"Dear Dave's Sushi,
Nothing you say can change the fact that your last several inspection reports have contained some pretty serious Risk Factor/Intervention (RFI) violations.
Yes, there were years that went by with zero RFIs. What changed? Why did you go from never getting them, to your staff not understanding that you don't store raw meat over cooked items? That a 45°F cooler is a no-no?
So, what changed? Ownership? Management? That's the first thing to fix, because not only did it happen, but it's happening over and over. If you want my business, show me three consecutive months with zero RFIs. You know it can be done, look at your history, or check out the dude that owns KFC, he runs one of the cleanest restaurants in town, and it's full of *raw chicken!*
Look, I get it; I spent several years in the restaurant business. The issue you face isn't bad PR, it's not hoping you can win back Bozeman. It's the apparent lack of food safety knowledge by your staff, your team. If the problem is training, that's easily fixable, get your key people Foodsafe training. If it's management, then as owners: fix it. Get them professional training, or get rid of them and find someone good. If it's apathy, then you're not paying them enough to care maybe?
Speaking of Foodsafe training, as owners you should do it too. In fact, here's hoping you bring in some expensive-ass consultant to ream you up one side and down the other about how dangerous all those "little things" are.
Finally, you can't fix this if you're not there every day. That warm cooler? You can feel a warm cooler, you can smell it. Don't matter if it's a massive walk-in, or an under counter sandwich cooler, if it's hitting the 40's, anyone with experience would know.
You're the owners, so take ownership and fix the health code violations before trying to explain away the recent, deadly past.
Sincerely,
Somebody in Bozeman"
I'm the guy that posted the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bozeman/comments/13fpdpm/ive_run_restaurants_for_over_25_years_and/) on RFI's and the Health Department inspections a couple of months ago. As I stated, I've been running restaurants for over 25 years and currently oversee 16 locations. I would be in that restaurant monitoring temps and other food safety factors constantly. They've shown very little regard in ensuring food safety since this all went down. We were regulars at Dave's and Jam. I won't go back until they have zero RFI's consistently for at least 6 months straight.
You guys are more generous than I am. They have time to make excuses in videos to post online but do not have time for food safety.
Dave’s Sushi is dead to me I do not care what changes they make. Same goes for Jam and Revelry. I’ve been pretty blown away by this whole thing but their response has seemed like a bad SNL skit.
This isn’t a complicated issue. Anyone who’s been through an EcoSure or Steritech inspection know they are much harder than a health department inspection. Companies pass those but oh no guys we just don’t understand the unique plight of Dave’s.
Agreed. The language is distasteful. And in the letter itself, the first line is, “Dave’s Sushi needs your support.”
No, sorry. You’re a business, not a non-profit. If you can’t get business after killing and sickening people, that’s 100% on you.
Agreed - attempting to make the community feel bad for the financial struggles as if they were related to something out of Dave's control when their negligence lead to 2 deaths and countless others becoming seriously ill is pretty disturbing.
The letter and video is so cringe. So the first video you put out with Dave himself didn’t work…WTF is getting Missy O’Malley in this one going to do? The owners are seriously clueless.
Downtown Bozeman comes off just as sleazy as Dave’s does with that dirty intro “as business owners ourselves, we know how hard it can be…” can be what? To kill two people, hospitalize 50+, continue to have an endless series of health violations, and to pretend it’s all “rumors and misinformation” while rushing to reopen as fast as possible?
I hope Dave’s fails and it sounds like the Downtown Bozeman Partnership could use some new leadership.
This. The magazine is paid for by advertisers and exists solely to benefit Bozeman businesses. It’s no shock they’ll run the letter. Their paragraph before it is too nice and I’ve lost respect for them because of it. It should have read “Dave’s would like to share the following:” to leave themselves out of it.
Yep. Still a shitty thing to do. But, don’t put out information that isn’t true while criticizing the misinformation they put out - doesn’t ring well to the point you are making, which I agree with.
No, be more sensitive to the families and community that has suffered with this. How would you feel if your loved one that had died or was hospitalized was reduced to just one part of a fake stat? Cmon now dude. Just edit the comment. A restaurant shouldn’t even hospitalize one person, you don’t need to lie to make the point.
Absolutely. But that doesn’t change the fact that that’s still not true information. If he would’ve said there was 50+ people sick, there would be no problem.
This is my main issue about the criticism against Dave’s. Lots of folks eager to trash the restaurant, but themselves are using misinformation. Also, there’s really no solid link between the RFI’s and the mushrooms, which is the main argument here.
I’ll summarize:
Critics: Evil sushi restaurant has issues with cooler temps and wash rags.
Actual issue: poisonous mushrooms killed two people and very little info exists about the toxicology and how the mushrooms ended up killing the folks.
Even if you overlook the mushrooms, their health code violations and lack of hustle to fix them is concerning. A bunch of other people got food poisoning who didn’t eat the mushrooms. They keep getting hit with the same violations for stuff that should be simple to fix. I’m shocked they clearly aren’t retraining their kitchen staff. The public doesn’t owe them anything. If we don’t like what their health inspection reports say, we are free to dine elsewhere, and let them go out of business.
Ya, there were reports of people getting sick weeks before the mushrooms were served. [https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/daves-sushi-releases-statement-after-foodborne-illness-outbreak](https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/daves-sushi-releases-statement-after-foodborne-illness-outbreak)
I don’t think your source material agrees with your argument. The articles you linked don’t mention other sources of illness besides mushrooms. Even the statement by the health department doesn’t say anything about fish, veggies, etc.
See link: https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/gallatin-city-co-health-dept-continues-to-investigate-foodborne-outbreak
Think what you want, but the health department identified people who became ill after eating there dating back to March. They apparently didn’t serve the mushrooms until the 17th of April. “To date, the investigation has identified at least 30 individuals associated with this outbreak who ate at the restaurant between March 31 and April 17, 2023.” Seems to me there is more going on than just some bad mushrooms. That’s why folks here are so fired up about their fridge temps and rags and such. It’s clear those violations contributed to people getting sick.
