SE Uncorked has earned an average score of 94 out of 100 on health inspections since opening two years ago, records show.
SE Uncorked at 15 Elm St. in New Canaan. Credit: Michael Dinan
Occupying a prominent and longtime restaurant space at 15 Elm St., the cozy bar and small-plates eatery from Nick Martschenko has scored as high as 97 on unannounced inspections conducted by sanitarians with the New Canaan Health Department since earning a food permit in 2015, according to a review of the organization’s files at Town Hall.
Sanitarians use a state Department of Public Health standard, citing eateries for violations that range in seriousness and corresponding weight from 1 to 4 points. A “failed” inspection is triggered either by one or more 4-point violations or a total score of less than 80 points.
Owned by Martschenko, who also is chef and owner at South End on Pine Street, SE Uncorked consistently has earned the equivalent of A’s and A+’s on its inspections (article continues below):
SE Uncorked, Health Inspection Results
| Date of Inspection | Score |
|---|---|
| 2/24/17 | 97 |
| 10/18/16 | 93 |
| 3/3/16 | 91 |
| 11/24/15 | 95 |
| Average | 94 |
The intimate SE Uncorked space on Elm previously had been occupied by Picador. New Canaanites will remember that the space also had been Harvest Supper (which had an outstanding burger), and that restaurants operating in it before that include Blue Water Café (where Philip Johnson had been a regular), Nantucket Café and—going way back—Libby’s Diner.
Officials in the health department said a score that consistently comes in at or near perfect is “optimal for any establishment.”
Speaking to such high scores generally and not to SE Uncorked specifically, Sanitarian Carla DeLucia said an establishment would qualify as such if it is “without any four-point violations, without temperature violations and likely without any critical violations.”
“Sanitarians work to help food establishments maintain compliance and, as a result, New Canaan on the whole fares well on inspections,” DeLucia said.
SE Uncorked’s minor violations include labeling granular items throughout the bar and kitchen in clear containers and shakers (such as spices), removing the scoop from a container of stagnant water and storing eggs on the top shelf of a walk-in cooler, above ready-to-eat items such as celery and cheese.