French champagne house G.H. Mumm dumps partnership with Reine & La Rue after owner Al Yazbek charged
A French champagne house has withdrawn its partnership with a top Melbourne restaurant, and major companies have cancelled bookings, after the owner was charged for brandishing a swastika.
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French champagne house G.H. Mumm has withdrawn its lucrative partnership with Reine & La Rue after owner Al Yazbek was charged for painting over an Israeli flag with a swastika at a pro-Palestine protest in Sydney.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs, law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler, global financial services provider Morgan Stanley and Telstra have all cancelled their event bookings at the fine dining CBD hotspot.
Reine & La Rue was named by The Age’s Good Food Guide as the 2023 New Restaurant of the Year.
The guide, owned by The Age and the Nine Entertainment Group, just last month changed its review policy amid accusations of rife misconduct in the hospitality industry.
The guide reviews and rates restaurants and bars across Australia and has been accused of glossing over elements in the kitchen that are considered unsavoury – from sexual misconduct, to bullying and racism in the workplace.
“If a venue is known to allow criminal offences, particularly of a violent or sexual nature, they exclude themselves from being included in the Good Food Guide. We can’t, in good conscience, recommend venues that are known to allow or perpetrate abuse, especially when it rises to the level of criminal abuse,” a change to its policy just one month ago states.
“This position represents the biggest evolution to the Good Food Guide’s approach to reviews in its four-decade history, and widens the criteria we may use to decide which restaurants, bars and cafes we recommend. The Good Food Guide is still about where our editors recommend you eat, but in 2024 we believe diners also care about ethics.”
When asked The Good Food Guide and Nine Entertainment Network did not respond to questions from the Herald Sun asking whether they would be revoking or reconsidering its “New Restaurant of the Year 2023” award given to Reine & La Rue, in line with recent policy changes.
Six high-profile bars and restaurants run by the influential Swillhouse group were dropped from the guide over a slew of allegations, including that female staffers were pushed out after they reported sexual assaults, and that staff were encouraged to have sex with customers and take drugs while on shift.
After G.H. Mumm on Wednesday told the Herald Sun it was “reviewing their partnership” with Yazbek’s Reine & La Rue restaurant in its extravagant Birdcage marquee during the Melbourne Cup Carnival, the champagne house on Thursday cut ties after getting official word from its French headquarters.
The lucrative collab inside Flemington’s Birdcage between Maison Mumm and Reine & La Rue had been poised as “exceptional gastronomic experience” from “one of Melbourne’s most sought after new restaurants with a press release saying the French restaurant “dedication to embracing heritage with a contemporary spirit seamlessly aligns with Maison Mumm’s passions and history”.
On Thursday it was a different story with the elite champagne company issuing a statement saying it had decided to step away from its partnership with Reine & La Rue.
“G.H. Mumm is working with a variety of collaborators to bring the 2024 Melbourne Cup Carnival campaign to life, and look forward to sharing more details in coming weeks,” the statement said.
Several racegoers had already said they would not attend the marquee if the partnership was to go ahead.
It comes after the Herald Sun revealed powerful Australian corporations which include investment bank Goldman Sachs had cancelled large events at the Collins St restaurant.
Goldman Sachs, whose chairman is former treasurer Josh Frydenberg, on Thursday confirmed it had moved venues for its annual client event after the allegations against Mr Yazbek had surfaced.
Frydenberg has recently spoken out publicly about anti-Semitism.
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