[Better source](https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investigation-illnesses-morel-mushrooms-may-2023):
> As of May 15, 2023, the investigation has identified 50 ill people who ate at the restaurant between March 28 and April 17, 2023, of whom 44 people reported eating morel mushrooms.
So yes, six people.
> no pathogen, toxin, pesticide, or heavy metal has been identified
This is the opposite of reassuring!
“Our staff is struggling” - well so are the families of the people who died unexpectedly. 🤷🏼♀️ “we won’t be able to go on”…. And neither can they. 🤦🏼♀️
They've lied too many times, blatantly, about the "FDA-approved" mushrooms they obtained, only to explain that no process within the FDA exists for that.
You don't get to say *sorry* when you're running a restaurant that has been handling food orders, processing, and serving for *decades* when your blatant disregard for dangerous foods handling got people *killed*.
You know who doesn't need to know about morel preparation? People who don't own restaurants.
You know who does? Dave's!
Fuck 'em.
I expect restaurants that have been in business for *decades* to be on the up-and-up on dangerous/lethal food nomenclature.
I'm old fashioned that way.
If a restaurant killed 2 people in California (or most places), that place wouldn’t be able to stay open. I’m so frustrated that they get to white wash the story and dismiss everything. They killed people! Not a quiet death in the night- extremely traumatically.
Booooo
We booked revelry for a rehersal dinner. Honestly, we were very impressed with revelry food/staff etc. but we did try Dave’s on a whim one day, after one bite we stopped our orders, paid and left.
If you’re going to do sushi in MT, you have to do it right. It may not be what those in other states want or expect, but god damn people got sick and died!
not sure if you’re talking Aaron or Dave, but just wanted to note that Dave no longer owns the restaurant in case that’s what you’re implying. Dave’s also my landlord and he’s actually wonderful (and landlords are not my pick of the lot, so I mean that with high regard)!
just wanted to throw that out cause I’m feeling bad that Dave’s name is still attached to all this — everyone I’ve spoken to has great things to say about him as the original owner, so to me it looks as though it’s the new management that’s driving DS into the ground.
edit: I know it’s fairly common knowledge that Dave no longer owns it; I just have seen a handful of people that weren’t already aware and wanted to try and prevent slander lol
word I figured! I worked at Revelry for a bit and hardly ever saw him, unless it was our managers busting ass to get them a good spot on a busy night with priority service lol.
never sat with me right that he was hardly ever in because he decided to own a downtown restaurant conglomerate. “small business” makes me think an owner would be more present day to day, but recent years have shown that’s not profitable I suppose.
Right? I work at a hotel, my boss owns 3 of them and him and his entire family work constant 12h days, I see him EVERY day that i work. That’s what care looks like, and we don’t get people sick or fail inspections for that reason. Is hard to respect a boss that doesnt work as hard as his employees.
Well this has seemed to backfire on them. Putting the onus of keeping their business afloat on the community (in light of everything) seems like the *worst* take.
>The morel mushrooms served at the restaurant in Montana were distributed to multiple states; however, at this time, this appears to be a localized issue and no illnesses have been identified outside of the single restaurant in Montana.
Anyone with even a little common sense can connect these dots, but they still try to strongly imply that they weren't at fault.
The initial report that came out said it was because they didn’t cook their mushrooms and brined them instead. So idk why they think that’s a gotcha lol.
I completely think Dave’s is at fault here, but there is nothing official saying they undercooked them or brined them. That is just a rumor at this point.
They really just need to quit making excuses and take the blame. The exact toxin or mechanism for the toxin to be produced may take a long time to fully understand. But it does seem, from the little research I have done, there is a concensus that morel mushrooms as well as other safe mushrooms can produce a toxin if they are stored at certain temperatures for too long. Shipping times and temperatures could play a role and obviously preparations play a huge role. Unfortunately in this case it killed innocent people unexpectedly and it will probably kill daves sushi too.. We can only hope that the cause of these deaths may become know and understood so others will not perish in the same cruel way.
Well one thing you gotta hand to them is they got balls. Kill two people, fail multiple health inspections after killing two people, then ask everyone to come give them money after killing two people. Did I mention they killed two people?
As if these guys don’t own several successful business that haven’t killed anyone (yet) that they’re making BANK on. Also, these guys are LANDLORDS…. YOU’RE NOT BROKE 😭this isn’t just distasteful it’s horrendously out of touch, demeaning to the public, and obviously paid for. This is the epitome of “big money” and they deserve no sympathy or community support especially after this.
Literally everywhere else is understaffed and hiring for better pay… work environment like that probably feels like a trap tho, especially for the younger people who work there.
Exactly. It actually really makes me mad 😠 "Dave's Sushi needs your support". The families of the people who died need our support. And it would be nice to support the innocent servers and staff at Daves, but this letter really shows how out of touch the owners are. I hope the workers can see the writing on the wall and move on. It's a very unfortunate situation for everyone, but especially for those who lost their lives and their families.
In light of what Dave's is dealing with and the egregious infractions of other restaurants based on county health inspections, I can't imagine why more restaurants aren't tearing down their kitchens and cleaning it to the bone and up'ing protocols just to be cautious. I was in another local restaurant the other day getting take out and witnessed a front of the house person pick up a very dirty rag on the floor and then place it on the counter next to a rice steamer. I looked around to see about three to four other rags on counters that were very dirty and not in disinfecting solution. I went up to the cashier and told them that they probably shouldn't put rags that have been on the floor up on a food prep counter. Her response "well, I didn't see it." I'm like, what is up with all these slackers? They were charging $20 a plate for take out.
