As a child growing up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, Vincent Generoso faced his mothers inspection before heading out to school each morning. His shoes had to be polished, his shirt had to be clean and hed better not have dirt under his fingernails.

Now, Generoso has brought that same standard of cleanliness to the restaurant that bears his name in Little Italy, earning it an unblemished five-year health inspection record.

Zhi Qiang Dong, proprietor of the New Apple Restaurant in Bayside, Queens, accomplished the same difficult feat. Not once over the last five years did a city health inspector find a sanitary problem in his establishment.

Whenever I have free time, I clean. When I see dirt, I clean, Dong said through an interpreter. Before we close, we clean everything, and before we open, we clean again.

Both restaurants are enshrined on the Daily News honor roll of the citys cleanest restaurants.

To make the grade, restaurants had to pass every annual surprise inspection over a five-year period without being cited for even one critical violation. Only restaurants that had been inspected every year were considered candidates.

Its a selective group of 15 of the citys eating establishments. Three of the 15 were company cafeterias not open to the public, and six were fast-food or takeout establishments.

This spotless collection shows that cleanliness may be next to godliness, but its also just plain hard work.

At Vincents on Mott St., the windows are washed every day. The sidewalk is hosed down unless temperatures are below freezing. The bathrooms are cleaned every hour and a half. The floors are mopped two or three times a day. And a two-man cleaning crew gives the place a going-over every day between 2 a.m. and 10 a.m.

My accountant yells at me. He wants to know why we spend so much on soap, Generoso said. And it costs $600 a week for the night crew. I dont care. I want a clean place.

Hes also a stickler for food temperatures, aware that serious violations called public health hazards because they can lead to illness often relate to the temperatures at which food is thawed, cooked and stored. Food sitting between 45 and 145 degrees nurtures bacterial growth.

Thats why the oysters and clams are kept well chilled at Vincents, and the sauces (sweet, medium and hot) are always at the proper temperature.

Just to be sure everything is just so, Generoso keeps a food thermometer near the cash register so he can check himself at any time.

Customers seem to think its worth it. They have rewarded Vincent with plenty of business. The 121-seat restaurant is crowded most Friday and Saturday nights, sometimes with a 45-minute wait.

Copyright Daily News, L.P. May 23, 1999 Daily News Special Report {Restaurants} Part 1 of 3