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Shalom Yehudiel, 40, of Surfside, FL, remained held in the Bergen County Jail on Thursday, March 17, following his arrest the day before, records show.
Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella issued a statement that said, in part:
"On Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, the FBI contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit regarding the alleged sexual assault of a child. A months-long investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the FBI revealed that Yehudiel sexually assaulted the child, who was younger than 16 years old, in Teaneck, on more than one occasion.
"As a result of the investigation, Yehudiel was arrested in Newark on Wednesday March 16, and charged with various sex assault crimes."
A former hero in North Jersey’s Jewish community, "Sal" Yehudiel became the first contestant to observe kosher dietary laws on the Food Network series “Chopped.”
He's owned and operated The Humble Toast, a popular kosher eatery on Queen Anne Road for several years and added a second restaurant (La Cucina Di Nava) last year.
The Israeli-American entrepreneur drew praise for giving back to the community -- donating food to local soup kitchens, among other philanthropic acts -- and even posted his phone number on social media during the COVID pandemic for those in need of a hot meal to call him directly.
Then came a pair of lawsuits (continued below).
In one, a woman who’d worked at the Humble Toast accused Yehudiel of making lewd comments and forcing her to give him oral sex in his office when she was 17.
The second woman said he groped and forcibly kissed her as part of a two-year series of assaults that began after she met him at a Fair Lawn temple when she was 15.
Protestors turned up at his deli late last year as word of the suits filed in Superior Court in Hackensack spread. Yehudiel denied the allegations in counterclaims against the women.
Yehudiel’s attorney called the suits “false and frivolous,” characterizing them as extortion attempts that are “absolutely baseless and defamatory in nature” and part of a campaign of "hate, prejudice and discrimination."
“The subject of childhood sexual abuse should be on everyone’s mind and should be a top priority to have zero tolerance for,” attorney Richard Mazawey said, “but we should also have a zero tolerance in our laws and court of public opinion for false and bald allegations.”
Last December, the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County announced that Yehudiel was stepping away from both 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.”
Yehudiel is charged criminally with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a victim between 13 and 16 years old, sexual assault of a victim 16-17 and child endangerment.
He remained held in the county jail on Thursday while awaiting a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
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