Exclusive | Buzzy NYC Michelin-starred eatery hid B health rating issued over food temp, contamination concerns

Michelin-starred restaurant Semma was slapped with a slew of health department violations – including for not displaying its “B” grade for cleanliness to its “A” list customers, The Post has learned.The West Village South Indian spot, deemed one of the hardest reservations to get in the Big Apple, was flagged for more than a dozen health violations during its last inspection in January – from “inadequate” personal cleanliness to food temperature issues and contamination concerns. The inspection also confirmed the eatery hadn’t posted its “B”-rating outside for passersby to easily see, contrary to city regulations, according to the city website that makes the grades public.A recent Post visit to the eatery still found the sign was nowhere to be found.It has maintained the rating since at least 2024.A rep for Semma denied that the eatery was hiding its B-rating, claiming that the letter grade was properly posted outside – while blasting the health department for “backed up” inspections in the same breath.“Under DOH’s own inspection cycle, a B-graded establishment is scheduled for reinspection roughly 5 to 7 months after its last visit — Semma is within that window now,” he said.

“If the timing here reads as unusual, that’s a function of how the city schedules re-inspections, not anything Semma has done.“We run a good operation, and a clean operation,” the rep added when asked about the signage.But visits to the restaurant – and even a Reddit thread from January – show the sign either tucked away in a window corner or completely out of view.The city’s health department requires all restaurants to display their grades in clear view of passersby, and at all times. “Love a nice little concealment,” one Reddit user wrote in the caption of a photo showing the sign hidden in a tiny window corner obscured from the street.“They make it impossible to get into and with [a] cost upwards of 100pp the least they could do is...