The owner of the Zagat Survey's top-rated restaurant in Sacramento collapsed and was hospitalized after attempting to get his restaurant ready for a health inspection today.
County health officials closed the restaurant last week because of cockroaches.
Daniel Pont, 70, has become well known for his one-man downtown restaurant, La Bonne Soupe, on Eighth Street.
The tiny eatery with its gourmet soup and sandwiches topped the Sacramento Zagat Survey earlier this year but was closed last week after county health inspectors found both live and dead cockroaches.
The move shocked lunch goers who stand in long lines as they wait for Pont to prepare their lunches then handle customer transactions.
Pont was working through the weekend to ready his restaurant for a fresh inspection this morning when he collapsed and was taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center on Morse Avenue.
His wife, Asta Pont, said the closure had devastated her husband.
"I've cried all night," she said. "It has been just a mess. My husband is crumbled up.
"It broke him down to his knees," she said. "He never expected to be treated like this after working so hard and gaining what he gained to be a well-known restaurant like he did."
Alicia Enriquez, the head of the county's restaurant inspection program, said her inspectors arrived at La Bonne Soupe this morning and found a sign saying Pont had been taken to the hospital.
She said the inspection would be rescheduled.
While offering Pont the department's best wishes, Enriquez said cockroaches are a serious health concern because they can spread bacteria to food and kitchen surfaces.
She said it is restaurant owners' responsibility to keep their establishments free of pests.
About half of the approximately 100 restaurant closures in the county each year are due to roach infestations, she said.
Of Pont, she said; "We certainly wish him all the best, and we want to be here to assist him to get back on board when he's ready."
A spokesperson for Kaiser Permanente could not immediately be reached to comment on Pont's condition.
Call The Bee's Hudson Sangree, (916) 321-1191.
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