Why Restaurateur Who Slammed James Corden Is Actually the ‘Most Toxic Man in Manhattan’

Restaurateur Keith McNally — who made headlines in 2022 when he banned comedian James Corden from Balthazar for allegedly mistreating the Soho restaurant’s staff over multiple visits — is making headlines once again. This time, McNally was forced to defend the hygiene at Balthazar after a video taken by NYC socialite Michelle Manning Barish emerged online showing a rat scurrying around diners’ feet beneath the bar.

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“Absolutely revolting. Like a scene from Ratatouille,” shrieked Barish. McNally claimed the rodent sighting was a “setup,” but he can’t refute two violations his other restaurant, Pastis, was slapped with in January. In Touch has obtained records from the NYC Department of Health detailing “filth flies or food/refuse/sewage associated with (FRSA) flies or other nuisance pests in establishment’s food and/or non-food areas. The establishment is [also] not free of harborage or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests.”

The twice-divorced 72-year-old recently penned a memoir that will be released this summer. “But take what he says with a grain of salt,” a Hollywood insider exclusively tells In Touch. “There’s nothing authentic about McNally. He was even recently pictured having what he called an ‘underrated’ meal alone at Balthazar, when in fact he was dining with someone who was just outside the frame of the picture! Bottom line: McNally is a fake and the most toxic man in Manhattan.”