Top Sydney chefs Attila Yilmaz and Matt Moran fear coronavirus crime
One of Sydney’s top chefs has stripped his restaurants of valuable stock while another is now sleeping at his venue amid growing fears of looters robbing eateries forced to close because of the coronavirus crisis.
NSW
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Sydney publicans have battened down the hatches as if preparing for a hurricane.
Once buzzing hotels and cafes now have boarded up windows and interiors stripped of alcohol and anything of value, with owners fearing looters will target a city the coronavirus has turned into a ghost town.
In a move to deter criminals taking advantage of the empty business hubs and foster public confidence, NSW Police have boosted street patrols around shopping precincts and supermarkets.
That is in part a response to a spike in crimes at supermarkets, where shoppers have come to blows over toilet paper or assaulted staff over grocery shortages.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said outside of those “fools” people were generally behaving themselves but he was concerned about property crime, including commercial break ins and fraud in the future.
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“We are taking it day by day but we would be concerned around breaking into retail stores and storage facilities where there may be bulk storage of items,” Mr Fuller told The Sunday Telegraph.
“That is certainly something we are watching very closely.
“Fraud is one where we know that people will unfortunately try and scam others during some of the most challenging times. We saw that in the bushfires.
“House break and enters are naturally down because people are at home. So we are looking at scanning for what opportunities maybe out there for crime.”
Sydney publican Kelly Hargreaves, who recently closed down her famed family pub The Strawberry Hills Hotel in Surry Hills, says they have boarded windows and doors as a cheap security measure – though all alcohol has also been removed from the venue.
“The other issue is that we have some very expensive windows which are extremely costly to replace,” Hargreaves, who has kept the family’s second pub, the nearby Shakespeare Hotel, open as a takeaway venue, said.
“So we only need a couple of those broken for it to be very expensive, let alone (have) looters.”
Even high-end venues are taking precautions, with Matt Moran, who has closed his ARIA fine dining restaurant and several other venues, opting to strip the kitchens and dining room of anything of value.
“I think (break-ins) are something everyone is thinking about,” Moran said.
“I don’t think we’re at anarchy yet. And I hope we don’t ever get there.
“But we have removed pretty much everything from our venues as a precaution.”
While Police Commissioner Fuller said crime was currently down, many business owners fear what is ahead.
Attila Yilmaz, who served 12 years with the NSW Police before switching careers in 2012, says he now sleeping in his restaurant as he braces for a crime surge following mass job losses.
A former leading constable who also owned a small cafe during the SARS outbreak of 2013 and attended the Cronulla Riots in 2005, Yilmaz said the coronavirus crisis has all the same chaotic hallmarks.
However he believes this time around the circumstances are “so much worse” as Australia faces record job losses, confusion over welfare payments and insecurity around food and resources.
"If we were physically fighting over toilet paper and spitting in each others faces even before two million people lost their jobs … what happens now?” Yilmaz, who continues to operate his award-winning Canterbury eatery — Pazar Food Collective — as a takeaway and drive-through venue, asked.
“I’ve had to let staff go who have no entitlements and are entitled to nothing from the government because they are here on tourist visas.
“We're facing a scenario where people are going to be increasingly desperate and are going to do whatever it takes to survive.
“Obviously crime rates will increase. So the government needs to seriously step up.”
Yilmaz said NSW must follow the lead of countries like Spain, India and the Middle East and rush through strict curfews enforced by police, armed forces and the army reserve in a bid to protect homes and businesses.
“So we only need a couple of those broken for it to be very expensive, let alone (have) looters.”
Even high-end venues are taking precautions, with Moran, who has closed his ARIA fine dining restaurant and several other venues, opting to strip the kitchens and dining room of anything of value.
“I think (break-ins) are something everyone is thinking about,” he said.
“I don’t think we’re at anarchy yet. And I hope we don’t ever get there.
“But we have removed pretty much everything from our venues as a precaution.”
Originally published as Top Sydney chefs Attila Yilmaz and Matt Moran fear coronavirus crime
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