Batali had a partner in slime: Report

THE SON OF CELEBRITY chef Lidia Bastianich is accused of being fallen foodie Mario Batali’s partner in business and alleged harassment.

Batali and Joe Bastianich, whose behavior was called “sleazy,” were “architects of a male-dominated ‘boys’ club’ environment,” employees told the website Eater.

The accusations span 15 years and come from both women and men employed at Del Posto, Babbo, Otto, and Lupa in New York, and B&B Ristorante and CarneVino in Las Vegas.

Colleagues say the duo’s top-down philosophy enabled these establishment’s chefs to abuse without fear of repercussions, Eater reported.

“You are marked as a social pariah — everyone knows who you are if you complain in this industry,” a former Babbo employee told the website.

Misconduct allegedly included bullying, degrading sexual language, inappropriate touching and what some called “the most debaucherous behavior they had ever witnessed.” One worker told Eater that women at Del Posto devised “escape routes” to avoid being harassed. A spokesperson for Bastianich (left in photo), who’s partnered with Batali (right in photo)since 1998, denied that he ever witnessed Batali grope an employee and said that he had “never heard” accusations of Batali’s sexual misconduct until the allegations were made public. Those stories shook him “to the core,” Bastianich said. B&B Hospitality told Eater that it’s putting several new policies in place in hopes of improving the environment. Batali stepped away from his restaurant empire and was fired from “The Chew” earlier this month, after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced.