Say It Ain't So?!*

Cicero, NY -- Plainville's Nature's Fare Restaurant, an institution in Cicero since 1974, shut down abruptly and permanently today.

Owner Mark W. Bitz said a combination of hard economic times and the difficulty in cooking and preparing between 100 and 200 fresh, raw turkeys a day while avoiding food-borne illness led him to the decision.

The restaurant served its last meal Monday night and the company's 35 employees began learning of the closure when they arrived for work this morning.

Customers who had reservations to dine received calls from the restaurant canceling them. A sign greeted those who walked up to the door at 8450 Brewerton Road: "We are closed permanently. Thank you for your patronage."

Bitz said he made the decision after learning from the Onondaga County Health Department this morning that two suspected cases of salmonella in January had been traced to the restaurant.

"We've done everything we can think of to prevent it," Bitz said.

Cases of salmonella traced to the restaurant had declined from about 20 in 2008 to seven in 2009 as the restaurant hired a quality control person, instituted new sanitary and washing procedures and took other steps, he said.

"We've not been able to drive it to zero," he said.

Bitz said the restaurant had seen business decline 15 percent with the recession, and that without growth in the area, he saw little prospect of that business returning.

"We just reached the decision that the model no longer works," Bitz said.

Bitz said he planned to contact people in the restaurant business to see if they wanted to buy the site and operate it under a model that does not involve working with fresh, raw poultry.

Hopefully, a restaurateur would hire at least some of his staff, he said. The workers will be paid their unused sick, vacation or personal time.

County Health Commissioner Dr. Cynthia Morrow said she learned late Monday afternoon that two county residents had contracted salmonella of a subtype that had previously been associated with Plainville's Nature’s Fare. Interviews revealed that both patients had dined at the restaurant, she said.

When she called Bitz with the news this morning, Bitz told her he would close, she said.

Bitz and his staff had worked closely with her department for more than a year and aggressively addressed all concerns, but poultry is susceptible to bacterial infection, she said.

“It’s really unfortunate,” Morrow said. “We know how important Plainville's Nature’s Fare has been to this community. But I really respect Mr. Bitz’s decision because above all, we don’t want any harm to our residents’ health.”

Bitz helped his father, Robert, open the restaurant in 1974 as an adjunct to their Plainville Turkey Farm business. The Bitz family sold the farm in 2007 to Hain Celestial Group, but retained the restaurant under the new name. It served about 250,000 customers annually, he said.

Bitz is a candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress in the 25th Congressional District, the seat now held by Democrat Dan Maffei.

*for those who don't know, I worked at Plainville for many years. Took my first "waitress" steps there. Had my first "at work" relationship there. It was a HUGE part of my life and it helped to put me through Syracuse University. Oh, and I had to wear a bonnet and lots of gingham as per the All Thanksgiving, All The Time theme. RIP P'ville. RIP.

Of course, when I worked there we didn't have any reported cases of salmonella so there was that...