Kitchen nightmare for Chef Ramsay

Anyone catch the episode where Gordon Ramsay left the Scottsdale restaurant because of the psychotic owners?

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/gordon-ramsay-quits-filming-kitchen-nightmares-episode-article-1.1344121

 

It's been a bizarre story around here. The owners had a complete meltdown on social media, and are now claiming someone hacked their Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp accounts along with their website. They also claim they are working with the FBI to solve the hacking. Oddly enough, those "hacked" messages are written just like their crazy postings of the past. (This isn't their first rodeo. They made the news 3 years ago for a Yelp freakout.)

These people are beyond nuts.

 

Read about it on eater.com so we watched the episode.

Oh, my.

Eater.com article with meltdown in full effect:

http://eater.com/archives/2013/05/14/kitchen-nightmares-facebook-freakout.php

Allegations of misrepresenting products, lifting photos and more are out there..

 

Unless they are an Ed Debevic's-type thing, I can't imagine how they stay in business. And it sounds like their food is damn near inedible, too.

I noticed the guy mentioning "mafia" more than once during that show. Makes one wonder if running a restaurant is a front for other activities.

 

This whole thing just blows me away.

The female owner is about as nuts as any owner I've seen on these shows. Even in most situations where someone is seemingly out of touch with reality, they have that moment where they realize what they're doing wrong. She never has had it, and never will from all the stuff I've read and watched. And the way she treated Katy, the girl who Amy forced out by getting all huffy over Katy asking if Amy was sure about what table to take a meal to - when Amy said one table and then said another table number - was pathetic. I'd quit, too.

Then there's Samy. Taking the tips from his staff, not teaching them how to use the electronic system to put in the orders, trying to act all tough in front of the customers by trying to force them to pay for food they never got. And that's just what they showed on the air! I can imagine he was far worse before they ever showed up.

Oh, and for those who love trainwrecks, the owners (according to stories out of Phoenix media last night) are scheduled to have some re-opening Tuesday. I hope it bombs.

 

Awesome episode. And, the facebook meltdown was even better.

The night of the show, they posted a note on facebook saying they did not steal tips. They had a thousand comments in less than an hour.

It occurred to me later that -- like her "homemade" pasta -- she probably doesn't bake her pastries either. When would she do it? She already can't get food out of the kitchen, but I'm supposed to believe she's in early baking? No way.

Sure enough, someone on Yelp or Facebook suggested doing a reverse image search of her desserts. None of the pictures on her facebook are hers.

She had a facebook post saying she was working on new cake decorating designs, and asked people what they thought. Every single design/picture was stolen from another website.

Totally nuts, and a complete fraud. (Oh yeah, she was also convicted of getting a line of credit of $15,000 using a false identity.)

 

RSW

 

Yeah, they've hired a fairly prominent Phoenix PR firm. Good luck with that.

 

Seems like a case of a guy with way too much money (from whatever means he got it) opening a restaurant for his wife because she always wanted one and then shielding her from anything negative. He won't let anyone say anything bad and will attack them if they do so that she doesn't hear it, and he just writes them off as not knowing what they're talking about if she does somehow hear it. So, in the end, she doesn't realize her food just sucks, and he doesn't care. He's making money in other ways. Clearly neither of them has a clue about running a restaurant; this is just a toy to them.

 

I didn't watch the episode until after I read about the Facebook meltdown. But the moment when you realized it was a no-go was when Gordon loves the cake or whatever, then says "Let's look at the kitchen." And he says "How are things going?" And the woman just LAUNCHES into a talk about haters and BLOGGERS (the disdain in her voice is impossible to type) and how everyone's out to get them.

Sheer delusion wonderfulness. And if I am ever in Scottsdale, I'm totes going there to order, wait 75 minutes, then cuss Samy out and leave.

 

Looks like the Department of Labor is going to look into the owner's confiscation of server tips.

http://ktar.com/22/1635012/Dept-of-Labor-Amys-Baking-Company-may-be-in-violation-of-law

 

Insert Claude Rains picture.

First Gordon Ramsay and now Jason Rose. It appears that neither can work with Amy’s Baking Company.

Rose, president of Rose+Moser+Allyn Public & Online Relations, told me Monday his company and restaurant owners Amy and Samy Bouzaglo had “differences” in the five days they worked together.

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2013/05/20/jason-rose-explains-split-with-amys.html

FOX is not pleased with developments, and seems to have legal thingys they are implementing:

Amy's Baking Company — now infamous for its Facebook freakout following a terrible showing on Kitchen Nightmares — has cancelled a press conference on threat of legal action from Fox

http://eater.com/archives/2013/05/21/amys-baking-company-cancels-press-conference-after-legal-threats-from-fox.php

But the show must go on, so the Grand Re-opening is still scheduled for today.