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Sex on the Menu With a Side of Batali

by | Dec 13, 2017 | Culture Rot

This holiday season how about a plate of comfort food with sex on the side? In the case of celebrity-chef Mario Batali, that might not be such a tall order. As sexual harassment allegations continue to balloon, the restaurant industry is now on the front burner, and it looks like it’s getting hotter by the minute. Actress Siobhan Thompson decided to go on the record and detail her story of being “groped” by Batali when she worked as a hostess at one of his restaurants, and she is only the latest in a series to come forward.

Indeed, women are sprinting out of the famous kitchen to detail sex abuse by Batali and restaurateur Ken Friedman, who owns the Spotted Pig, where Batali is an investor. The New York city establishment is marketed as a “gastropub” and apparently serves more than just Irish/English and Italian fare.  Both men have stepped away from day-to-day duties at their eating establishments as more and more women come forward with tawdry tales of sexual misconduct.

One Sexy Menu

Here are just a few items on Batali’s dinner menu, according to Grub Street:

  • Security cameras caught the celebrity chef kissing and groping what looks to be an unconscious woman.
  • A former waitress says he commented on and tried to touch her breasts.
  • He allegedly grabbed the underwear of another server.

When women complained to Friedman about Batali, whom they dubbed “The Red Menace,” his rejoinder was simply “Get in F**** line!”

The Red Menace

As you can imagine, there are many more items on Batali’s menu, but no need to bore our readers with the sexually explicit details. You get the picture. For his part, The Red Menace issued the following apology to Eater New York:

“I know my actions have disappointed many people. The successes I have enjoyed are owned by everyone on my team. The failures are mine alone. To the people who have been at my side during this time — my family, my partners, my employees, my friends, my fans — I am grateful for your support and hopeful that I can regain your respect and trust. I will spend the next period of time trying to do that.”

A Most Powerful Foodie

Mario Batali began his career as a sous chef at the Four Seasons Biltmore and rocketed up the food chain. He appeared on shows such as “The Iron Chef” and went on to host his own program titled “Molto Mario” on the Food Network.

It was all uphill from there as he sky-rocketed to food fame as a co-host on ABC’s “The Chew” as well as guest appearances on “Saturday Night Live”and “Good Morning America.”

The Red Menace is an award-winning chef as well. He was inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame and named “Best Restaurateur from the James Beard Foundation”, as well as many other prestigious industry awards.

One of Mario Batali’s most famous quotes is, “The kitchen really is the castle itself. This is where we spend our happiest moments and where we find the joy of being a family.” And so it seems the King of the Castle has fallen from great heights, his kingdom lying in tatters beneath him with his most well-known recipe for disaster being sexually deviant behavior.

Another one bite’s the dust! Where and when will this all end? Call me on our Author Chatline and put in your two cents.

Read More From Leesa K. Donner

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