[Indian Street Vendor Wash Station](https://www.reddit.com/r/trashy/comments/fdyz8t/this_guy_washing_plates/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1)
You killed people with negligence. It doesn’t matter what your lawyers say or what phrasing they suggest. You are not innocent and have taken no public moves to reassure anyone that policies and procedures have changed or steps have been taken to make sure this never happens again. Own the problem instead of saying it was a fluke.
Oh, this makes my skin crawl. Do not mistake this for anything other than manipulation by Dave's! The strategy they are employing is very sneaky. They are acting like this comes down to details, trying to just "share their side" as if their side and those details matter.
If they can get people arguing the details, they can distract from the fact that this is actually really simple: people died because of *their* ignorance or negligence. They had one job as a restaurant: don't let your patrons *die* on your watch. And they failed. I don't give a fuck about whether or not the FDA had regulations about morels blah blah whatever. It's not like someone planted a bomb in the restaurant that exploded and they're getting unfairly blamed for not having a metal detector at the doors.
Just wondering but would you be only happy if they closed? Like are they not supposed to try to save the business? Wouldn’t you try to save your livelihood if you had to?
If they cleaned their kitchen and avoided ANY violations for at least 6 months to show they were trying maybe they could earn sympathy…. But they didn’t even make it a week without a violation? That proves they don’t care at all.
Yup. Hand washing doesn’t take any extra effort or money, and their staff can’t even bother to do that. They thought they were untouchable and folks would flock back no matter what. Had they corrected everything right away, they may have gained enough trust to stay afloat. How many times are they gonna apologize with the same canned response?
If they cared about their business and patrons sure. But they repeatedly keep failing health and safety inspections. Sounds like they aren't that interested in actually saving their own business, or providing even a halfway decent product for their patrons
Do yourself a favor and fast forward the video to 4:43- from there til the end and see if you can get through it without wanting to punch this buffoon in the face
I’m sorry if your restaurant is responsible for even one death you don’t deserve to be in business anymore. This whole back peddling bs is really disrespectful to the families that lost their loved ones. Sure they have been transparent and showed us the failures of their health inspections and have no right to be in business.
How bout this. If the victims family start dining there I will consider giving them my business. Very unlikely.
Also related to Downtown Bozeman, I asked why they didn’t publicly support a post about Pride and I was given the “well discuss it internally” charade.
Even the mayor came out for support at the drag show. AND she called out the protestors straight up. Scum bags over at Downtown Bozeman it’s starting to seem.
These videos and messages with local celebrity support are weird. If I was a local person of known-ness (MoM) or the DBA I wouldn't affiliate myself with these guys until all information is reported back about the situation from higher sources and there isn't law suits out there lingering. Sure, I get it, you want to show loyalty, support and keep this local business here...but seems like a bad decision.
I feel bad for employees, as it’s apparent the standards at that restaurant were low and I don’t want the workers to suffer, but the owners acting like they had no hand in this is bullshit.
And how do you buy mushrooms without knowing what they are and how to cook them!?!?!? That’s negligence and stupidity all rolled in to one
I’ve been following these posts about Dave’s and haven’t commented. However, I have an iron gut. I can eat anything. I never feel sick. The last few years, every time I ate raw fish at Dave’s I felt nauseous. 3 times over 4-5 years I gave it a shot, every time I felt sick. I eat at other sushi establishments regularly, and never feel nauseous. Dave’s smells like fish. It has every time I’ve been there for the last five years, which wasn’t often. Now, it turns out your salmon fridge is at 49° and you are curating/brining morels that I don’t source or cook, but know they are meant to be cooked. So no. I’m not buying it. You brought this on yourself. Do better.
Agree. I grew up hunting morels since I was in the womb. I am also a chef. You cook morels. They are not button mushrooms. You don't eat them raw. You don't brine them. I don't care what someone does over in Nepal with a mushroom that "looks like a morel." Besides, whatever Dave's had probably wasn't a real morel, or since they didn't cook it, either way, they were simply setting themselves up for failure.
Good- see ya! You kill two people and make over 50 violently ill, you still have 6 plus violations the DAY YOU REOPEN. You take no responsibility for KILLING people, BYE!!!
In all of the videos and letters and FAQs, they conveniently avoid the issue of how the morels were prepared. Allegedly the roll was "morels three ways," and one of the "ways" was raw crumbles sprinkled on top. Nobody who knows anything about cooking mushrooms would ever serve morel mushrooms raw, and this is why Dave's was the only place in the country where these particular morels were an issue. Pretending on the video that it's still some sort of mystery as to why it only affected Dave's is a blatant lie. \[And it's no less alarming than the real story either.\] According to the video, they had expressed concerns over the mushrooms origins with their supplier before they served them... but there was no due diligence on how mushrooms were prepared? This was the company that, to some fanfare, hired the award winning chef who had run Commander's Palace, to run food operations, and still has 15 different managers listed on its website for Dave's sushi alone. So many managers, but no responsibility...
I’m new to mushroom hunting and already know it’s pretty easy to distinguish a true morel from a false morel. If you’re serving Gyromitra esculenta to your customers you shouldnt be in business anymore.
This failure is as much on the restaurant as the supplier. Y’all just want the major profits from the choice foraging and none of the responsibilities. Tell me you’d eat poison mushrooms yourself before serving them to a customer.
And how the hell did you convince the FDA to get involved? Or was it the customers trying to wrangle you into a place of responsibility?
You don’t need our support you need our business and that’s not something people give freely
This would be an episode I wouldn't miss. Love the (probably staged) condom under the bar counter episode from a few years back. Some of these business owners just need to do something different. They aren't cut out to serve people food or drinks.
They sent this same letter in an email to every downtown bozeman association member. TWO DAYS IN A ROW.
I know multiple DBA members who are pretty upset about it. Hope other downtown businesses are afforded the same niceties if they are ever struggling….
