Drunkenness, abuse and ‘death threats’: Inside the downfall of Comedor restaurant

Comedor had everything going for it. A chic industrial warehouse space in Newtown, innovative Mexican fusion served up by young, passionate staff and a Good Food Guide hat within its first six months.

But it had one big problem, according to many of its staff: the owner.

Walter Shellshear, an insolvency lawyer turned first-time restaurateur, opened Comedor in July. With head chef Alejandro Huerta, he transformed the Australia Street warehouse next to his former family home into one of the most exciting restaurants in Sydney.

Comedor owner Walter Shellshear at the Newtown restaurant, which is now closed.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

“It was more than pretty good – it was phenomenal,” said Comedor’s former manager Kieran Took.

Comedor was one of the most anticipated restaurant openings of winter. Under the leadership of Mexican-born, Noma-trained head chef Huerta, it promised a modern, experimental take on authentic Mexican cuisine, served at affordable prices in a light-filled, century-old Newtown warehouse.

Within weeks of its July 10 launch, Comedor landed on “best of” lists across lifestyle publications Gourmet Traveller, Time Out and Broadsheet, and on August 16, it received a chef’s hat award from Good Food Guide editor Callan Boys.

Shellshear also transformed Comedor into his own personal bar, according to staff and customers, coming in regularly to down shots of mezcal and tequila, beer and margaritas.

The staff called it “getting Waltered”: having to juggle the demands of a busy restaurant with a drunk boss who became increasingly aggressive as the nights wore on.

The 53-year-old smoked in the middle of the dining room, yelled at staff to serve him alcohol and threatened to fire those who did not bow to his demands, according to five former employees of the small restaurant, some of whom asked to remain anonymous to protect their future employment.

“He was a bit brash and loud when he was sober, but ultimately fine. You can’t get mad at him for that,” said one staff member. “But the problem was when he was drunk, which was, unfortunately, very regularly.”

As well as issues with his behaviour, multiple staff said they were not paid on time. The situation came to a head on November 27, when the restaurant manager sent staff an email saying she had resigned, the restaurant was closing and their services were no longer required.

Comedor was lauded by customers and industry experts.Credit: Jennifer Soo

On December 7, Comedor formally announced it was shut until further notice, less than six months after it opened.

Questioned by the Herald about staff payments, mass walkouts and his own behaviour, Shellshear denied all allegations.

“I’m an insolvency lawyer who typically fights and doesn’t manage the media the best way,” he told the Herald. “I don’t enjoy this. But we are going to be best mates by the time this phone call is over.”

He blamed the staff for abandoning the restaurant.

“This is becoming bigger than Ben-Hur for a situation where I have been completely wronged,” he said.

“I have just put $2.5 million into a fit-out, won a hat and now I have had people walk out. There’s more to any story than one side of a coin.”

Former Comedor bartender Sophie Dewar said Shellshear took credit for the restaurant’s success. “He told [us] we would be nothing without him,” she said. “[But] he was a complete and utter hindrance.”

“We all busted our asses for that hat,” another former staff member said. “We put everything into it and for [Shellshear] to treat us like he did, when we treated his venue so well, it’s disgusting.”

Huerta, who has not spoken to this masthead since he announced last Tuesday he had left the restaurant, said: “I was happy with what we achieved, but it wasn’t a great place to work.”

Staff messages reveal this was an understatement.

One employee claimed Shellshear threatened to “take a hit out” on her after she raised concerns about his drinking at the restaurant.

“I’d come in at 9.30 in the morning and see him sitting in the window of the restaurant with a tequila,” said a former manager, after several mornings of struggling to get the restaurant cleaned and ready for service.

“He told me that he would find someone to kill me. He recited my address back to me. He told me I would never get another job in hospitality again, and if I ever said anything, he would drag me through the media.”

Speaking through his lawyers, Shellshear denied abusing staff, threatening to “get a hit out” on them, take them to court, or “blast their name through the press”.

“Mr Shellshear has not threatened any staff with legal action, visa cancellation or deportation,” a letter from his lawyers said.

By September, just months after Comedor opened to rave reviews, the situation was spiralling out of control.

