Amy's Baking Company Restaurant Goes Ballistic

2707200X · Wed May 15, 2013 12:28 am

If you where watching Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares this Friday you saw what happened. Gordon for the first time decided not to help fix the Scottsdale, Arizona based restaurant on the fact that the owners would not listen or take instruction or criticism, this is the first time Gordon has walked of the show. In one year they have had a employee turnover of 100 people and they have admitted to taking employee tips and picking fights with customers. And boy they are having a time expressing themselves after the show. How do they stay in Business?

www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/14/am...-kitchen-nightmares_n_3274345.html

WestJet747 · Wed May 15, 2013 2:27 am

Best. Episode. EVER. I was surprised it took almost six entire seasons for Ramsay to walk out on a job. In all fairness, I don't think anybody can blame him for this one. He stuck in there longer than I would have. That woman was absolutely awful.

Here's another good link: http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthi...ic-brand-meltdown-on-facebook-ever

Quoting 2707200X (Thread starter):
How do they stay in Business?

It would appear that the husband was successful in previous ventures that allowed him to fund this disaster.

bristolflyer · Wed May 15, 2013 3:38 am

Having lived in Phoenix for 5 years I can attest to the fact there are a lot of people like them in Scottsdale. Gold-digging princesses who are useless but keep being told they are the best thing ever by their gold-encrusted sugar-daddies.

kpitrrat · Wed May 15, 2013 4:23 am

Breezing through the episode clearly these owners are simply stuck in their ways and cannot change. Not a huge food network/cooking show person but from what I understand Ramsay is a tough customer, however, I think he handled this situation with great professionalism.

To me it seems like the Amy's husband is Amy's puppet and has his own issues kicking customers out and STEALING tips from servers. This business is disgusting and needs to be closed down.

No need to even address the ranting on Twitter and Facebook. Seriously?!

blueflyer · Wed May 15, 2013 11:08 am

Gordon Ramsay coming off as the adult in a confrontation, and one that isn't even manufactured by producers addicted to drama at that. There's a giant snowball fight going on somewhere in hell...

BlueElephant · Wed May 15, 2013 11:17 am

I saw this episode - I wonder if it was partially staged. If not the show, the facebook posts.

If you go to their facebook site now - https://www.facebook.com/amysbakingco?fref=ts

They've got a post up saying their fb was hacked. I don't know if that's true or not....

Pellegrine · Wed May 15, 2013 11:34 am

Quoting 2707200X (Thread starter):

If you where watching Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares this Friday you saw what happened. Gordon for the first time decided not to help fix the Scottsdale, Arizona based restaurant on the fact that the owners would not listen or take instruction or criticism, this is the first time Gordon has walked of the show. In one year they have had a employee turnover of 100 people and they have admitted to taking employee tips and picking fights with customers. And boy they are having a time expressing themselves after the show. How do they stay in Business?

www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/14/am....html

Stealing servers' tips is disgusting. It goes on at a number of restaurants nationwide unfortunately. You never know.

MaverickM11 · Wed May 15, 2013 11:34 am

Quoting bristolflyer (Reply 2):
Gold-digging princesses who are useless but keep being told they are the best thing ever by their gold-encrusted sugar-daddies.

The two tend to find each other....sorta like that delicate flower of a lady that gave the NBA player the finger and may or may not have killed her coked out hedge fund trader husband. These gems of the universe usually find each other, leaving the rest of us mercifully alone.

Quoting kpitrrat (Reply 3):
Breezing through the episode clearly these owners are simply stuck in their ways and cannot change

And/or plain crazy

BlueElephant · Wed May 15, 2013 12:02 pm

Quoting BlueElephant (Reply 5):
I don't know if that's true or not....

I take this back - I read pre-existing reviews on yelp from 2-3 years ago. Nasty.

The comments in that FB site are hilarious...

EA CO AS · Wed May 15, 2013 12:09 pm

This place is literally down the street from my house; my wife and I regularly go to the Pita Jungle restaurant two doors down from ABC. And most times, the place is closed - you seldom see people inside.

I have a feeling it won't be long before the business goes under, but not because of their horrible reputation, but based on what is likely to be an IRS investigation. If they're keeping the tips intended for servers, odds are the business is not reporting those tips as income.

Goldenshield · Wed May 15, 2013 12:51 pm

Quoting WestJet747 (Reply 1):
Best. Episode. EVER. I was surprised it took almost six entire seasons for Ramsay to walk out on a job.