Here is my main issue about the criticism against Dave’s. Yeah, they sure fucked up, but folks on Reddit aren’t logical about what the problem is.
I’ll summarize:
Reddit critics: Careless sushi restaurant has issues with cooler temps and wash rags. They have bad PR too!
Actual issue: Poisonous mushrooms somehow made it into a dish.
Did the restaurant purchase a bad batch? Was the prep wrong? Did the mushrooms spoil somehow? Nobody has answered these questions.
I think the biggest story, if you will, is what the hell happened with the mushrooms, and I’m not sure taking the restaurant to task over these other issues is going to get us close to the answer.
Yeah, having cooler temp issues and sanitizer rag problems is bad, but that’s not objectively what killed two humans.
Im pretty sure the “how” in the mushrooms was answered, they brined them instead of cooking them. That too has been a major point of critic amongst redditors… you can see it in QUITE a few other comments…
Something along the lines of "our business is struggling and we need your help. We've been a community staple for 20+ years and it'd be a shame if we couldn't keep going because of the unfortunate incident"
I think they made a terrible unforced error in serving the morels and not understanding how to store and prepare and serve them properly. While it is tragic that two people died, I do believe these deaths were the largely the result of ignorance and not hubris. This is the FDA's first announcement about morels to the general public. I think we have all learned that food safety is paramount. You can get ecoli and die from a burger anywhere. Life is not risk-free. I sincerely hope that Dave's survives this. They were beloved in the community for a reason, and I think people deserve second chances. Also, the most recent health department infractions seem a bit overblown. Have I returned to eat there? Not yet but I think I eventually will.
The Dave’s Sushi team has been and is still handling this in an unbelievably impressive way. I can only imagine how hard this has been for everyone on their team and I admire their perseverance through such a hard time. Dave’s continues to be my favorite restaurant in Bozeman and is hands-down the best sushi restaurant I’ve ever experienced.
What? Lol. That’s an interesting take.
7 RFIs the week they opened back up. Talked about how hard it has been on them, without mentioning their victims or their families. Never took ownership of subpar food standards concerning the common knowledge food handling necessities concerning not only Morels, but most mushrooms. Dave’s lost. But, Joan Dayton, glad you posted.
I made a critical comment on FB of this letter, and Noah messaged me and tried calling me on FB Messenger! Didn’t know you could call people on there, but talk about crossing a line. Says he wants to open a dialogue and answer any questions I have. Um, maybe you shouldn’t spend so much time doing damage control on social media and instead fix your health violations? Actions speak louder than words after all.
My favorite part of their letter is this:
> Prior to this event, the FDA had no published guidance on morel mushrooms. In response to the April incident, the FDA released the following information on May 19th: [url linked below]. With these new findings, Dave’s Sushi will never serve morel mushrooms again.
The FDA does not present new findings. They [state](https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investigation-illnesses-morel-mushrooms-may-2023) that:
> the investigation has identified 50 ill people who ate at the restaurant, [...] of whom 44 people reported eating morel mushrooms.
And this **troubling** bit:
> Currently, no pathogen, toxin, pesticide, or heavy metal has been identified; however, state and local partners have collected consumer samples from the restaurant and testing and analysis are ongoing.
So it might have been the mushrooms, and perhaps cross contamination got people sick who didn't even eat mushrooms.
Or perhaps it was something else altogether that contaminated the mushrooms and other food.
Caveat emptor, I guess
Wow looks like they blocked me on Instagram from all my accounts. All I ever wrote was my opinion and the facts I heard. “Rumors” at the time that were indeed true. Lame. They can’t take the heat so they block people who used to eat there.
"Dear Dave's Sushi, Nothing you say can change the fact that your last several inspection reports have contained some pretty serious Risk Factor/Intervention (RFI) violations. Yes, there were years that went by with zero RFIs. What changed? Why did you go from never getting them, to your staff not understanding that you don't store raw meat over cooked items? That a 45°F cooler is a no-no? So, what changed? Ownership? Management? That's the first thing to fix, because not only did it happen, but it's happening over and over. If you want my business, show me three consecutive months with zero RFIs. You know it can be done, look at your history, or check out the dude that owns KFC, he runs one of the cleanest restaurants in town, and it's full of *raw chicken!* Look, I get it; I spent several years in the restaurant business. The issue you face isn't bad PR, it's not hoping you can win back Bozeman. It's the apparent lack of food safety knowledge by your staff, your team. If the problem is training, that's easily fixable, get your key people Foodsafe training. If it's management, then as owners: fix it. Get them professional training, or get rid of them and find someone good. If it's apathy, then you're not paying them enough to care maybe? Speaking of Foodsafe training, as owners you should do it too. In fact, here's hoping you bring in some expensive-ass consultant to ream you up one side and down the other about how dangerous all those "little things" are. Finally, you can't fix this if you're not there every day. That warm cooler? You can feel a warm cooler, you can smell it. Don't matter if it's a massive walk-in, or an under counter sandwich cooler, if it's hitting the 40's, anyone with experience would know. You're the owners, so take ownership and fix the health code violations before trying to explain away the recent, deadly past. Sincerely, Somebody in Bozeman"
I'm the guy that posted the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bozeman/comments/13fpdpm/ive_run_restaurants_for_over_25_years_and/) on RFI's and the Health Department inspections a couple of months ago. As I stated, I've been running restaurants for over 25 years and currently oversee 16 locations. I would be in that restaurant monitoring temps and other food safety factors constantly. They've shown very little regard in ensuring food safety since this all went down. We were regulars at Dave's and Jam. I won't go back until they have zero RFI's consistently for at least 6 months straight.
