Navarra Venues: Ex-Curzon Hall head chef Carlo Staropoli convicted for workplace assault

A head chef for a prestigious Navarra Venues restaurant has been convicted for assaulting a receptionist he worked with at the time, forcibly pulling his then-colleague toward him and kissing her.

A 2020 workplace assault at a glitzy Marsfield venue has been played out in court with the perpetrator, the head chef, convicted.

Carlo Staropoli, a current Navarra Venues chef and ex-head chef of their Curzon Hall restaurant, was convicted on Monday for assaulting the establishment’s then-receptionist while on shift, with the victim claiming the incident was “downplayed” and “swept under the rug” by company directors.

In January 2020, Staropoli, 35, stood behind then-receptionist Odette Cabrera while she made coffee for a function at Curzon Hall before forcefully placing his hands on her shoulders, pulling her into him, kissing her above the ear before running his left hand down her back, resting it there for a moment, before walking away.

Carlo Staropoli, head chef at Navarra Venues, was convicted of common assault.

No words were exchanged and Ms Cabrera, who was 20 at the time of the incident, said she was “frozen in shock” at the hearing at Burwood Local Court, stating “she’d never experienced anything like that before”.

“I felt unsafe and uncomfortable, and worried that more could happen,” Ms Cabrera said.

Ms Cabrera sent a text message to her supervisor immediately after the incident, reporting and describing what happened, which was shown and tendered in court.

Ms Cabrera also said a couple of days prior, Staropoli had come over to her at work with her Instagram account up on his phone, before he went through the photos, commenting to her about her weight and the size of her breasts.

The glitzy and prestigious Curzon Hall wedding venue.

Giovannino Navarra, who runs the venues company with his brother Sal, appeared in court in person to support his head chef and provide a character statement. Staropoli had pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Cabrera, who left her position immediately after the incident, said in court that she felt the directors of the company “downplayed” the incident and gave her no support, and that she put together her own incident report after the company’s initial one was “completely incorrect”.

“It (the support by Navarra) was very one-sided,” Ms Cabrera said.

“My old boss said: ‘that’s (the incident) just what Italians do’.

“It felt like it was swept under the rug.”

The defence for Staropoli argued to Magistrate Joy Boulos the incident never took place as described and the chef simply tapped Ms Cabrera twice on the shoulder to comfort her.

Carlo Staropoli pictured before his hearing at Burwood Local Court on May 30.

Giovannino Navarra, senior managing director of Navarra Venues, leaving Burwood Local Court on May 30 after giving a character statement.

Magistrate Boulos said that due to the nature of the evidence – a case of two accounts – she had to be sure beyond reasonable doubt of the evidence and it wasn’t a case of one being false and one being fact.

She described Staropoli’s statement in court as “self serving” and rejected it as evidence, while describing Ms Cabrera’s as “consistent, clear and honest”, as well as noting the text message sent at the time of the incident matched with her recount of it in court.

Magistrate Boulos found Staropoli guilty, convicted him and handed down a $660 fine.

Navarra has been in the spotlight over a number of issues including when the company took a swipe at the state government’s Covid restrictions in January 2021.

It has also been involved in an ongoing dispute with the Inner West Council over a proposed skate park near its Lilyfield Le Montage venue.

Navarra Venues, who had previously supported Staropoli in a statement to NewsLocal at the time of the charge, were contacted for comment before and after the verdict, but hadn’t responded at the time of publication.