Image via The Hammered Lamb
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation uploaded data March 25 from an inspection performed days prior that should have been assigned to Ethos Vegan Kitchen in Winter Park.
The Hammered Lamb was neither inspected nor shut down that week.
Ethos was previously located at the space now occupied by The Hammered Lamb at 1235 N. Orange Ave. — more than 11 years ago.
The Orlando Sentinel, which weekly publishes the results of similar inspections and shutdown orders assigned to Central Florida establishments, shared the incorrect report the day it was released. The following day, the data was corrected on both the state website and the Orlando Sentinel article, which was updated with an editor's note.
The Orlando Sentinel published a follow-up article detailing the sequence of events with comments from Hammered Lamb and Little Lamb Catering and Events owner Jason Lambert more than three weeks after the initial report was shared.
“We are actively responding to every comment we get, but many people who read that article won’t respond and just won’t come back to our establishment,” Lambert told Orlando Sentinel.
Lambert, who has owned eating establishments and businesses in Orlando for more than 25 years, said the restaurant had already been dealing some lost business due to the major ongoing infrastructure project in Ivanhoe Village.
“The timing was just really bad, too, like we’re already suffering from the construction, and that was just like the stab in the back,” he told the Sentinel.
Community members and business owners — and even Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani (HD 42), in whose district the business is located —have taken to social media to blast the Sentinel's initial article."State of Florida incorrectly labels one of our best restaurants in town for having a bad inspection which the @orlandosentinel posts in click-baity articles that are no better than posting mugshots," Eskamani wrote in a Tuesday Instagram post.
Eskamani also used the post to call for community support and urge readers to scrutinize public data, rather than take it at face value.
"Unless the businesses are going to be interviewed & given a chance to respond to their inspection it would be better to just link to the DOH website so folks know where to go vs publish these stories," Eskamani wrote.
In its latest update, the Sentinel confirmed it contacted the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation for clarification on its error resolution process.
The article reads:
“The Florida Department of Professional and Business Regulation (DBPR) takes the accuracy of our information very seriously,” reads an email from Kara Lefkowitz, deputy director of communications for the agency. “DBPR updates the public record extracts for the Division of Hotels and Restaurants weekly and proactively reviews inspection reports. As you have already noticed, data correction is performed immediately if any errors exist.”The Sentinel also reported it will be adjusting its policy on publication of health inspection reports to wait at least 24 hours after their release to allow time for errors to be corrected.
The Hammered Lamb, known for its loaded brunch dishes, drink deals and regular drag brunch shows, opened its doors in Ivanhoe Park in 2013.
Location Details
Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