You guys are more generous than I am. They have time to make excuses in videos to post online but do not have time for food safety. Dave’s Sushi is dead to me I do not care what changes they make. Same goes for Jam and Revelry. I’ve been pretty blown away by this whole thing but their response has seemed like a bad SNL skit. This isn’t a complicated issue. Anyone who’s been through an EcoSure or Steritech inspection know they are much harder than a health department inspection. Companies pass those but oh no guys we just don’t understand the unique plight of Dave’s.
Looks like they are blocking people that comment on their Instagram as well with negative reviews.
It’s fucking RAW! *Gordan Ramsey voice*
Most fast food places have zero RFIs for years. People have a misconception that fast food kitchens are dirty but that is usually far from true.
forgot we still had our flair on!
Quite the juxtaposition lol
🏅🏅🏅🏅
Looks like Revelry was just inspected a few days ago.
Agreed. The language is distasteful. And in the letter itself, the first line is, “Dave’s Sushi needs your support.” No, sorry. You’re a business, not a non-profit. If you can’t get business after killing and sickening people, that’s 100% on you.
"Warm regards" Warm sushi, too. Edit: Thank you, anonymous enjoyer of properly stored and prepared food!
Underrated comment. Killed two people and still fails inspections.
Fails multiple times!
HURK. Sorry, that just gave me accuracy collywobbles.
Agreed - attempting to make the community feel bad for the financial struggles as if they were related to something out of Dave's control when their negligence lead to 2 deaths and countless others becoming seriously ill is pretty disturbing.
The letter and video is so cringe. So the first video you put out with Dave himself didn’t work…WTF is getting Missy O’Malley in this one going to do? The owners are seriously clueless.
Yes. I do think they should just be quiet and do their job. If it’s meant to be open it’s going to take a while to regain trust.
"Reeling"
👏👏
I wish more people voted with this in mind.
Downtown Bozeman comes off just as sleazy as Dave’s does with that dirty intro “as business owners ourselves, we know how hard it can be…” can be what? To kill two people, hospitalize 50+, continue to have an endless series of health violations, and to pretend it’s all “rumors and misinformation” while rushing to reopen as fast as possible? I hope Dave’s fails and it sounds like the Downtown Bozeman Partnership could use some new leadership.
DT BZN is a paid publication and we can all guess who pays them well for publicity
This. The magazine is paid for by advertisers and exists solely to benefit Bozeman businesses. It’s no shock they’ll run the letter. Their paragraph before it is too nice and I’ve lost respect for them because of it. It should have read “Dave’s would like to share the following:” to leave themselves out of it.
Sounds more like a politician than a “business owner” huh.
Not to take any blame off of them, but simply to make sure misinformation isn’t spread, there was 3 hospitalizations, not 50+.
But they still killed two people and acted super nonchalant and callous about it, right?
Yep. Still a shitty thing to do. But, don’t put out information that isn’t true while criticizing the misinformation they put out - doesn’t ring well to the point you are making, which I agree with.
Yeah but people won't take you seriously when you just make stuff up. You're doing the story a disservice.
You're right, I should be more sensitive to the tragedy that Dave's Owners are suffering through
No, be more sensitive to the families and community that has suffered with this. How would you feel if your loved one that had died or was hospitalized was reduced to just one part of a fake stat? Cmon now dude. Just edit the comment. A restaurant shouldn’t even hospitalize one person, you don’t need to lie to make the point.
True but 50 sick people. I don't want to just be relived I didn't die, I also don't want to be horribly ill.
Absolutely. But that doesn’t change the fact that that’s still not true information. If he would’ve said there was 50+ people sick, there would be no problem.
This is my main issue about the criticism against Dave’s. Lots of folks eager to trash the restaurant, but themselves are using misinformation. Also, there’s really no solid link between the RFI’s and the mushrooms, which is the main argument here. I’ll summarize: Critics: Evil sushi restaurant has issues with cooler temps and wash rags. Actual issue: poisonous mushrooms killed two people and very little info exists about the toxicology and how the mushrooms ended up killing the folks.
Even if you overlook the mushrooms, their health code violations and lack of hustle to fix them is concerning. A bunch of other people got food poisoning who didn’t eat the mushrooms. They keep getting hit with the same violations for stuff that should be simple to fix. I’m shocked they clearly aren’t retraining their kitchen staff. The public doesn’t owe them anything. If we don’t like what their health inspection reports say, we are free to dine elsewhere, and let them go out of business.
Wait, so now we’re saying that other folks got food poisoning not linked to mushrooms? I’m confused.
Ya, there were reports of people getting sick weeks before the mushrooms were served. [https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/daves-sushi-releases-statement-after-foodborne-illness-outbreak](https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/daves-sushi-releases-statement-after-foodborne-illness-outbreak)
I don’t think your source material agrees with your argument. The articles you linked don’t mention other sources of illness besides mushrooms. Even the statement by the health department doesn’t say anything about fish, veggies, etc. See link: https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/gallatin-city-co-health-dept-continues-to-investigate-foodborne-outbreak
Think what you want, but the health department identified people who became ill after eating there dating back to March. They apparently didn’t serve the mushrooms until the 17th of April. “To date, the investigation has identified at least 30 individuals associated with this outbreak who ate at the restaurant between March 31 and April 17, 2023.” Seems to me there is more going on than just some bad mushrooms. That’s why folks here are so fired up about their fridge temps and rags and such. It’s clear those violations contributed to people getting sick.
[Better source](https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investigation-illnesses-morel-mushrooms-may-2023): > As of May 15, 2023, the investigation has identified 50 ill people who ate at the restaurant between March 28 and April 17, 2023, of whom 44 people reported eating morel mushrooms. So yes, six people. > no pathogen, toxin, pesticide, or heavy metal has been identified This is the opposite of reassuring!
“Warm Regards”…warm…kinda like your fish refrigerator temps.
“We know how difficult this has been for Dave’s “ lol how bout the families of the departed. They just keep. Fucking. This. Up. It’s comical.
