NJ 'Chopped' Contestant Faces Sex Assault Charges

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A Bergen chef and restaurant owner who once appeared on Food Network was arrested Wednesday and charged with sexual assault and child endangering, officials said.

Shalom Yehudiel, 40, was charged with first-degree sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella in a news release.

Yehudiel was arrested in Newark and was in custody in Bergen County Jail.

Yehudiel was accused of sexually assaulting a child younger than 16 in Teaneck on more than one occasion, Musella said.

Yehudiel appeared on the Food Network television show "Chopped" in 2020 as the first contestant to commit fully to kosher cooking. He owns The Humble Toast, a Jewish deli, and La Cucina Di Nava, an Italian restaurant, both in Teaneck.

Yehudiel's residence is in Florida, Musella said in a news release.

Related coverage: Teaneck Chef Comes Under Fire For Sexual Assault Allegations

The FBI contacted Bergen County officials in November 2021 about the sexual assault of a child, Musella said.

Last year, two women accused Yehudiel of sexual assault and harassment in civil lawsuits.

A former waitress and hostess of The Humble Toast filed the first lawsuit in December 2020 and alleged the chef abused her between October 2018 and May 2019, according to the lawsuit. She was 17 years old at the time, the lawsuit said.

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, the lawsuit said.

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 said that she complied with his demands in fear that she would lose her job, according to the lawsuit.

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

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.

Yehudiel responded to the lawsuit by saying the woman was a "terrible employee," resigned from the restaurant unannounced and did not disclose that she was quitting on the basis of safety, according to his formal response.

A second woman sued Yehudiel in January, alleging that Yehudiel assaulted her at her Orthodox Jewish synagogue when she was 15 starting in November or December of 2016, according to the suit. The assaults continued until 2018, according to the lawsuit.

Yehudiel made many lewd comments toward her and pushed her against a wall and kissed and groped her, the lawsuit said.