gras, and caviar at as much as $1,200 for an 8.8 ounce jar.
"Live and dead mice…in the food prep area and downstairs around the cheese display," is the official inspector observation on Dean & Deluca's Georgetown closure inspection Wednesday. Inspectors also cited potential contamination violations and food stored at potentially unsafe temperatures.
District code requires cold food to be stored at 41 degrees or lower to stay safe.
Inspectors cited Dean & Deluca for storing steak at 45.5 degrees and roasted chicken at 50 degrees.
In last year's closure order at the same Dean & Deluca location, inspectors cited rats, roaches, mice, and even birds.
The store has reopened, but a spokeswoman contacted Wednesday, who said she would contact WUSA9 Thursday, still had not responded as of Friday morning at 10:00 am.
Click here to see the WUSA9 Restaurant Alert report on Dean & Deluca's 2013 closure: http://georgetown.wusa9.com/news/news/137895-birds-rats-roaches-mice-close-dean-deluca