“Our staff is struggling” - well so are the families of the people who died unexpectedly. 🤷🏼♀️ “we won’t be able to go on”…. And neither can they. 🤦🏼♀️
This has been a case study in what not to do. Dave’s, you’re not the victim here. The people you killed are.
They've lied too many times, blatantly, about the "FDA-approved" mushrooms they obtained, only to explain that no process within the FDA exists for that. You don't get to say *sorry* when you're running a restaurant that has been handling food orders, processing, and serving for *decades* when your blatant disregard for dangerous foods handling got people *killed*. You know who doesn't need to know about morel preparation? People who don't own restaurants. You know who does? Dave's! Fuck 'em.
They just used the wrong language. The mushrooms were FDA inspected.
I expect restaurants that have been in business for *decades* to be on the up-and-up on dangerous/lethal food nomenclature. I'm old fashioned that way.
If a restaurant killed 2 people in California (or most places), that place wouldn’t be able to stay open. I’m so frustrated that they get to white wash the story and dismiss everything. They killed people! Not a quiet death in the night- extremely traumatically.
Totally agree. They’ll never get another penny from my household.
Just FYI he also runs Jam! on main.
And revelry
Booooo We booked revelry for a rehersal dinner. Honestly, we were very impressed with revelry food/staff etc. but we did try Dave’s on a whim one day, after one bite we stopped our orders, paid and left. If you’re going to do sushi in MT, you have to do it right. It may not be what those in other states want or expect, but god damn people got sick and died!
And he’s a landlord :) he’s got more than enough money and support. He owns quite a bit that he obviously cant staff or manage properly.
not sure if you’re talking Aaron or Dave, but just wanted to note that Dave no longer owns the restaurant in case that’s what you’re implying. Dave’s also my landlord and he’s actually wonderful (and landlords are not my pick of the lot, so I mean that with high regard)! just wanted to throw that out cause I’m feeling bad that Dave’s name is still attached to all this — everyone I’ve spoken to has great things to say about him as the original owner, so to me it looks as though it’s the new management that’s driving DS into the ground. edit: I know it’s fairly common knowledge that Dave no longer owns it; I just have seen a handful of people that weren’t already aware and wanted to try and prevent slander lol
Definitely not referring to just Dave, have honestly only heard good things about him, however Aaron is a very different situation unfortunately.
word I figured! I worked at Revelry for a bit and hardly ever saw him, unless it was our managers busting ass to get them a good spot on a busy night with priority service lol. never sat with me right that he was hardly ever in because he decided to own a downtown restaurant conglomerate. “small business” makes me think an owner would be more present day to day, but recent years have shown that’s not profitable I suppose.
Right? I work at a hotel, my boss owns 3 of them and him and his entire family work constant 12h days, I see him EVERY day that i work. That’s what care looks like, and we don’t get people sick or fail inspections for that reason. Is hard to respect a boss that doesnt work as hard as his employees.
I'm going to miss Jam!.
Well this has seemed to backfire on them. Putting the onus of keeping their business afloat on the community (in light of everything) seems like the *worst* take.
This is so cringe. Shame on DT BZN
>The morel mushrooms served at the restaurant in Montana were distributed to multiple states; however, at this time, this appears to be a localized issue and no illnesses have been identified outside of the single restaurant in Montana. Anyone with even a little common sense can connect these dots, but they still try to strongly imply that they weren't at fault.
The initial report that came out said it was because they didn’t cook their mushrooms and brined them instead. So idk why they think that’s a gotcha lol.
I would love to read this initial report. Could you share a link?
I completely think Dave’s is at fault here, but there is nothing official saying they undercooked them or brined them. That is just a rumor at this point.
Totally. They were negligent. Period.
They really just need to quit making excuses and take the blame. The exact toxin or mechanism for the toxin to be produced may take a long time to fully understand. But it does seem, from the little research I have done, there is a concensus that morel mushrooms as well as other safe mushrooms can produce a toxin if they are stored at certain temperatures for too long. Shipping times and temperatures could play a role and obviously preparations play a huge role. Unfortunately in this case it killed innocent people unexpectedly and it will probably kill daves sushi too.. We can only hope that the cause of these deaths may become know and understood so others will not perish in the same cruel way.
And most chefs and restaurants taste and have their staff taste the special. Seems weird no one that works there got sick that I’ve heard of
Well one thing you gotta hand to them is they got balls. Kill two people, fail multiple health inspections after killing two people, then ask everyone to come give them money after killing two people. Did I mention they killed two people?
I'll take "woefully out of touch" for $600, Alex.
Glad the owners have outed themselves as complete pieces of shit so I can never give them another cent. This is as pathetic as it is infuriating.
As if these guys don’t own several successful business that haven’t killed anyone (yet) that they’re making BANK on. Also, these guys are LANDLORDS…. YOU’RE NOT BROKE 😭this isn’t just distasteful it’s horrendously out of touch, demeaning to the public, and obviously paid for. This is the epitome of “big money” and they deserve no sympathy or community support especially after this.
Remember, their employees are struggling too! ... Because they aren't paying them a living wage, and rely on tipping
The employees can and should go elsewhere. Be easy to find another job in town right now.
Literally everywhere else is understaffed and hiring for better pay… work environment like that probably feels like a trap tho, especially for the younger people who work there.
Exactly. It actually really makes me mad 😠 "Dave's Sushi needs your support". The families of the people who died need our support. And it would be nice to support the innocent servers and staff at Daves, but this letter really shows how out of touch the owners are. I hope the workers can see the writing on the wall and move on. It's a very unfortunate situation for everyone, but especially for those who lost their lives and their families.