Ramsay has dealt with some pretty egotistical people on both the U.S. and British show, and he has a fair bit of ego himself, but he's also had his fair share of failure, and knows when to give up on a venture, so for the most part, he knows what it's like to be in their shoes, and also how to fix it. Ramsay, despite his gruff exterior and demeanor, actually DOES care about those he's helping. He's got a soft spot for those with talent that are held back; is more than willing to work with owners that are inexperienced; and is tough enough to beat sense into stubborn owners.

ABC, though, is a whole other story.

PHX787 · Wed May 15, 2013 1:58 pm

my god their facebook page is a huge embarrassment to Scottsdale. I love Scottsdale. Such awesome and nice people there, beautiful homes, shopping, and hiking. These people just make Scottsdale look like a bunch of douchebags.

zkojq · Wed May 15, 2013 1:59 pm

Ironic that those who can't take criticism are always the first to dish it out.

Quoting WestJet747 (Reply 1):

Quoting MaverickM11,reply=7:

Best. Episode. EVER. I was surprised it took almost six entire seasons for Ramsay to walk out on a job.

Indeed. Normally Gordon Ramsay shows are pretty rubbish in my book. This on the other hand was hilarious. The video below (from 2010) makes it obvious that this particular episode of Kitchen Nightmares certainly wasn't scripted and accurately portrays the attitudes of both of them. Such a disgrace to all small business owners who go out of their way to please/satisfy their clients.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nexQhKIx39Q

Also, am I the only one to notice the incredible amount of cosmetic surgery that the lady's face has clearly undergone?

Dreadnought · Wed May 15, 2013 2:31 pm

I recorded the show last week, and after these reviews, I gotta watch

But I think the American version is but a shadow of the original British show Ramsey did, which really concentrated on the business, and not the bedroom drama. It's unfortunate that he ended the British show and continued the American one. Should have been the other way around.

Francoflier · Wed May 15, 2013 2:42 pm

No one will fix that business without fixing the owners first. and that would take a LOT of therapy, clearly.

I like the way they went berserk at the Facebook community. Such a display of civility, dignity and humility. It's a wonder their business is failing.

On the other hand, that restaurant is getting more publicity than these two morons would have ever dreamt of getting...

kingairta · Wed May 15, 2013 2:44 pm

I always loved how the owners would say Ramsey doesn't know what he is talking about etc when he tells them what is wrong when they INVITED him to come help them. They act like he just picked their joint at random.

I agree the early episodes of Kitchen Nightmares and even Hell's Kitchen were good. But when the drama started to be scripted in they lost me.

Goldenshield · Wed May 15, 2013 2:47 pm

Quoting francoflier (Reply 15):
On the other hand, that restaurant is getting more publicity than these two morons would have ever dreamt of getting...

However, even after all of the bad publicity, you'd have to be a sadist to even think about stepping foot in that restaurant.

AeroWesty · Wed May 15, 2013 3:52 pm

The only thing I'm left wondering about is what would have happened if the restaurant had been open the second morning, would the former employees conveniently sitting across the parking lot just been left hanging? Obviously they were part of some sort of setup—the producers had to know just based on what had been filmed w/o Ramsay there that this was going to be one enormous train wreck.

It's too bad that these folks just didn't stick with what they did best, baking desserts, which Amy obviously has a knack for. Wholesaling desserts out to other restaurants could have been a big business for them, along with a small storefront or coffee place. I e-mailed a friend in Paradise Valley to see if she knew about Amy's before now, and she'd been aware of the store from the previous news coverage and wasn't surprised how the show turned out.

I think we all know what's going to happen. The place will close because of the 'haters', the IRS will investigate the tips issue, and some lawyer will be advertising for clients for a lawsuit to get tips awarded to past servers.

Some people just don't belong in the kitchen or on Facebook.

ETA: LOL, this made the top story on the third hour of the Today Show this morning, with Guy Fieri (barf) chiming in with his thoughts.

[Edited 2013-05-15 09:05:35]

ArmitageShanks · Wed May 15, 2013 5:43 pm

She definitely has the crazy eyes.

