Mario Batali bought out of his restaurant empire: business partner

Celebrity chef Mario Batali — dogged for over a year by allegations of sexual misconduct — no longer has any stake in his sprawling restaurant group, his longtime business partner said.

Joe Bastianich and his sister, Tanya Bastianich Manuali, told the restaurants’ employees in a letter publicly released Wednesday that “Mario is now fully divested from our businesses.”

“This week, we acquired all of his interests in our restaurants,” they wrote. “Thank you for your dedication to your craft and colleagues through a challenging year.”

Batali and Bastianich were partners for about 20 years in an eatery empire that included such destinations as Babbo and Del Posto.

But the culinary world was upended in December 2017 when Batali was publicly accused of forcing himself on two women in separate incidents inside a pair of New York restaurants, one of which he owned.

Batali has stated that he did not recall the incidents, but did not deny them and profusely apologized.

The NYPD and Manhattan District Attorney’s Office jointly decided in January that there was not enough evidence to charge Batali.

Manuali will now join her brother in helming the restaurant group, the letter said.