Gross Out: Glove Faux Pas at Hob Nobs

We remember when Hob Nobs, a coffee shop at McDowell Road and 3rd Avenue in Phoenix, used to be Willow House. Not a particularly clean joint. But we hear good things about the new place, which is why we were dismayed to see that Hob Nobs failed its recent county...

By Amy Silverman

March 27, 2009

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We remember when Hob Nobs, a coffee shop at McDowell Road and 3rd Avenue in Phoenix, used to be Willow House.

Not a particularly clean joint. But we hear good things about the new place, which is why we were dismayed to see that Hob Nobs failed its recent county restaurant inspection.

Then we read the report. It could have been a lot worse. True, the chicken cooling in tightly sealed Ziploc bags is not the most appetizing image. And there was one true gross out: "Observed employee handling raw chicken and then handling cleaned and sanitized plastic containers."

But one thing in that report really made us laugh, more than gag.

"Also observed employee blowing into plastic gloves before donning."

Good news: The report went on to explain that the employee later washed hands and donned fresh gloves.

Amy Silverman is the former managing editor of Phoenix New Times. She is a two-time winner of the Arizona Press Club’s Journalist of the Year award. Her work has appeared on the radio show This American Life and in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Lenny Letter, and Brain, Child.

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