Teaneck Chef Comes Under Fire For Sexual Assault Allegations

TEANECK, NJ — Teaneck’s Shalom Yehudiel gained recognition in 2020 when he appeared as a contestant on Food Network’s competition show “Chopped.” He was the first chef to observe kosher dietary laws and cook purely kosher cuisine on the show.

But now he is gaining recognition for some serious allegations that have been made against him in the past few years. Two women have accused Yehudiel of sexual assault and harrasment while they were allegedly underage.

Two civil lawsuits have been filed against Yehudiel — one of the women claiming she was abused while working at Yehudiel’s restaurant, The Humble Toast, and the other claiming she was abused for two years at her synagogue in Fair Lawn.

Besides The Humble Toast, Yehudiel is also the owner of restaurant La Cucina di Nava in Teaneck, which he opened in January of 2021.

On Thanksgiving weekend, a protest organized by Netanel Zellis-Paley — a former Teaneck resident and volunteer of the activist group Za’akah — took place outside of The Humble Toast. About 30 protesters gathered at the restaurant, which can be viewed in this Instagram video.

Yehudiel has denied all accusations of abuse, stating that they are baseless and frivolous in nature. Along with his lawyer Richard Mazawey, Yehudiel has filed a number of counterclaims against the allegations and is countersuing for defamation.

“Both [lawsuits] are baseless, unsupported, without any evidence,” said Mazawey. “This is a campaign of hate, prejudice and discrimination against my client.”

Although these allegations have only been made public recently, the first lawsuit was filed by a former waitress and hostess of The Humble Toast in December of 2020 — alleging the chef abused her between October 2018 and May 2019. She was 17 years old at the time.

In the court filings, she reported that Yehudiel would “frequently make vulgar and derogatory comments about his female employees to other employees” and was “subjected to severe and pervasive sexual harassment” by him as a minor.

When she would go into his private office of the restaurant, he would sexually assault her and force her to perform oral sex, according to the lawsuit. She reported that she complied with his demands in fear that she would lose her job.

In 2019, she was compelled to resign from her job after feeling “emotionally distraught and overwhelmed,” according to the lawsuit.

However, in Yehudiel’s response to the claims, it states that the plaintiff was a “terrible employee” and that she resigned from the restaurant unannounced and did not disclose that she was quitting on the basis of safety.

The second lawsuit was filed in January by a woman who reported that she was assaulted by Yehudiel beginning at the age 15 at her Orthodox synagogue. The first occasion of abuse began in November or December of 2016, according to the suit, and continued until 2018.

He allegedly made many lewd comments toward her, as well as pushed her against a wall and kissed and groped her.

Yehudiel again denied all of these allegations, claiming it is extortion and hate speech.

“I think he's being discriminated against because people are jealous,” Mazawey said. “They know him to be successful as an iron chef, featured on the Food Network. And I think they're just in it for economic gain.”

Zellis-Paley said he heard about the allegations when Za’akah — an organization that advocates for survivors of child sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community — posted about it on their Facebook page.

“It was really disturbing to me, and I was bothered that people didn't know more about it,” Zellis-Paley said. “I felt like I really had to do something. I decided to organize a protest just to raise awareness of the allegations so people could have all the information they need to make an informed decision about whether they want to patronize the restaurant or not.”

The Rabbinical Council of Bergen County, who certifies the kashrut — or Kosher dietary restrictions — at Bergen County restaurants released a statement the Friday before the protest. They said Yehudiel will not be present at either of his restaurants until “this matter is 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 wrote. “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 kashrut supervision is not compromised.

Zellis-Paley said he found this statement vague and that it’s not clear what these internal policy changes are. He also said the RCBC was “pretty quiet” about the allegations at first and that when people called them they were turned away briskly.

“I'd like to increase awareness of the case and I think there are certain community leaders who kind of turned a blind eye to these allegations of abuse,” Zellis-Paley said. “They were made aware of it very clearly, and they decided not to do anything ... And [I am] also [invested] in working with the Rabbinical Council to have some kind of policy in writing going forward to allow them to take more definitive action in cases like this.”

Zellis-Paley explained that reason he believes these were filed as civil cases, as opposed to criminal cases, because victims of sexual abuse often prefer to go to civil court where they will be directly represented.

“[Criminal cases] just seem impossible or nearly impossible to win,” Zellis-Paley said. “I mean obviously they achieve some measure of justice for the victim, but in criminal cases [the victim is] not directly represented. They’re just witnesses in the state's case against the alleged perpetrator, whereas in a civil case, they get direct representation.”

Sexual abuse cases within the Orthodox Jewish community have become more spoken about in the last several years, especially during the #MeToo movement, and Zellis-Paley said Za’akah is an organization that provides advocacy services for victims of sexual abuse. This includes a hotline that people can call on Sabbaths and Jewish festivals where normally Orthodox Jews are not allowed to use a phone.

Mazawey said the case is currently in a 450-day discovery period, which began when the cases were filed in February. He said he expects a trial date some time next fall.

He also said Yehudiel’s restaurants were struggling due to these allegations but that they are now in the process of “getting back on their feet.”