Pellegrine · Thu May 16, 2013 9:45 am

Quoting AeroWesty (Reply 17):
The only thing I'm left wondering about is what would have happened if the restaurant had been open the second morning, would the former employees conveniently sitting across the parking lot just been left hanging? Obviously they were part of some sort of setup—the producers had to know just based on what had been filmed w/o Ramsay there that this was going to be one enormous train wreck.

It's too bad that these folks just didn't stick with what they did best, baking desserts, which Amy obviously has a knack for. Wholesaling desserts out to other restaurants could have been a big business for them, along with a small storefront or coffee place. I e-mailed a friend in Paradise Valley to see if she knew about Amy's before now, and she'd been aware of the store from the previous news coverage and wasn't surprised how the show turned out.

I think we all know what's going to happen. The place will close because of the 'haters', the IRS will investigate the tips issue, and some lawyer will be advertising for clients for a lawsuit to get tips awarded to past servers.

Some people just don't belong in the kitchen or on Facebook.

ETA: LOL, this made the top story on the third hour of the Today Show this morning, with Guy Fieri (barf) chiming in with his thoughts.

It's one thing to be disagreeable, rude to customers, or be an unfriendly employer. It's wholly another to actively steal wages from your employees.

I don't feel like it's "too bad" for these owners at all when it comes to screwing with your employees' money and threatening to fire them in front of customers. That is downright despicable.

The IRS, EEOC, and the Arizona Attorney General should investigate if these are valid allegations.

I can't believe they aren't already with all of these allegations.

AeroWesty · Thu May 16, 2013 10:40 am

Quoting Pellegrine (Reply 19):
I don't feel like it's "too bad" for these owners at all when it comes to screwing with your employees' money and threatening to fire them in front of customers. That is downright despicable.

I neither implied nor stated that it was acceptable.

airportugal310 · Thu May 16, 2013 11:17 am

Quoting AeroWesty (Reply 20):

Congrats... I guess?

AeroWesty · Thu May 16, 2013 11:37 am

Looks like Amy Bouzaglo is a felon.

Amy’s Baking Company Owner Amy Bouzaglo’s Criminal Past Surfaces After 'Kitchen Nightmares' Meltdown

Quote:
But in addition to not reacting well to criticism, it seems Amy of Amy’s Baking Company has been in trouble with the law. While Samy claims to be a “mobster,” his wife served 14 months in jail while paying $36,294.95 in restitution for bank fraud.

According to the court documents filed in the United States District Court in Arizona, “On November 6, 2003, Ms. Bouzaglo (formerly known and identified in this case as Ms. Bossingham), entered into a plea agreement with the Government in which she pled guilty to one count of Misuse of a Social Security Number, a class D felony offense. (Doc. 40). The criminal conduct occurred on August 16, 2001. Specifically, Ms. Bouzaglo pled guilty to submitting an application for a line of credit with M & I Bank using the social security number of another person.” Amy was arrested on Oct. 11, 2002.

garnetpalmetto · Thu May 16, 2013 11:51 am

Interesting Ask Me Anything on Reddit with the waitress who got fired mid-episode, Katy.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comment...ss_katy_cipriano_from_amys_baking/

She seems to be under the impression that the desserts were purchased and not made by Amy. That seems to be backed up with the FB meltdown when it was stated by ABC that the prices of their dessert were high because the cakes had to be "shipped" to them and "repackaged."

Pellegrine · Thu May 16, 2013 12:09 pm

Quoting garnetpalmetto (Reply 23):

Interesting Ask Me Anything on Reddit with the waitress who got fired mid-episode, Katy.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comment...ss_katy_cipriano_from_amys_baking/

She seems to be under the impression that the desserts were purchased and not made by Amy. That seems to be backed up with the FB meltdown when it was stated by ABC that the prices of their dessert were high because the cakes had to be "shipped" to them and "repackaged."

This whole thing is so pathetic. The unfortunate aspect is that it goes on in a lot of restaurants nationwide! I congratulate Katy for being such a steadfast person. Reading that thread makes me shake my head.

Seriously? No tips? No staff meal? Never tasted the food they serve?

JAGflyer · Thu May 16, 2013 5:07 pm

Unfortunately Samy's behaviour is not uncommon for people of his background. I've dealt with plenty of them in the past and this whole "I'm a big baller, shot caller" thing is typical. His actions and attitude don't surprise me in the least.

