Nomad and Reine & La Rue restaurants facing costly fallout after boss charged for rally sign
Big companies have cancelled bookings at a top Melbourne restaurant and a senior chef has quit after the owner was charged with holding up a Nazi swastika sign at a pro-Palestine rally.
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Powerful major Australian corporations have cancelled their swanky end-of-year bookings at a top Melbourne restaurant and a senior chef has quit “effectively immediately” after the owner was charged with holding up a Nazi swastika sign at a pro-Palestine rally.
A lucrative partnership with French champagne brand G.H. Mumm at this year’s Spring Racing Carnival is also under threat.
Restaurateur Alan Yazbek and wife Rebecca, who operate Nomad and Reine & La Rue in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD, are facing a mass exodus of patrons and staff in the wake of Mr Yazbek’s anti-Semitic slur.
Patrons have vowed to boycott the up-market eateries, which are usually booked solid at least 18 months in advance.
The Herald Sun can confirm that by Wednesday morning, at least five of Melbourne’s most well-known corporations had cancelled their events at Reine & La Rue, with several others saying they’re re-evaluating their plans.
Late last month G.H. Mumm proudly announced their collaboration with Reine & La Rue as the caterers in their lavish Birdcage marquee during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
One Wednesday, the French champagne house told the Herald Sun: “G.H. Mumm is reviewing its partnership.”
The venue’s head pastry chef, Enza Soto, told the Herald Sun she was “lost for words” that her boss had allegedly been involved in anti-Semitic behaviour due to the co-head chef Rotem Papo being an Israeli-born Jew.
“I’ve been there since opening last year and I have never had any issues or thought about leaving because of a cultural issue,” she said.
“We have two head chefs at our venue and one of them is Israeli and Jewish.
“I’m lost for words, I’m really surprised.”
Mr Papo declined to comment when contacted by the Herald Sun.
It is understood at least one senior chef resigned “effective immediately” from Nomad following the charges. The reason for the departure is not clear.
Ms Soto, who is still deciding whether to continue working for Mr Yazbek, said how he “manages this from here on” would determine whether more staff left.
One high-profile hospitality insider said the floods of negative reviews and calls to boycott Mr Yazbek’s CBD hotspots would be hard to bounce back from.
“I don’t know how he can survive this,” they said.
Opening last August, Reine & La Rue has been the place to dine for Melbourne’s powerbrokers and society set, with luxury brands from YSL Beauty to Jimmy Choo lining up to host events inside the heritage-listed 150-seat gothic building.
The millions of dollars fit-out, the light-filled grandeur and stained glass windows and the cloudlike meringue desserts were hitting all the right notes – until Tuesday night when the images started circulating of Mr Yazbek at a Sydney protest holding a sign that read “Stop Nazi Israel” and had the Star of David in the centre of the Israeli flag replaced with a swastika.
On Wednesday, hundreds of messages flocked Reine & La Rue’s social media pages, forcing the restaurant to turn off its comments.
“You’ve lost a customer due to your racist behaviour,” one person said.
“The owner of this restaurant is a modern day Nazi,” another said.
It’s understood senior staff at one of the Nomad restaurants were called to an urgent 11am meeting on Wednesday to brief staff and management about “Al’s” arrest and how to handle customer inquiries.
Mr Yazbek is understood to be lying low since his arrest on Sunday afternoon.
A front of house staff member said Mr Yazbek was “not even taking our calls” on Wednesday.
He was one of an estimated 10,000 people to march through the streets of Sydney’s CBD on Sunday.
In a statement, the restaurateur said: “So many of us have family in the region. Every loss of life is a tragedy. We’re mourning”.
Mr Yazbek was bailed and will face court on October 24.
If he is found guilty, he will be facing more than just cancelled reservations, with his liquor licence and hefty lease with angry landlords and jumpy insurers no doubt likely to be called into question.
Originally published as Nomad and Reine & La Rue restaurants facing costly fallout after boss charged for rally sign
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