Restaurateur who displayed Nazi symbol cut from NOMAD

After being charged with displaying a Nazi symbol at a pro-Palestinian rally and suffering a community backlash, Al Yazbek is no longer involved with his hospitality group. See what his angry wife had to say about it.

The owner of a famous Sydney restaurant has been forced out of his own company, according to his “furious” wife, amid a torrent of online abuse and customers boycotting the venue.

A fortnight after Nomad restaurateur Al Yazbek was charged with displaying a swastika and the words “ Stop Nazi Israel” at a pro-Palestine rally and a day before his first court appearance, his wife and Nomad co-founder Rebecca Yazbek issued a statement distancing Yazbek from the business and herself, declaring he was “no longer involved in the management of the business”.

“Two weeks ago, our co-director, Al Yazbek, behaved in a way that offended a lot of people. We deeply regret the impact his actions have had on the community, and for that, we sincerely apologise,” the statement read.

“As both his wife and business partner, I was furious with his actions and heartbroken by the harm they caused. I fully understand the disappointment and frustration felt by those affected, and I am committed to doing everything possible to restore your trust.”

Yazbek and Rebecca, an interior architect, built the celebrated Nomad restaurant group over the course of a decade, but after his arrest the business received a torrent of negative comments from horrified patrons, including reviews reading “Don’t go to this anti-Semitic restaurant”, “Disgusting”, and “I hope you go bust,” with one diner claiming it was “inconceivable for me return to Nomad”.

Rebecca Yazbek and Al Yazbek Picture: Facebook

The business has since turned off comments on its social media pages.

There have been reports of mass cancellations at the couple’s Sydney and Melbourne venues, with many within the industry stating the venue won’t recover from the fallout.

“Many people within the Jewish community are calling for people to boycott all of Alan’s restaurants,” one industry insider said.

“It will be hard for this venue to recover.”

Champagne house GH Mumm also ended its partnership with Yazbek’s Melbourne venue Reine & La Rue after he was charged, while businesses including Telstra and Goldman Sachs cancelled event bookings there.

When The Daily Telegraph posed questions to Ms Yazbek on whether her husband had left Nomad Group completely, she said: “We are in the process of restructuring the business and hope to be able to make an announcement on that in the next week.”

Al Yazbek holding a flag with Nazi symbol during a protest in Hyde Park. Picture: NewsWire

The Daily Telegraph revealed earlier this month it was Yazbek who had held the sign displaying the phrase and the swastika in place of the Star of David on a flag of Israel on October 6, before NSW Police confiscated it and charged him over the incident.

He is expected to appear at Downing Centre Local Court today (THURSDAY). After being charged, Yazbek issued a statement apologising “unequivocally” to the Jewish community for holding the “deeply offensive” sign and claiming he was “traumatised daily by the ongoing bloodshed in the Middle East”.

NOMAD in Surry Hills. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

It has since emerged that Yazbek had previously been questioned by police in 2014 over incidents in which his car was found acting suspiciously outside a Bondi synagogue with his car was loaded with ‘water bombs”.

At Nomad on Wednesday afternoon, it was business as usual despite the news of Yazbek’s departure.Three workers were seen sitting outside having a discussion before heading inside to begin preparing for yesterday evening’s diners.