Sexual assault charges add to controversy around Teaneck chef who earned fame on "Chopped"
A Bergen County restaurateur who earned acclaim for appearing on the Food Network show "Chopped" has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor who worked for him, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday.
The case is the third accusing Shalom Yehudiel, 40, of sexual improprieties, following two lawsuits filed last year against the owner of The Humble Toast and La Cucina DiNava restaurant in Teaneck.
In the suits, two women accused Yehudiel of assaulting them while they were minors. He has denied the allegations and said they were motivated by money, but the claims nonetheless stoked fierce debate in the Orthodox Jewish community, where the celebrity chef had previously been touted as a local hero.
Yehudiel, the married father of a young daughter, was arrested Wednesday in Newark and charged with first and second-degree sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, according to a statement from Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella.
The statement identified Yehudiel as a resident of Surfside, Florida, but he also also owns a home in Fair Lawn and has spent many years in Bergen County. He earned renown after appearing on "Chopped" in 2020 as the first participant to proudly observe kosher dietary laws and cook kosher cuisine, though he ultimately did not win the reality contest.
According to Musella, the FBI contacted the Bergen prosecutor's Special Victims Unit in November, regarding allegations of sexual crimes involving a child. A "months- long investigation" by the two agencies "revealed that Yehudiel sexually assaulted the child, who was younger than 16 years old, in Teaneck on more than one occasion," according to the statement.
The chef allegedly forced the victim to perform sexual acts, including intercourse, in September and October of 2021. The abuse occurred in Teaneck while Yehudiel was the minor's supervisor at work, according to a complaint filed against him in municipal court.
Lawsuit allegations
An attorney for the two women who had previously sued Yehudiel, Michael Farhi of Hackensack, said the criminal charges were unrelated to the other two cases. "This is something new," he said.
Yehudiel's attorney, Richard Mazawey of Clifton, did not return messages seeking comment.
In one of the lawsuits, a woman who said she was a former waitress at The Humble Toast said the restaurateur abused her between 2018 and 2019, when she was 17. Yehudiel made lewd comments toward her and forced her to perform oral sex in his office, she said.
In the second suit, a woman from Fair Lawn alleged that he abused her for two years, beginning when she was 15. Yehudiel told the girl she had a "sexy haircut" and moved on to kissing and groping, according to the suit.
"Their lawsuits are still in the discovery phase," said Farhi. "The young women are strong and that is helping them through this process."
Yehudiel denied any illicit behavior and said he was being extorted. He filed counterclaims against both women.
Mazawey, in an interview last year, dismissed the accusations against his client as "false and frivolous."
"These lies are taking a toll on his life and career that he's worked so hard for," he said. "Where can he go to get his reputation and business vitality back?"
The chef had been celebrated for his culinary success as well as his philanthropy, including large donations of food to soup kitchens and needy families during the pandemic.
Kosher certification challenged
The allegations nonetheless roiled the Orthodox Jewish community and prompted some patrons to avoid dining at Yehudiel's kosher restaurants. In late November, about 30 protesters rallied outside the Humble Toast, urging people to reconsider eating there and to "support victims, not abusers." Some called on the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County, which grants kosher certification to restaurants, to revoke that designation from Yehudiel's businesses.
The council responded by announcing that Yehudiel would voluntarily step away from day-to-day operations at his restaurants until the matter was resolved.
"In light of the serious nature of the aforementioned allegations, the RCBC is closely monitoring the ongoing civil case as it works its way through the legal system," the council said in a written statement to the community. "In the interim, the RCBC has implemented a number of internal policy changes to ensure that the employees and patrons of both restaurants are safe and that the integrity of the kashurt [kosher] supervision is not compromised."
The RCBC did not immediately respond to questions from The Record and NorthJersey.com on Friday.
Yehudiel was arrested in Newark and sent to the Bergen County jail, pending his first court hearing, the prosecutor's office said.
Deena Yellin covers religion for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to her work covering how the spiritual intersects with our daily lives, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: yellin@northjersey.com
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This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Teaneck NJ chef Shalom Yehudiel charged with sex assault of minor
