Babbo Chef Latest To Be Toppled After Sex Misconduct Claims

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — The executive chef of Mario Batali's restaurant Babbo has left the company just weeks after he was accused of sexual misconduct by former employees.

Executive chef Frank Langello left the restaurant this month, a spokesman for the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group confirmed. His last day was Jan. 2, the spokesman said. Eater was first to report news of Langello's departure.

Langello's departure comes after a lengthy Eater investigation into the broader culture of Batali's restaurant empire. Staffers told Eater that Langello made crude, sexual comments toward women in his kitchen. The restaurant group's spokesman did not say whether Langello resigned or was fired, and did not comment on the misconduct accusations. Patch was unable to contact Langello for comment.

Langello is leaving the company after Batali stepped down from day-t0-day management of the restaurant group. Numerous employees have accused Batali of sexual harassment and multiple women have said Batali groped or inappropriately touched them.

In December, Eater reported that Langello was part of a broad culture of harassment at the restaurant group after interviewing dozens of current and former employees. One woman who worked in Langello's kitchen told Eater that the chef was "relentless" in bullying men and women who worked for him.

According to Eater's report:

A former male staffer said that when Langello showed women how to season a steak, he would rub the steaks “lewdly, stroking the meat by his crotch."

Langello would also do “bizarre, childish” things, like put his finger in women’s ears in a sexual manner, the former female employee alleges. “Frank seemed to like humiliating people,” she said.

Langello was previously accused of sexual harassment in a 2012 lawsuit that was later dismissed.

Babbo is the flagship restaurant in Batali's empire. It was first opened at 110 Waverly Place in 1998, and has consistently garnered top reviews from critics.

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