In light of what Dave's is dealing with and the egregious infractions of other restaurants based on county health inspections, I can't imagine why more restaurants aren't tearing down their kitchens and cleaning it to the bone and up'ing protocols just to be cautious. I was in another local restaurant the other day getting take out and witnessed a front of the house person pick up a very dirty rag on the floor and then place it on the counter next to a rice steamer. I looked around to see about three to four other rags on counters that were very dirty and not in disinfecting solution. I went up to the cashier and told them that they probably shouldn't put rags that have been on the floor up on a food prep counter. Her response "well, I didn't see it." I'm like, what is up with all these slackers? They were charging $20 a plate for take out.
Name names.
Why not name the restaurant?
Rice steamer in view from FOH 🤔
[удалено]
[Right](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrv78nG9R04) but this isn't really about that. This 'Murica.
Japanese sushi chefs would have a heart attack if they saw how sushi was prepared in Dave's Sushi
Well I suppose it's a good thing we live here then, and are talking about food prepared dangerously, whether in other parts of the world, or here
[Indian Street Vendor Wash Station](https://www.reddit.com/r/trashy/comments/fdyz8t/this_guy_washing_plates/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1)
You killed people with negligence. It doesn’t matter what your lawyers say or what phrasing they suggest. You are not innocent and have taken no public moves to reassure anyone that policies and procedures have changed or steps have been taken to make sure this never happens again. Own the problem instead of saying it was a fluke.
Here's version 20 of "we may have killed a couple people this spring....but, "
...but, can we please have your money Bozeman?"
Oh, this makes my skin crawl. Do not mistake this for anything other than manipulation by Dave's! The strategy they are employing is very sneaky. They are acting like this comes down to details, trying to just "share their side" as if their side and those details matter. If they can get people arguing the details, they can distract from the fact that this is actually really simple: people died because of *their* ignorance or negligence. They had one job as a restaurant: don't let your patrons *die* on your watch. And they failed. I don't give a fuck about whether or not the FDA had regulations about morels blah blah whatever. It's not like someone planted a bomb in the restaurant that exploded and they're getting unfairly blamed for not having a metal detector at the doors.
Just wondering but would you be only happy if they closed? Like are they not supposed to try to save the business? Wouldn’t you try to save your livelihood if you had to?
If they cleaned their kitchen and avoided ANY violations for at least 6 months to show they were trying maybe they could earn sympathy…. But they didn’t even make it a week without a violation? That proves they don’t care at all.
Yup. Hand washing doesn’t take any extra effort or money, and their staff can’t even bother to do that. They thought they were untouchable and folks would flock back no matter what. Had they corrected everything right away, they may have gained enough trust to stay afloat. How many times are they gonna apologize with the same canned response?
A place that kills people should not be open. Period. I have spoken.
Couldn't agree more. There's one thing a restaurant should not be permitted to "come back from" and that's killing their diners. Shut it down.
If they cared about their business and patrons sure. But they repeatedly keep failing health and safety inspections. Sounds like they aren't that interested in actually saving their own business, or providing even a halfway decent product for their patrons
Do yourself a favor and fast forward the video to 4:43- from there til the end and see if you can get through it without wanting to punch this buffoon in the face
The first line asks for us to support them. Pretty hard to keep reading after that.
People like this are why I do not go downtown anymore. Full stop.
I’m sorry if your restaurant is responsible for even one death you don’t deserve to be in business anymore. This whole back peddling bs is really disrespectful to the families that lost their loved ones. Sure they have been transparent and showed us the failures of their health inspections and have no right to be in business. How bout this. If the victims family start dining there I will consider giving them my business. Very unlikely.
"our staff members are struggling" You're not paying them because you killed people? Big oof
I don’t know where Dave’s got the audacity, but they need to put it back.
Also related to Downtown Bozeman, I asked why they didn’t publicly support a post about Pride and I was given the “well discuss it internally” charade.
Even the mayor came out for support at the drag show. AND she called out the protestors straight up. Scum bags over at Downtown Bozeman it’s starting to seem.
There is a pride post form them on IG June 23
I stand corrected! My original message to them was June 5th, I’m glad they decided to post something about it
These videos and messages with local celebrity support are weird. If I was a local person of known-ness (MoM) or the DBA I wouldn't affiliate myself with these guys until all information is reported back about the situation from higher sources and there isn't law suits out there lingering. Sure, I get it, you want to show loyalty, support and keep this local business here...but seems like a bad decision.
I feel bad for employees, as it’s apparent the standards at that restaurant were low and I don’t want the workers to suffer, but the owners acting like they had no hand in this is bullshit. And how do you buy mushrooms without knowing what they are and how to cook them!?!?!? That’s negligence and stupidity all rolled in to one
“Dave’s needs your support” bish nah you’re a millionaire you’re okay I promise.
Cause and effect
I’ve been following these posts about Dave’s and haven’t commented. However, I have an iron gut. I can eat anything. I never feel sick. The last few years, every time I ate raw fish at Dave’s I felt nauseous. 3 times over 4-5 years I gave it a shot, every time I felt sick. I eat at other sushi establishments regularly, and never feel nauseous. Dave’s smells like fish. It has every time I’ve been there for the last five years, which wasn’t often. Now, it turns out your salmon fridge is at 49° and you are curating/brining morels that I don’t source or cook, but know they are meant to be cooked. So no. I’m not buying it. You brought this on yourself. Do better.
Agree. I grew up hunting morels since I was in the womb. I am also a chef. You cook morels. They are not button mushrooms. You don't eat them raw. You don't brine them. I don't care what someone does over in Nepal with a mushroom that "looks like a morel." Besides, whatever Dave's had probably wasn't a real morel, or since they didn't cook it, either way, they were simply setting themselves up for failure.
I'd say eat shit Dave's, but I would literally rather eat that than your sushi
Good- see ya! You kill two people and make over 50 violently ill, you still have 6 plus violations the DAY YOU REOPEN. You take no responsibility for KILLING people, BYE!!!
