By Matt Leingang
The Cincinnati Enquirer

IF YOU GO

• On the menu • Band schedule • Map What: Taste of Cincinnati, a three-day extravaganza featuring about 40 restaurants and four major stages. When: Noon to midnight Saturday and Sunday, noon to 9 p.m. Monday. Where: On four blocks of Central Parkway, between Elm and Main streets downtown. Cost: Admission free; menu items priced $4 or less. Information: www.tasteofcincinnati.com.

He packs a cooking thermometer and is not afraid to use it.

Dale Brigsby, a sanitarian with the Cincinnati Health Department, will be at the 25th annual Taste of Cincinnati culinary arts festival this weekend making sure hot foods are hot and cold foods are cold.

Ordinarily, "food cops" like Brigsby are responsible for inspecting sanitary conditions at 2,800 restaurants, grocery stores and food processing operations in the city.

But when restaurateurs go outdoors, especially in warm weather, there is a greater risk of food contamination.

As in previous years, all 43 vendors at Taste of Cincinnati will be inspected three to four times a day, and it's not unheard-of for the Health Department to temporarily shut down a vendor if a potential problem is spotted.

"This is a fun event, but sometimes folks get carried away and do things they normally wouldn't do in a restaurant setting," said Brigsby.

For example, Brigsby said, cooks will sometimes eat and drink while preparing food for customers, something the health department doesn't want to see because of the risk of cross-contamination.

At least nine food inspectors will be assigned to each day of the three-day event, and Brigsby will be in charge of food safety.

For the record, the vast majority of vendors at Taste do a great job, Brigsby said. Only once in the past 10 years has the health department completely shut down a booth, and no cases of food-borne illnesses have ever been linked to Taste, he said.

Preparations for Taste of Cincinnati begin in early April. All vendors who apply for the event are called to the health department and shown a presentation of things that could go wrong:

• Rain. It usually rains at least once during the weekend, Brigsby said. All electrical equipment and boxed food must be kept 6 inches off the ground to avoid contact with pooling water.

• Hot weather. Temperatures in the 80s make it hard to keep cold foods cold. Meat, seafood, poultry, pasta and dairy products must be kept at 41 degrees or colder in refrigerated trucks. Ice can't be used as a means of refrigeration.

• Lack of running water. How is a chef supposed to wash his hands without a sink? Each booth must have a hand-washing station, usually a picnic cooler of warm water and some soap and towels. Also, makeshift kitchens need three containers, for washing, rinsing and sanitizing dishes and utensils.

• The unexpected. Almost every year, electrical generators malfunction and refrigerated trucks break down.

"The public has nothing to worry about. The city checks us every two hours. They are very strict," said Christel Fraundorfer, co-owner of the Black Forest Restaurant in West Chester Township. "We've had to buy a lot of equipment over the years to make them happy."

Fraundorfer bought several portable freezers - costing $1,000 to $2,000 each - for Taste of Cincinnati.

Brigsby said the health department doesn't take an adversarial approach with vendors.

But one longstanding issue is freshness.

Vendors use Taste of Cincinnati to showcase their best dishes, and they want all ingredients to be as fresh as possible. But the health department encourages cooks to do much of their cutting, dicing and breading back at their restaurants.

"You simply can't duplicate your kitchen in an outdoor booth," Brigsby said. "Sometimes you have to be firm and make people unhappy, but those are rare occasions."

E-mail mleingang@enquirer.com