Roast Beast Shuts its Doors (Boston: apartments, landlord, inspector)

[GeePee]

https://www.boston.com/food/restaura...t-beast-closed


Damn fine roast beef sandwich they had. Sad to seem them go in a bit of controversial way.




“I’ve been in business for nine years and nobody has told me I need a hood,” Lawton said. “For nine years I’ve been inspected perfectly and nobody’s told me. If I had to put a hood in [the kitchen] it would cost me $150,000 to vent it up to the roof, and I don’t know if the landlord would permit me to do that.”


Lawton said that when he first came up with the idea for a roast beef shop at 1080 Commonwealth Ave., where he had previously owned a pipe shop, he was told that he did not need a restaurant hood system to operate. The business, located in the basement of an Allston apartment building, centered around roast beef and turkey sandwiches, featuring meat piled high onto rolls that were buttered and toasted on electric griddles. According to Lawton, there was never any cooking on the premises — the meat was only sliced and assembled.
On Oct.30, Lawton said that a fire inspector told him that he needed to install a hood.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by GeePee

https://www.boston.com/food/restaura...t-beast-closed


Damn fine roast beef sandwich they had. Sad to seem them go in a bit of controversial way.




“I’ve been in business for nine years and nobody has told me I need a hood,” Lawton said. “For nine years I’ve been inspected perfectly and nobody’s told me. If I had to put a hood in [the kitchen] it would cost me $150,000 to vent it up to the roof, and I don’t know if the landlord would permit me to do that.”


Lawton said that when he first came up with the idea for a roast beef shop at 1080 Commonwealth Ave., where he had previously owned a pipe shop, he was told that he did not need a restaurant hood system to operate. The business, located in the basement of an Allston apartment building, centered around roast beef and turkey sandwiches, featuring meat piled high onto rolls that were buttered and toasted on electric griddles. According to Lawton, there was never any cooking on the premises — the meat was only sliced and assembled.
On Oct.30, Lawton said that a fire inspector told him that he needed to install a hood.

Something severely missing here. Have the codes changed? 9 years, really??? Hate seeing stuff like this, but I guess this is Marty's Boston.

[GeePee]

Yeah it's pretty crazy. Maybe they were looking for "the envelope"

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by GeePee

Yeah it's pretty crazy. Maybe they were looking for "the envelope"

Probably. It's ridiculous to require a hood/vent when nothing is cooked there.

[bohemka]

I saw a special on Roast Beast in just the last few weeks. Local news, I think. They were definitely cooking on flattops. Maybe that news piece gained some unwanted attention.

[GeePee]

They grill the buns on flattops. The beef is not cooked on site. But the main concern is why was it fine for 9 years?

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by GeePee

They grill the buns on flattops. The beef is not cooked on site. But the main concern is why was it fine for 9 years?

Did the CMRs change? Changes in regs happen frequently. It very well may be that the definitions of "cooking" or something related changed.


The other issue is that interpretations change. Sometimes due to court cases, sometimes just because the MGLs or CMRs are written with very broad language. I could give examples, if needed, but they would be related to other fields.

[wolfgang239]

https://www.wcvb.com/article/the-tra...setts/29593744

I see him cooking onions in a basement, no hood with fire suppression underneath a building with a bunch of apartments. Sucks that he had to close but that is a completely reasonable requirement given the location.

Too bad he didn't know the rules. You would think after having another one shut down previously he'd at least brush up on regulations or hire someone with a bit of knowledge.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by wolfgang239

https://www.wcvb.com/article/the-tra...setts/29593744

I see him cooking onions in a basement, no hood with fire suppression underneath a building with a bunch of apartments. Sucks that he had to close but that is a completely reasonable requirement given the location.

Too bad he didn't know the rules. You would think after having another one shut down previously he'd at least brush up on regulations or hire someone with a bit of knowledge.

Yeah, after watching the video, I agree it's reasonable. My previous comment was based on:

"According to Lawton, there was never any cooking on the premises"

...which isn't exactly accurate.

[wolfgang239]

Sounds like quite a bit of what he said was inaccurate. Doesn't sound like a conspiracy or anything. The City's reports are attached to the link, this guy just rage quit instead of doing things legally and safely.