How a 20-year friendship imploded at Salesforce Tower’s elite Japanese restaurant Besuto: Inside the vicious WhatsApps, drinking claims and legal threats: ‘Hope you can afford a lawyer’

Japanese chef Michiaki Miyazaki has challenged his dismissal from Besuto, a high-end Sydney restaurant, before the Fair Work Commission. The case has exposed the breakdown of his 20-year friendship with owner Joel Best, alongside disputes over drinking at work, performance and long hours.

The Commission heard that Miyazaki worked more than 70 hours a week, receiving $40,000 in wages plus accommodation, a gym membership and two annual flights to Japan. Best said he had concerns about Miyazaki’s reliability, kitchen leadership and alleged drinking; staff gave evidence that they had seen him drink in the kitchen. The published decision made no finding that alcohol caused Miyazaki’s health or performance issues.