World leaders sitting down to dinner with President Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago “winter White House” may want to think twice before tucking into a plate of the club’s famous fish.
According to the Miami Herald, Mar-a-Lago’s kitchens were recently cited for thirteen serious health code violations, most involving seafood, including three violations the inspectors deemed to be “high priority”—if they weren’t immediately fixed, Mar-a-Lago might have faced a temporary halt in service.
The $200,000-per-year member’s only club was found to meet Florida’s minimum standards of cleanliness, but inspectors found fish, “intended to be served raw” had not undergone “proper parasite destruction.” Raw meats stored in some of the kitchens’ coolers—including chicken, duck and raw beef—were warm enough to encourage bacteria growth.
One ham apparently clocked in at 57 degrees.
The club was told that they had to empty the coolers immediately and make needed repairs, otherwise they would face harsh penalties, which could, according to the Florida health inspectors website, include temporary closure.
That would definitely put a kink in Mar-a-Lago’s legendary “Seafood Wednesdays” which feature “two pound lobsters, freshly grilled fish and meat items, salads and a dessert bar, accompanied by a saxophonist,” as well as in Trump’s strategic plan to wine and dine foreign dignitaries at his Palm Beach club before addressing serious foreign policy matters.
Trump, of course, doesn’t run Mar-a-Lago himself; he technically can’t, pursuant to agreements he made to keep his businesses at arm’s length or further while he serves as President. But he might want to nudge his property managers to keep a closer eye on things.
Fortunately for the several foreign dignitaries who have already dined at Mar-a-Lago, the inspection happened before Trump’s first high-profile tête-à-tête in the resort’s dining room. Since they are still serving food, we can also probably conclude that they remedied their fish issues before serving Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
As for Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping, there’s no indication anything was wrong with the chocolate cake.
