Margarita Uricoechea, owner of the French-inspired Snap restaurant in Washington, D.C., said that her credit-only policy has been beneficial not only to the restaurant's bottom line, but also to its food-safety efforts.
"It's one less thing we have to worry about," she said, referring to the fact that her employees no longer have to deal with money. "No one is touching cash anymore so those germs aren't spreading around."
Uricoechea said that food safety is one of her top priorities and that she sends all of her employees to a local food safety course.
"Also, gloves are worn at all times when food is involved," she added. "We are also very aware of cross-country contamination and are careful not to use the same utensils for anything."
In addition, all of the food at Snap, which seats 11 inside and 36 on the patio, is made-to-order, "so nothing is just laying around," Uricoechea said.
"We only use the freshest ingredients and a lot of organic materials," she added. To ensure that freshness, Uricoechea keeps thermometers in all of Snap's fridges and checks the temperature daily.
Uricoechea also said that hand washing is a top priority. "Even with the gloves you can never be too careful," she said.
