Melissa Leong is disappointed TV show Taste of Art’s "resounding success has been hampered" by accusations against her co-host Vaughan Mabee.
Melissa Leong is disappointed TV show Taste of Art’s "resounding success has been hampered" by accusations against her co-host Vaughan Mabee.
Celebrated food writer and former MasterChef Australia judge Melissa Leong has addressed accusations directed at Vaughan Mabee, the disgraced chef who was her co-host on television show Taste of Art.
Mabee left his role as executive chef at celebrated Arrowtown restaurant Amisfield in February, after a workplace investigation examining accusationsof his bullying and lewd behaviour towards women. Included were allegations Mabee groped a colleague at a nightclub after a work gathering at his home.
Leong published a statement on Instagram, calling the unfolding situation a “great disappointment”.
“I signed on to helm Taste of Art last year, excited and honoured to contribute to a show that celebrates the highest potential in cuisine artistry, as well as the tradition, culture and kai that Aotearoa is renound [sic] for the world over,” Leong wrote.
“And so it is with great disappointment that the show’s resounding success has been hampered by such unfortunate circumstances these past weeks.”
Leong, who said in her 2025 memoir Guts that she was subjected to an unconsented sexual encounter in her 20s, alluded to her lived experience in the caption.
Vaughan Mabee and Melissa Leong were judges on the TV show Taste of Art, which was filmed in Queenstown last year.
“As a victim-survivor, it would feel like a betrayal to me if I did not say something about the situation at hand, and it’s this: We need to listen when women speak up, because it isn’t without fear, trepidation and personal cost when we do so.
“As the situation is still unfolding, this is as far as I will speak on this subject. I trust you will all act with consideration and respect for each other.”
TVNZ removed the food show from its streaming service this week and Australian broadcaster SBS announced it would not air the series.
Mabee has since apologised “unreservedly” to former staff, for “inappropriate behaviour to them or any inconsiderate comments made … I am truly sorry for any harm or offence”.
Amisfield was awarded Restaurant of the Year at the 2025 Cuisine Good Food Awards and received three hats, the highest accolade.
In a letter published on Cuisine’s website, owner and editor Kelli Brett wrote that the Amisfield listing was removed from the publication’s 2025 Good Food Guide after allegations of “alcohol and verbal abuse, lewd comments to colleagues and, at times, physical aggression and the resulting apology to former staff by executive chef Vaughan Mabee for his inappropriate behaviour”.
“It is not a decision that we have made lightly,” Brett wrote.
