The owner of a café and desserts bar in Gerrards Cross that was handed a one-out-of-five food hygiene rating in the spring says they were ‘congratulated’ by an inspector after upping it to a perfect five-out-of-five score last month.

The Free Press reported that Buttermilk Café on Packhorse Road in Gerrards Cross was handed the low rating after an inspection on May 15, which found the premises – which had only been open for two months – in need of “major improvements” to its food safety management.

An inspector also judged the café’s cleanliness to need some improvement and accepted its hygienic food handling practices as “generally satisfactory”.

It likely came as a shock to proprietor Jimisha Parekh, whose Ealing branch celebrated a renewed five-out-of-five hygiene score in January.

While the original rating shouldn’t be dismissed as a blip – indicating as it did the food safety officer’s overall confidence in the establishment – Jimisha and her team can now breathe a sigh of relief, thanks to a new score based on a reinspection at the end of July.

She said the reinspection was quickly booked in for July 22 after the damning spring report, with the officer this time suitably satisfied by hygiene practices across the board to award it a perfect five-out-of-five score.

A full inspection of the café revealed “very good” hygienic food handling, “very good” cleanliness and facility condition and “good” checks in place to ensure food safety, according to a report on the Food Standards Agency website. 

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It means Buttermilk Café has risen from a rating that implies “major improvement is necessary” to one that means the business is seen as “very good” on the food hygiene front.

Jimisha said: “We now have a five-star certificate on the door which was given to us by the Food Standards Agency and the officer congratulated us on the improvements we made.

"He thoroughly inspected the whole restaurant multiple times and said he was satisfied with our service and hygiene standards.”

The café and desserts bar, which opened in April, serves a range of sweet treats including waffles, milkshakes, cookie dough and smoothies – with an ethos based around elevating desserts to “expressions of joy and moments of celebration”. You can find it on Packhorse Road or browse the menu and place an order online at https://buttermilkcafe.co.uk/about.