Harassing staff, haranguing customers: fresh complaints against top chef

The Age

22-06-2025

'I was young at the time but it just felt all wrong,' she said.
Jacinta said that Barbagallo routinely partied with staff and openly consumed cocaine. On one occasion, Jacinta alleges he insisted she come back to his house after a nightclub where he offered her cocaine, which she declined, while she waited for friend to pick her up.
She claimed Barbagallo then made a sexual advance which she rejected.
'I was like, 'Yeah, this is not happening.' I just pretty much walked out.'
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Jacinta alleges Barbagallo then treated her differently at work.
'That's when things got really bad,' she said, citing one example where he chastised her over a flower arrangement.
'He completely lost his shit. He threw something at me. I had customers follow me outside the restaurant who were like, 'Are you okay?''
Jacinta said she was paid a settlement after lodging an unfair dismissal claim at the Fair Work Commission.
She said she had acquired formal qualifications and had previously wanted to build a hospitality career, but the experience had turned her off.
'It was disappointing for me because I really did enjoy the job,' she said. 'Any aspirations I had in the hospitality industry … that kind of just killed the buzz for that.'
The second woman worked at Barbagallo's venue in Lonsdale Street in Melbourne's CBD. She said there were often cocaine bags in his office as well as numerous parking fines because he would park his car illegally on the street in front of the restaurant.
'The police came because he would park his Mercedes right out the front of Lonsdale Street,' she said. 'For months prior to that, he had just been racking up daily parking fines.'
She described Barbagallo as a 'workplace predator' due to his outbursts, sexually inappropriate behaviour and other conduct, and alleged he gave his staff cocaine during shifts, sometimes as early as 11am.
She alleged that he propositioned her one night when she was intoxicated.
'I'm so used to men behaving like that,' she said. 'In hospitality land back then, you almost forget about it.'
She also alleges frequent aggressive behaviour from Barbagallo. On one occasion, she claimed he threw a bottle of red wine at customers who complained about a burnt pizza.
'I thought a bomb went off,' she said. 'The red wine went everywhere, all over the 12 people that were sitting there. Children were there.'
She said she had told him his behaviour was unacceptable and claims she was then fired. She describes Barbagallo as the 'most delusional' person she's ever worked with.
'There's no need to be outraged to that level, there's no need to harass young workers,' she said. 'In his mind, he thinks he's a misunderstood genius. Pietro needs to not own a business any more.'
'Completely humiliating'
This masthead's investigation revealed footage of Barbagallo screaming profanities at his own customers, and pulling the tablecloth causing plates and glasses to smash.
The clip has been shared around the world, including by Fox News Primetime hosts, who were shocked by Barbagallo's behaviour.
'Oh my gosh. And that's a business owner whose trying to keep their business? He's a famous chef. I don't know how he made it that far,' said one host.
Since last week, other customers have come forward with allegations of recent abusive behaviour by Barbagallo.
One woman, who said she could not be identified for professional reasons, said she was celebrating a work milestone in March with her elderly parents and made a booking at Kaprica – a restaurant she liked and had frequented for years.
She called in advance to request a quiet table because her mother is hard of hearing, but then they were seated in a busy spot so requested to move.
The woman said Barbagallo came to their table and screamed at them.
'I was quite frozen,' she said. 'I tried to de-escalate it… And I kind of explained, 'Oh, look, I've been coming to the restaurant for years and years and years now, I'm not a difficult customer at all, like I'm actually a really big fan of this restaurant, and I don't understand why you're abusing my mum.'
'He just kept talking over me the whole time and berating me, telling me that no one can tell him how he runs his restaurant and it's his place of business.'
She said Barbagallo went on a 'weird rant' about them being 'American' when she was not.
The altercation lasted for at least 10 minutes, she said, and silenced the busy restaurant.
The family left without eating and were so distressed, they went home. The next day, the woman said she caught up with her mother and they both cried.
'Everyone was very shaken following the incident, and I still feel very angry about it ... mostly angry on behalf of my mum because I don't think that she deserved to be humiliated and abused like that.'
The woman sent a message to her friend detailing the incident. 'It was actually f---ed,' she said. 'It was really horrible, the whole restaurant was watching. And he just kept going and going.'
Michelle Atkinson said Barbagallo had abused her over the phone when she followed up a complaint about suspected food poisoning suffered after a meal at his restaurant.
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They had two phone calls, one in which she said he was cordial, and the second in which she claimed he was abusive.
'He absolutely hopped into me and said, 'How rude of you to call back. How dare you assume that my food made anyone else sick?' He was so aggressive in that short space of time that I hung up and blocked him because I suspected he would call back and continue to abuse me. I was really shaky.'