Melb laneway bar allegedly too grungy
When it comes to Melbourne's laneway bar scene, "grunge" is good, but one bar is in trouble for allegedly being too grungy.
Laneway nightspot Sister Bella and the director of the company that owns it, Jerome Borazio, are facing a string of charges relating to unsafe food preparation.
A safety inspection of the secluded nightspot in April found more than a dozen alleged breaches of the Food Standards Code, including a failure to keep out rodents, court documents show.
The City of Melbourne says food was not stored properly, preparation areas were not kept clean and hand-washing facilities were not maintained.
In Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday, a prosecutor for the council said rat droppings were detected in the venue.
Sister Bella is in Sniders Lane, behind Melbourne Central, where a lawyer for the nightspot told the court a lot of rubbish collection takes place.
"That does tend to attract rodents," John Larkins said.
He told the court the company admits 90 per cent of the City of Melbourne's allegations, and has been working closely with the council to improve the venue.
He said there had been a significant improvement, coming from a "low base".
"Part of the appeal of the premises is that it's in a grungy part of Melbourne," Mr Larkins said.
Mr Borazio, of Melbourne, is responsible for some of the city's most famous venues, including Ponyfish Island and 1000 Pound Bend as well as the Laneway Festival.
He recently launched a five-star rooftop campsite on top of the Melbourne Central building.
The court heard lawyers for Mr Borazio had sent the council a detailed solution to the unresolved matter, but it was not accepted.
The matter will return to court on November 10.
Sister Bella briefly closed following the inspection but has since reopened.
© AAP 2015
Source: Nine News / AAP, 4th August 2015
Originally published as: Melb laneway bar allegedly too grungy
