Nomad restaurateur Al Yazbek under fire from patrons after Nazi sign outrage
The celebrated Nomad restaurant empire has been shaken after revelations founder Al Yazbek held a Nazi sign at a pro-Palestine rally, as disgusted patrons slam his antics and threaten a boycott.
The future of the Nomad restaurant empire built by Al Yazbek could be under threat following the revelation the 56-year-old founder is facing charges after allegedly holding a Nazi sign at a pro-Palestine rally, with the group’s social media pages flooded with hundreds of messages of disgust and a boycott threatened by long-time patrons.
Mr Yazbek has been charged by NSW police with knowingly displaying a Nazi symbol in public after he allegedly held a sign at Sunday’s rally featuring a swastika superimposed on the Israeli flag, and bearing the words “Stop Nazi Israel”.
Mass cancellations have been reported at Mr Yazbek’s popular Nomad restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as at the French-inspired Reine & La Rue in Melbourne’s CBD, which won Best New Restaurant at The Age Good Food Guide Awards.
The backlash comes as new images emerge of the 56-year-old restaurateur holding a flag in the yellow and green colours of Hezbollah with a Ned Kelly-like figure holding a gun, with the words “the boys in green and gold will win”.
Several protesters at the rally in Hyde Park used images that appeared to be designed to skirt laws against displaying the insignia of the terrorist group.
“Clever, huh?” Mr Yazbek can be heard saying.
“The resistance is always evolving,” he added.
In a video captured by The Australian, Mr Yazbek is asked why he thinks it’s clever.
“It’s clever in and of itself,” he replies.
Mr Yazbek has not been charged over that incident.
Mr Yazbek and his wife Rebecca, an interior architect, have built their celebrated restaurants over a decade, but by Wednesday the social media pages of the group’s eateries had been inundated with posts from horrified patrons.
Former Victorian MP Marsha Thomson was one of many patrons who took to social media to say she would be boycotting Mr Yazbek’s restaurants, including Nomad in Melbourne, where she had dined “multiple times”.
“I will not be going to Nomad restaurant in Melbourne ever again”, Ms Thomson wrote on X, vowing also never to go to Reine and LaRue.
Public relations veteran Judi Hausmann said Mr Yazbek had asked her to do PR when he opened his Toko restaurant on Oxford St in Paddington and she had declined.
“Now I’m going to do your PR for free and make sure that all your clients know that Al Yazbek was the despicable creature arrested for defacing an Israeli flag with a swastika,” she wrote. “I hope you get a very long jail sentence. And that you enjoy the food in there!”
Lorraine Folb wrote: “I have loved and visited Nomad multiple times over the years. It has been a favourite restaurant of mine. Now sadly with owners or at least the view of Alan Yazbek having no moral compass nor compassion nor sensitivity for the atrocities of October 7 in Israel, 2023, it would be inconceivable for me to return to Nomad.”
David Kalinski asked: “Does the Swastika come before or after dessert?”
Another wrote: “He will soon be calling in the liquidators, and he deserves everything that comes his way.”
One said simply: “Nazi”
Another: “Terrible mistake, we are going to destroy you.”
A recent post about fresh dishes “to celebrate the new season” was met with comments such as: “Do all your dishes come with a side of anti-Semitism?”
One poster recalled that Mr Yazbek had once invited British-Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi to take over the kitchen for an event at the restaurant. The Mediterranean Feast dinner at Nomad restaurant in 2014 sold out in four minutes.
“You loved the notoriety of one of the greatest chefs in the world being a drawcard … you certainly welcomed Israelis back then. Last I heard, you won’t be getting humus and falafel in jail.”
A small number of commenters weighed in to support the besieged restaurateur.
“This place will flourish even more knowing the owner is against war crimes and ethnic cleansing,” one post read.
An account called Families for Palestine wrote: “Looking forward to enjoying dinner at your lovely restaurant! From the River to the Sea!” Families for Palestine notoriously led a protest at the University of Sydney in April where children were made to lead others in anti-Israel chants, including calling for “intifada” and labelling Israel a “terrorist state”.
The Australian Restaurant & Cafe Association declined to comment on the case except to say: “There is no place for racism in the hospitality industry.”
In a statement, Mr Yazbek told Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph: “So many of us have family in the region. Every loss of life is a tragedy. We’re in mourning.”
Mr Yazbek did not respond to requests from The Australian.
He is set to face Downing Centre Local Court on October 24.
Home Affairs defers student visa risk review
A review of illegal immigration risks from foreign students has been postponed, angering universities desperate for revenue from overseas enrolments.
Planning rules blow away key wind farm
RES blamed the axing of the Central Tablelands project – which was expected to support 340 jobs – on changing economic and planning requirements for NSW wind farms.