By Melissa Cunningham and Stephen Brook
Global banking giant Goldman Sachs and champagne brand G.H. Mumm have cut ties with prominent Australian restaurateur Alan Yazbek after he was charged with displaying a Nazi symbol in public at a pro-Palestine rally in Sydney.
Yazbek will face court this month after police alleged he held a sign comparing Israel to the Nazis, and displayed the Israeli flag with a swastika at a rally on Sunday.
Alan Yazbek, owner of Sydney restaurant Nomad and Melbourne restaurant Reine & La Rue, at the pro-Palestine rally in Sydney on Sunday.Credit: Facebook
He is now facing an exodus of lucrative partnerships.
Yazbek and his wife, Rebecca, operate popular venues Nomad in Sydney and Melbourne, and the French-inspired restaurant Reine & La Rue in Melbourne. Nomad in Surry Hills, Sydney, was awarded a hat in Good Food’s 2024 awards.
On Thursday afternoon, G.H. Mumm said 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 company said in a statement.
The champagne brand announced earlier this year Reine & La Rue would be offering a lavish private dining experience in its Birdcage marquee during the carnival, promising to take guests to “new heights of culinary excellence”.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs also confirmed it had cancelled a Melbourne event that was scheduled for next week with the Nomad Group.
A Goldman Sachs spokeswoman said it had changed the venue of its annual client entertainment event following the allegations.
Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg was appointed chairman of Goldman Sachs Australia last year.
An image from Sunday’s rally also allegedly showed Yazbek holding a flag reading “our boys in green and gold will win”.Credit: AAP
A source at law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler – which recently hosted an event for partners at Reine & La Rue – also confirmed to this masthead that it would no longer book corporate or work events at the venue.
Photos from the 10,000-strong protest appear to show a man, allegedly Yazbek, holding a sign mirroring the Israeli flag, but with a swastika in place of the Star of David and the words “Stop Nazi Israel”.
An image from Sunday’s rally also allegedly showed the 56-year-old holding a flag reading “our boys in green and gold will win”.
Green and gold are the colours associated with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has been named a terrorist organisation by the Australian government.
Yazbek was charged with the recently created NSW offence of knowingly displaying a Nazi symbol in public.
This masthead has contacted Yazbek, Nomad Group and Frydenberg for comment.
In a statement to The Daily Telegraph this week, Yazbek said he was in mourning over the war in the Middle East.
“So many of us have family in the region,” he said. “Every loss of life is a tragedy. We’re in mourning.”
Customers have this week taken to social media to criticise Yazbek’s alleged conduct.
“I have loved and visited Nomad multiple times over the years. It has been a favourite restaurant of mine. Now sadly … it would be inconceivable for me to return to Nomad,” one customer wrote.
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