Sharp-tongued Balthazar owner Keith McNally hit with alarming health department violations after pests and rodents are found at his New York City restaurants

When video surfaced of a rat scurrying across the floor of Manhattan’s legendary Balthazar restaurant, owner Keith McNally cavalierly dismissed the whole thing as “a set-up.”

Now DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal that within weeks of socialite Michelle Manning Barish’s video going viral, both Balthazar and a second famous McNally establishment have been hit by a series of hygiene breaches.

The violations came after the New York City Health Department conducted inspections on Balthazar and Pastis.

When inspectors visited Balthazar in Soho on May 3, 2024, they found that the kitchen appliances and surfaces were not made of acceptable materials, nor had they been stored in a way that they were accessible for proper cleaning.

Pastis, McNally’s famously upscale eatery on the other side of town, fared even worse when it was inspected on January 4, 2024.

McNally (pictured), no stranger to controversy, claimed the incident was staged in response to Lauren Sanchez’s insult on Instagram

The stomach-churning report found “foul flies or food/waste/sewage associated with (FRSA) flies or other nuisance pests in the food and/or non-food areas of the business. FRSA flies include house flies, blow flies, bottle flies, blow flies, drain flies, Phorid flies and fruit flies.”

Additionally, inspectors noted, “The facility is not free of housing or conditions conducive to rodents, insects, or other pests.”

McNally, 72, has maintained that the rat, filmed darting around Balthazar’s tables and kickboards, was deliberately released by a ‘suspicious-looking man in his 40s’ who, he claimed, was sitting close to the door and bag of white lab rats before making his hasty departure.

Customers and viewers have pointed out that the rat in Manning Barish’s video appears brown.

Manning Barish, for her part, described the event as “Absolutely disgusting” and “like a scene from Ratatouille.”

She wrote: ‘Found rats in Balthazar New York tonight in the dining room… I can’t imagine what the kitchens look like.’

This is not necessary with the reports from the Ministry of Health. The findings on the ministry’s publicly visible website show that a series of violations have been found at both Pastis and Balthazar over the past three years.

Balthazar has committed numerous health department violations, including a May 3 report that found kitchen appliances and surfaces were not made of acceptable materials nor stored in a manner that allows accessibility for proper cleaning

A Jan. 4 inspection of Pastis (pictured), another of McNally’s French restaurants, found even more sordid violations

Pastis’ most recent inspection found flies and conditions conducive to rodents in the company. It has previously been cited for improperly storing food and attracting pests

Balthazar has previously been cited for “food, supplies, and equipment not protected from potential…contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display, or service,” and “raw, cooked, or prepared foods…adulterated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with the HACCP plan (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points)’

Inspectors found Pastis was at fault for inadequate ‘personal cleanliness’, among staff members where this was noted, ‘outer clothing soiled with possible contamination’ and ‘effective hair not worn in a food preparation area’.

Both facilities have been criticized by the health department over the years for “housing or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests.”

McNally recently faced backlash after offensive comments about Jeff Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sanchez that he posted to his Instagram account in April.

In the much-criticized post he wrote: ‘Does anyone else find Jeff Bezos’ new wife – Lauren Sanchez – ABSOLUTELY disgusting? What an ugly and damn SMUG – LOOK couple they make. Is this what having $1 trillion does to people?”

The famed ornery restaurateur is no stranger to controversy. Two years ago he banned and then unbanned James Corden after allegations that the comedian assaulted members of the Balthazar staff and demanded free drinks when they messed up his wife’s order.

McNally said he faced backlash for calling Lauren Sanchez “repulsive” but admitted the Amazon founder and his wife-to-be “looked stunning” at the Met Gala

McNally accused Corden of being “the most abusive customer of my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago,” before relenting and saying he believed in second chances: “I’ve screwed myself more than most people.’

McNally, whose memoir will be released later this year, also raised eyebrows for his support of Ghislaine Maxwell and his refusal to believe the sexual abuse allegations against Woody Allen by his adoptive daughter Dylan.

His fifteen-year marriage to wife Alina ended in divorce in 2018. Several years later, McNally complained that “divorce and COVID” had cost him $10 million.

At the time, Alina wryly noted that, given that he had retained the same legal advisor as King Charles during his divorce from Princess Diana and Paul McCartney during his divorce from Heather McCartney-Mills, “I imagine his legal fees must be quite expensive have been.’