Jyang772 · Thu May 16, 2013 11:14 pm

Just finished watching the episode on Youtube. The owners are out of their minds.
Left them a message on their Facebook page

Francoflier · Fri May 17, 2013 12:27 am

The meme is out:

OA412 · Fri May 17, 2013 3:15 am

I'm not a Gordon Ramsay fan, but watched some clips after reading about this, I decided to watch. The woman is a delusional nutcase.

Quoting MaverickM11 (Reply 7):
The two tend to find each other....sorta like that delicate flower of a lady that gave the NBA player the finger and may or may not have killed her coked out hedge fund trader husband. These gems of the universe usually find each other, leaving the rest of us mercifully alone.

And incidentally her coked out hedge fund trader husband may or may not have been gay.

AeroWesty · Fri May 17, 2013 3:35 am

Quoting OA412 (Reply 28):
And incidentally her coked out hedge fund trader husband may or may not have been gay.

Hey now, don't unload him on us, you all keep him!

Mir · Fri May 17, 2013 4:00 am

I will give them this: it's not easy to make Gordon Ramsey look like the reasonable one, but they pulled it off in record time.

-Mir

Jyang772 · Fri May 17, 2013 5:32 am

Quoting armitageshanks (Reply 18):

She definitely has the crazy eyes.

flymia · Fri May 17, 2013 6:42 am

Saw the episode on YouTube it was hilarious. What was also funny was readin old reviews on the plane from years ago. They were bad then and horrible now. The funniest part is seeing how obvious some of the fake reviews were. All the positive ones of course were clearly fake and written by Amy. One of them included the place phone number and information about their thanksgiving dinner special. Too funny.

AeroWesty · Fri May 17, 2013 1:44 pm

This story keeps getting weirder. Some friends down in Paradise Valley near Amy's sent me a link this morning to I guess what is the local alternative paper's site, with news of Amy's grand reopening. Some disgraced local reverend/former mayoral candidate/former school board member will emcee the event, for which 1,500 people called to try to make a reservation.

The Amy's Baking Company Carnival: The Reverend Jarrett Maupin Joins the Sideshow

And I guess Samy and Amy are now saying that they've never stolen or taken any of the server's tips. That should be easy to prove/disprove, since they're required to deduct taxes on a portion of expected tips—not sure what the amount is. Who knows with these people, though.

Goldenshield · Sun May 19, 2013 3:30 pm

The rabbit hole just goes deeper and deeper:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...ng-company-vs-the-entire-internet/

Which in turn has a link to comparison pictures of the "food":

http://www.wilmunder.com/ABC/Food_Photo_Match.html

Also, someone has already put a fake commercial on Youtube using parts and quotes of the KN episode, and news footage.

AeroWesty · Sun May 19, 2013 4:16 pm

Amy's to hire up to 30 employees at job fair from 2-5pm today:

http://ktar.com/22/1635415/Amys-Baking-Company-to-hold-job-fair

Goldenshield · Sun May 19, 2013 4:19 pm

Quoting AeroWesty (Reply 35):
Amy's to hire up to 30 employees at job fair from 2-5pm today:

To be fired next week.

Mir · Sun May 19, 2013 7:14 pm

Quoting Goldenshield (Reply 36):
To be fired next week.

Now let's be fair, they're not going to fire all of them next week. If they did that, they wouldn't have anyone to fire the week after.

-Mir

777way · Mon May 20, 2013 10:38 am

Quoting zkojq (Reply 12):
Also, am I the only one to notice the incredible amount of cosmetic surgery that the lady's face has clearly undergone?

She has a flawless complexion too for a stressed out woman.

Goldenshield · Tue May 21, 2013 10:35 am

So, apparently, these Bozos managed to not only hire 15 scapeg-- err, people, (out of 30? Why do they need so many?) but their planned media event was stopped dead in its tracks thanks to a threat of lawuit from Fox. This just keeps getting better and better!

http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/...ny-cancels-conference-lawsuit.html

I especially love this little blurb:

Quote:
The Scottsdale-based firm will stop representing Amy’s Baking Company after Tuesday’s grand reopening. Rose said the two parties disagreed over public-relations strategies but declined to elaborate.

Gee, I wonder why?

[Edited 2013-05-21 03:36:16]

Dreadnought · Tue May 21, 2013 1:22 pm

Quoting Goldenshield (Reply 39):

Quote:
The Scottsdale-based firm will stop representing Amy’s Baking Company after Tuesday’s grand reopening. Rose said the two parties disagreed over public-relations strategies but declined to elaborate.