Dewar claimed Shellshear would “wreak havoc” in the restaurant. Serving him drinks while he was visibly intoxicated was in contravention of responsible service of alcohol laws, but she felt she had no choice.

“I would cut people off way before him. But again, there was just that high intimidation [factor]. I remember making him, like, six drinks and giving him about four shots, and he had some beers, and then he came back for dinner too,” she said.

Shellshear denied allegations of drunken carnage, labelling them “scandalous”.

Shellshear has denied claims wages were not paid on time. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Another former staff member said he was forced to call Liquor and Gaming, the state regulator, to figure out “what the hell he was supposed to say” to his boss when he demanded margaritas and tequila shots, pulled wine off the shelves and blew smoke in his face in the middle of service.

“He would threaten to fire us if we didn’t give him alcohol,” he said. “It just really put a dampener on the service.”

Customers noticed Shellshear’s behaviour and asked Dewar if the man reaching over the bar to pour himself more shots was the owner. They then left a negative Google review.

“Fantastic food, amazing staff, 100% recommend this restaurant,” said one client. “However, the owner taking tequila shots while aggressively bossing around his team in front of the whole restaurant did not left [sic] the best impression.”

Dewar claimed Shellshear told her “if we were to turn on him, he would hire people to hunt us down”.

“If we ever crossed him, he would take legal action. He threatened to have the kitchen staff deported,” Dewar said.

“It didn’t even make sense … it was a psychotic thing to say to anyone, but even more to your staff. We were just in shock.”

Shellshear’s loud behaviour became apparent to neighbours as it spilled out onto Australia Street in early November, according to three Newtown residents who asked not to be identified due to fears of retribution. The restaurateur was seen staggering onto the street, loudly swearing and kicking the wheels of his red Porsche SUV – allegations that Shellshear denied.

‘[Shellshear] was passed out upstairs on the couch in the office.’

Former Comedor staff member

The alleged threats made staff uncomfortable, but consistently delayed wage payments tipped them over the edge. In some cases, pay was delayed up to 10 days, which was a steep financial blow to employees, many of whom worked on a casual basis, two former employees said.

“Everyone is close to walking,” one staff member wrote in September. “He is completely out of control.”

“I was enraged,” said Dewar, who struggled to keep up with living expenses as she waited to be paid the hundreds of dollars she was owed.

Shellshear also denied failing to pay his staff on time. “Straight off the bat. I reject that comment wholeheartedly,” he said. “They were working 4.5 days and they threw that away.”

“Employees have been paid during the week that Comedor has been closed, even though they have not worked,” a letter from Shellshear’s lawyers said.

Huerta and the rest of the kitchen staff pulled the pin last week. “It was a heartbreaking experience – not an easy decision to make,” the chef said.

Some of the blood Comedor staff said they had to clean up.

But most of the front-of-house staff had already walked two weeks earlier, making it impossible for the restaurant to function.

For restaurant staff, the morning of November 27 was the final straw.

“We came into the venue and it was completely trashed: open beer bottles, wine bottles everywhere, bottles of tequila. Every surface was dirty and sticky,” said a former employee, who shared photos of blood smeared across the counter, and piles of cigarettes in a glass on the kitchen bench.

“[Shellshear] was passed out upstairs on the couch in the office. Like, to the point where people were concerned that he was dead because he was so passed out.”

Through his lawyers, Shellshear said he “fell asleep in the office after sitting down to rest on the couch”.

Shellshear was due to put staff pay through to the accountant that Wednesday.

Instead, staff say Shellshear ordered a margarita to the office, consumed it shirtless and then came downstairs to eat lunch.

“He did not order a margarita or any other alcoholic drink upon being awoken,” Shellshear’s lawyers said.

The pay was not processed, leaving waiters and kitchen staff again struggling to make ends meet.

“So when we all turned up for work the next day, on the Thursday, we all realised that no one had gotten paid, neither the kitchen staff nor the front-of-house team,” said one employee.

The restaurant’s manager resigned that day and told staff not to come to work for the rest of the weekend. They did not return.

“It’s a huge shame that Sydney’s lost something that had so much potential,” Took said.

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