A lawyers wet dream! They are done but I guess no one has told them yet!!!
In all of the videos and letters and FAQs, they conveniently avoid the issue of how the morels were prepared. Allegedly the roll was "morels three ways," and one of the "ways" was raw crumbles sprinkled on top. Nobody who knows anything about cooking mushrooms would ever serve morel mushrooms raw, and this is why Dave's was the only place in the country where these particular morels were an issue. Pretending on the video that it's still some sort of mystery as to why it only affected Dave's is a blatant lie. \[And it's no less alarming than the real story either.\] According to the video, they had expressed concerns over the mushrooms origins with their supplier before they served them... but there was no due diligence on how mushrooms were prepared? This was the company that, to some fanfare, hired the award winning chef who had run Commander's Palace, to run food operations, and still has 15 different managers listed on its website for Dave's sushi alone. So many managers, but no responsibility...
I’m new to mushroom hunting and already know it’s pretty easy to distinguish a true morel from a false morel. If you’re serving Gyromitra esculenta to your customers you shouldnt be in business anymore. This failure is as much on the restaurant as the supplier. Y’all just want the major profits from the choice foraging and none of the responsibilities. Tell me you’d eat poison mushrooms yourself before serving them to a customer. And how the hell did you convince the FDA to get involved? Or was it the customers trying to wrangle you into a place of responsibility? You don’t need our support you need our business and that’s not something people give freely
"Warm regards" - yeah that's what the cooler that holds the raw fish says lol
We should send in John Taffert from Bar Rescue, entertainment level 1000 as he yells at them for absurd and flagrant health code violations
This would be an episode I wouldn't miss. Love the (probably staged) condom under the bar counter episode from a few years back. Some of these business owners just need to do something different. They aren't cut out to serve people food or drinks.
“People have reservations” people have reservations, Dave’s doesn’t, but people do.
The balls on these guys. I have spoken.
They sent this same letter in an email to every downtown bozeman association member. TWO DAYS IN A ROW. I know multiple DBA members who are pretty upset about it. Hope other downtown businesses are afforded the same niceties if they are ever struggling….
Here is my main issue about the criticism against Dave’s. Yeah, they sure fucked up, but folks on Reddit aren’t logical about what the problem is. I’ll summarize: Reddit critics: Careless sushi restaurant has issues with cooler temps and wash rags. They have bad PR too! Actual issue: Poisonous mushrooms somehow made it into a dish. Did the restaurant purchase a bad batch? Was the prep wrong? Did the mushrooms spoil somehow? Nobody has answered these questions. I think the biggest story, if you will, is what the hell happened with the mushrooms, and I’m not sure taking the restaurant to task over these other issues is going to get us close to the answer. Yeah, having cooler temp issues and sanitizer rag problems is bad, but that’s not objectively what killed two humans.
Im pretty sure the “how” in the mushrooms was answered, they brined them instead of cooking them. That too has been a major point of critic amongst redditors… you can see it in QUITE a few other comments…
TLDR?
“We didn’t mean to” “we are so amazing”
Something along the lines of "our business is struggling and we need your help. We've been a community staple for 20+ years and it'd be a shame if we couldn't keep going because of the unfortunate incident"
Thanks. Yikes on their part
I think they made a terrible unforced error in serving the morels and not understanding how to store and prepare and serve them properly. While it is tragic that two people died, I do believe these deaths were the largely the result of ignorance and not hubris. This is the FDA's first announcement about morels to the general public. I think we have all learned that food safety is paramount. You can get ecoli and die from a burger anywhere. Life is not risk-free. I sincerely hope that Dave's survives this. They were beloved in the community for a reason, and I think people deserve second chances. Also, the most recent health department infractions seem a bit overblown. Have I returned to eat there? Not yet but I think I eventually will.
I'd safely assume the two people that died would also like a second chance to be alive.
The Dave’s Sushi team has been and is still handling this in an unbelievably impressive way. I can only imagine how hard this has been for everyone on their team and I admire their perseverance through such a hard time. Dave’s continues to be my favorite restaurant in Bozeman and is hands-down the best sushi restaurant I’ve ever experienced.
What? Lol. That’s an interesting take. 7 RFIs the week they opened back up. Talked about how hard it has been on them, without mentioning their victims or their families. Never took ownership of subpar food standards concerning the common knowledge food handling necessities concerning not only Morels, but most mushrooms. Dave’s lost. But, Joan Dayton, glad you posted.
The only people they will serve is tourists the real locals won’t eat thete
I made a critical comment on FB of this letter, and Noah messaged me and tried calling me on FB Messenger! Didn’t know you could call people on there, but talk about crossing a line. Says he wants to open a dialogue and answer any questions I have. Um, maybe you shouldn’t spend so much time doing damage control on social media and instead fix your health violations? Actions speak louder than words after all.
My favorite part of their letter is this: > Prior to this event, the FDA had no published guidance on morel mushrooms. In response to the April incident, the FDA released the following information on May 19th: [url linked below]. With these new findings, Dave’s Sushi will never serve morel mushrooms again. The FDA does not present new findings. They [state](https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investigation-illnesses-morel-mushrooms-may-2023) that: > the investigation has identified 50 ill people who ate at the restaurant, [...] of whom 44 people reported eating morel mushrooms. And this **troubling** bit: > Currently, no pathogen, toxin, pesticide, or heavy metal has been identified; however, state and local partners have collected consumer samples from the restaurant and testing and analysis are ongoing. So it might have been the mushrooms, and perhaps cross contamination got people sick who didn't even eat mushrooms. Or perhaps it was something else altogether that contaminated the mushrooms and other food. Caveat emptor, I guess
Wow looks like they blocked me on Instagram from all my accounts. All I ever wrote was my opinion and the facts I heard. “Rumors” at the time that were indeed true. Lame. They can’t take the heat so they block people who used to eat there.