Gee, I wonder why?

The lawyer wanted to do something reasonable, while Amy probably wanted to hire Russian Mafia hitmen...

flyingthe757 · Tue May 21, 2013 3:39 pm

Hopefully they will all be trained on the till this time!

AviRaider · Tue May 21, 2013 4:49 pm

Quoting flyingthe757 (Reply 41):

Ha Ha! Yea I couldn't believe they didn't train the servers on the use of the till. They claimed their servers weren't smart enough. In what world do they live in where servers aren't allowed to use the till? But after realizing that they take their tips, it's obvious why they have their servers on a short leash.

Aside from that, they turn my hackels red when they spew out such vile hatred and disrespect and then claim God is on their side. Wolf in sheep's clothing.

[Edited 2013-05-21 09:52:58]

Tugger · Tue May 21, 2013 5:24 pm

Quoting AeroWesty (Reply 33):
This story keeps getting weirder. Some friends down in Paradise Valley near Amy's sent me a link this morning to I guess what is the local alternative paper's site, with news of Amy's grand reopening. Some disgraced local reverend/former mayoral candidate/former school board member will emcee the event, for which 1,500 people called to try to make a reservation.

Sadly I think this is becoming an example of "There is no such thing as bad publicity." Some people want to go to see the train-wreck, some want to see if they can get a rise out of the owners or be told "You don't know what you like!", some want to go just to be able to say they've been there. Sad but true.

Quoting AviRaider (Reply 42):
Ha Ha! Yea I couldn't believe they didn't train the servers on the use of the till. They claimed their servers weren't smart enough. In what world do they live in where servers aren't allowed to use the till? But after realizing that they take their tips, it's obvious why they have their servers on a short leash.

Well it's easier to you cook the books if you control the till. Remember restaurants are a popular way to launder money (what's the husbands history? It's something weird supposedly) and bring money into legitimacy, just add sales. You didn't only serve 20 tables today and made just $2,000.00, you served 50 tables and made $10,000.00! (Haven't you always wondered how "that one restaurant" in your area stays in business?) Perhaps he figured out that he could still add the sales as he went through the day.

Of course the end of the spectrum not laundering, it is to under-report sales to avoid taxes etc. And for that it is definitely important to control the till...

Tugg

Mir · Tue May 21, 2013 5:42 pm

Quoting tugger (Reply 43):
Of course the end of the spectrum not laundering, it is to under-report sales to avoid taxes etc.

I don't think they're going to need much help under-reporting sales.

-Mir

777way · Wed May 22, 2013 1:35 am

Quoting tugger (Reply 43):
Sadly I think this is becoming an example of "There is no such thing as bad publicity." Some people want to go to see the train-wreck, some want to see if they can get a rise out of the owners or be told "You don't know what you like!", some want to go just to be able to say they've been there. Sad but true.

Who knows perhaps they were paid good for this show tp act worse than ever, KN other scripted episodes were also pretty convincing and this seemed no different to those.

Katy on reddit said she had never seen it like this before in her three and a half weeks with them, makes you wonder.

flyingthe757 · Wed May 22, 2013 5:29 am

Anyone know how the reopening went??

http://widget.uproxx.com/b/24/http:/....azcentral.com/video/2400243186001

Interesting new twist!!!

[Edited 2013-05-21 22:54:26]

AeroWesty · Wed May 22, 2013 5:23 pm

Quoting flyingthe757 (Reply 46):
Anyone know how the reopening went??

Small crowd, a few security guards, and no yelling or screaming. Looks like the letter from Fox's legal team put the kabosh on any further theatrics.

Amy's Baking Company Reopens With Little Fanfare

I guess we'll see if Samy gets deported for whatever the previous charges were against him.

AeroWesty · Sun May 26, 2013 2:15 am

Egads, $10.90 for a slice of chocolate cake! First-hand report of Amy's after the reopening:

Amy's Baking Company kicks us out after we find flies in the vodka (three times)

Quote:
We went in with an open mind Friday night to try Amy's Baking Company for the first time, but our quartet was kicked out after pointing out bugs in not one, not two, but three versions of one simple vodka martini.

PHX787 · Sun May 26, 2013 2:35 am

Quoting AeroWesty (Reply 48):

Im more concerned about flies in vodka...that's against health codes in Scottsdale

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