King Tea Chinese: Popular restaurant in Brisbane is fined more than $20,000 over ‘revolting’ discovery

A trendy Chinese restaurant has been fined after council inspectors made ‘disgusting’ discoveries of mold and rodent droppings in the kitchen.

A Brisbane City Council officer was dispatched to King Tea Chinese restaurant in Paddington on September 6, 2022, after Queensland Health received a complaint of rats at the restaurant.

The officer found rodent feces, rodenticides, mold and a number of other food safety violations, leading to ten charges for failing to take all responsible steps to ensure compliance with the Food Act.

The restaurant’s parent company, Livin La Vida Latroba Pty Ltd, and general manager Dane Huitfeldt, pleaded guilty to all charges in the Brisbane Magistrates Court last week.

The company was fined $23,000, while Huitfeldt was fined $2,500 for the breaches which chairman Julian Noud described as ‘simply abhorrent’.

Council prosecutor Amye Fairbairn told the court that while there was an ‘active risk’ of mold contamination, the presence of rodent droppings was the ‘most serious risk’.

“(Faeces were) found in multiple areas around the property, both in food preparation areas, storage areas and in the dining areas,” said Ms Fairbarn, the Courier mail reports.

Lawyer Adam Dwyer said his clients were ’embarrassed and remorseful’ about the state of the kitchen.

The court heard Huitfeldt runs four other restaurants and had an “exemplary” record, having never attracted the council’s attention before the inspection in September.

Mr Dwyer said his client had been ‘left in a bad situation due to the negligence and inability to do the job he paid someone very well for’.

Despite weekly meetings between himself and various managers, the state of affairs was ‘never conveyed’ to Huitfeldt.

‘Huitfeldt accepts the fact that it is ultimately his responsibility to ensure compliance and that this is ultimately all within his area of ​​responsibility.

“But it’s clear that the person he hired to run this company had let things go.”

Rodent droppings and rodenticide (pictured) were found in the restaurant by a Brisbane City Council officer after Queensland Health received a rat complaint

The officer also discovered a number of other food safety breaches, including mold and other unidentified material on storage area shelves (pictured)

Magistrate Noud said all citizens deserve to enjoy a good meal in a restaurant while being ‘protected from becoming unwell’.

He noted that they have “very good prospects for recovery” and that he has used the incident to change the way the company is run.

“The defendant understands the serious consequences of his offending and has taken important steps to ensure that, at least for him, this does not happen again in the future,” Magistrate Noud said.

No conviction has been recorded for either suspect.