Are you one of those DC residents who checks a restaurant's most recent health inspection report online before ordering dinner delivery from it? Do you poo-poo restaurants given a 'B' grade by the LA County Department of Public Health? Have you downloaded the NYC Health Letter Grade iPhone app?
Then you should probably avoid the Food Network's upcoming show "Health Inspectors," which debuts October 26 -- just in time for Halloween! Because in all likelihood, the series will give nightmares to anyone remotely squeamish.
In each episode, host Ben Vaughn, a restaurant consultant, will visit one of the country's filthiest restaurants, expose its grossness and then try to clean it up to an acceptably un-nauseating level. Here's the network's official description of the series:
Restaurant consultant Ben Vaughn lends his expertise to restaurants across the country in desperate need of a health upgrade in the new series Health Inspectors, premiering Friday, October 26th at 10:30pm ET/PT on Food Network. An unexpected visit from a restaurant health inspector can shut down an establishment instantly if they are not up to code. Ben uses his years of experience in the restaurant industry to assess kitchens from top to bottom, leaving no stone, or stove, unturned. From high-end restaurants to small cafés, Ben holds the owners and staff accountable for the messes they've made and shows them what they need to do to pass inspection and stay in business.
Episodes include:
Premiering Friday, October 26th at 10:30pm ET/PT
"Rats in the Cellar"
Salud restaurant in Chicago specializes in high-end Mexican food and specialty tequila cocktails, but behind the festive exterior are many health code violations. After friends of the owner came down with food poisoning, she called Ben Vaughn for help. Can Ben get Salud through their next inspection or does the restaurant have one violation too many for him to resolve?
Premiering Friday, November 2nd at 10:30pm ET/PT
"Renegade Pirates"
The staff at the Green Burrito in New Orleans claims to have the best burritos in town, but when it comes to food safety they are struggling. With the owner in over his head and the restaurant in complete disarray, the Green Burrito needs help immediately to get up to code or risks being closed down for good. Can expert Ben Vaughn get this place on track to pass code and keep the place open or is the restaurant beyond saving?
Premiering Friday, November 11th at 10:30pm ET/PT
"Slugs in the Walk-in"
Harley's Café in Oklahoma serves all-American comfort food and has been a staple in the community for nearly 50 years. But with a recent change of ownership health code regulations have taken a back seat in this 'biker themed' diner. As the staff gears up for a health inspection everything is riding on expert Ben Vaughn to bring Harley's up to code. Can Ben help them pass their inspection or will they crash and burn?
Premiering Friday, November 16th at 10:30pm ET/PT
"Recipe for Disaster"
O'Donnell's, a small-town Louisiana mainstay, prides itself on its great reputation but if the staff can't get a handle on their health violations they could lose it all. With the help of Ben Vaughn, an expert in cleaning restaurants to bring them up to health code, the staff will be forced to clean up their act. With a health inspection looming, will O'Donnell's sink or swim?
Premiering Friday, November 23rd at 10:30pm ET/PT
"A Game of Chicken"
The owner of King Vic's in Michigan has noble aspirations for his all-American restaurant but he's so consumed with building his empire that he has neglected his kitchen and is buried in health code issues. With a health inspection approaching and Vic's life's savings on the line, the pressure is on to get the place up to code or Vic risks losing it all. Will Ben Vaughn, a restaurant consultant and the foremost expert in cleaning up dirty restaurants, manage to get Vic successfully through his health inspection or will the restaurant fall from grace?
Vaughn has his work cut out for him, to judge by the titles of the some of the first episodes. The series premiere, which takes place at Chicago Mexican restaurant Salud, is called "Rats in the Cellar," and episode three deals with "Slugs in the Walk-In" at a 50-year old diner in Oklahoma.
But he's also already proved his mettle to the public. The show first cropped up as a one-off special on the Food Network in June, in which Vaughn managed to clean up "sizzling cesspool of salmonella" Big Momma's Chicken & Waffles, in New Orleans, quickly and thoroughly enough to help it pass its very next health inspection.