Jan. 7. UPDATED. Span of management is said to be behind Kindred’s score of 88 from the Mecklenburg County Health Dept. Restaurant owners Joe and Katy Kindred’s first venture outside of Davidson, Hello Sailor, opened in Cornelius a little over a year ago.

Since then, the owners have had their hands full operating two restaurants under a national spotlight, thanks in part to brilliant public relations from Wagstaff Worldwide, a PR and marketing giant with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

About the 88 score at Kindred in Davidson, Wagstaff’s Ashley Miller said: “In our almost four years of operation, our restaurant has not been below a 93 and we are eager to be re-scored by the health inspectors soon to return to that standard. We take the quality of our food and how we prepare it very seriously and continue to hold ourselves to the highest of standards to ensure our guests have the best experience.”

NEW: The health department revisited the restaurant Jan. 9, and gave Kindred a score of 100.

Some of the problems documented by the Mecklenburg County Health Department included a failure to maintain proper food temperatures, an employee in the kitchen without a beard guard and an unlabeled chlorine bottle at the dishwasher station.

National spotlight

Both Kindred and Hello Sailor were covered by national media. Bon Appetit’s Andrew Knowlton said this in 2015 when John Woods was still Mayor: “Joe cooks while Katy is sommelier, designer, and more. Most days you’ll find their kids running around the place. They’re not the only fans: Mayor John Woods is a regular, as is artist Tom Clark (“the gnome man”), whose museum formerly occupied the 101-year-old building. On my visits, everyone seemed like a regular. It didn’t take me long to feel like one too.”

Span of management

Restaurateurs say span of management or span of control is difficult in a world centered on quality, creativity and repeat business. Mix in spoilage, high expectations, employee turnover, and you may have more than any management team can handle.

Kindred, which had always scored above 90 on previous visits, was cited for more than a dozen different violations. The violations were serious enough to drop their score to a B, or 88, and trigger a follow up inspection within 10 days.

The Kindreds quickly took steps to address the problems and scored a 100 on the next inspection Jan. 9.

Management is challenging for any enterprise that expands from an organizational or operational point of view. Restaurant consultants say it’s all about the people, which is especially challenging in the world of food service and an incredibly tight labor market.