A popular Sicilian café in a York village has taken steps to improve its hygiene after receiving a poor report from council officials.

Caffe Valeria in Main Street, Wheldrake, scored just one-star, meaning major improvement necessary, following the inspection on August 28.

The Food Standards Agency website says for hygienic food handing, the rating was ‘improvement necessary’, which was also given for the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and the building. But for management of food safety, it was a case of ‘major improvement necessary.’

The Press asked City of York Council for a copy of the inspector’s report, but the council declined to supply the document, in case it took action against the café.

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A statement from the ‘team’ at Caffe Valeria said: “At Caffe Valeria, we take pride in maintaining high standards in all aspects of our business, and health & safety is no exception.

“We were naturally disappointed with our recent rating, but we value the constructive feedback provided by the inspector. Since the assessment, we have taken several steps to address the points raised to ensure that we are operating at the level our customers expect and deserve.

“Our one-star rating does not reflect the pride we take in our food and service. Having historically achieved higher ratings, we see this as a temporary dip and are committed to restoring our high standards.”

The café says the rating was ‘unexpected’ and credited this on ‘certain minor issues specific to the day’. These issues had contributed to that day’s low score but had now fully rectified, the café said.

A staff-member was filling in at the last minute due to sickness and had not been able to bring everything back to its usual standard, they said.

The statement continued: “The report highlighted some key areas in need of improvement, which we were already aware of and had scheduled with contractors. Since the inspection, the work has been completed, our kitchen refurbished, sealed, and brought back to standard. 

“Chilling units have been refurbished and repaired, new lining for the kitchen walls fitted, sockets repaired, a finally a deep clean to "reset" back to standard. We have also implemented a comprehensive action plan, including strengthened cleaning protocols in our new space and additional training for newer team members on food storage & dating protocols. We are confident that these measures bring us back in line with the highest food hygiene standards.”

The café says it is looking forward to its re-inspection to demonstrate its commitment to high standards.

The statement added: “We assure our customers that there was never any risk to their health, and these improvements have further enhanced the safety and quality of our offerings. We remain committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment.”

Café Valeria has a sister café at the York Designer Outlet, which gained at four-star ‘good’ rating for hygiene in May 2023.

For food TripAdvisor gives both cafés four-stars out of five.

Google gives Wheldrake café 4.6 stars out of five based on 175 reviews, and the outlet café an even more impressive 4.8 stars based on 454 reviews.

The Press will report on the Wheldrake reinspection when we are aware it has taken place.