New Delhi: Authorities on Wednesday raided Delhi’s iconic Kake Da Hotel after an unverified video showed a cook kneading dough with his feet. The restaurant denied the charge.
The Delhi government’s Food Safety Department raided the 86-year-old eatery in the heart of the capital and took away food samples.
An official said the samples were being sent to a laboratory for examination.
“Any further action will be taken after a report from the laboratory,” the official said after a team led by Deputy Food Safety Commissioner Pawan Kamra inspected the restaurant.
The official said a tandoor was found at the restaurant in the open on the rooftop in violation of food safety norms.
In the video apparently recorded on a mobile phone, a man is seen standing in a huge bowl allegedly containing flour.
The man is seen stomping as if he is making dough out of flour and water as the camera shifts to Kake Da Hotel’s banner.
The veracity of the video could not be verified.
A restaurant official said the man in the video was washing clothes and not kneading dough.
“He was washing his own clothes,” a man claiming to be the cashier of Kake Da Hotel told IANS.
One of the restaurant’s tandoor cook also said the man was washing clothes.
Opened in 1931, Kake Da Hotel – known to old-timers as Kake Da Dhaba – has been a food lover’s paradise for its desi ghee soaked Punjabi cuisine, especially non-vegetarian delights.
The eatery, located in Connaught Place, has a patronage that has passed on from one generation to another.