Glamorous staff eatery scores only 1 out 5 after food safety officer inspection
Food hygiene inspectors have given the canteen at Mishcon de Reya a lowly 1 out of 5 rating in a blow to the firm’s reputation for outstanding staff facilities.
Camden Council’s clipboard-wielding inspectors pulled up at the Holborn outfit on 21 March and found it lacking in “hygienic food handling”, “cleanliness and condition of facilities and building” and “management of food safety”. An overall rating of 1, while not the lowest possible score (you can get a zero) means that “major improvement is necessary”.
A spokesperson for Mishcon de Reya said “We are working with all our supply chain partners on the points raised in Camden’s assessment – many of which have already been rectified. We are expecting a repeat assessment this summer and are confident we’ll receive a score that reflects the high quality of both the hard-working team in the café and the food that they serve.”
The revelation is all the more awkward given the firm’s reputation for glitzy facilities. Insiders describe the swanky office in Africa House, Holborn, as “completely incredible”.
The 450-lawyer outfit won the coveted Most Admired Law Firm of 2018 at this year’s Legal Cheek awards, picking up the gong for being the top rated among trainees and junior lawyers asked to pick a favourite firm apart from their own. Its canteen won an A rating in the same survey.
But Mishcon de Reya has already attracted negative headlines this month. The outfit was accused by the family of murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia of harassing the investigative reporter with libel demands.
No such worries for hungry fee-earners at Travers Smith, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Herbert Smith Freehills or Dechert, all of which have scored 5 out of 5 in their food hygiene inspections recently. Maybe they’ll deliver to Africa House?