Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Amazing Kitchen Nightmares Episode
Old 05-17-2013, 12:28 AM   #1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Katsmeow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 5,307
Amazing Kitchen Nightmares Episode

This is such a train wreck....Just amazing

Kitchen Nightmares episode on the restaurant owners that...well...can't be helped.

Yahoo! Shine - Women's Lifestyle | Healthy Living and Fashion Blogs

The episode is astonishing:



And the restaurant's facebook page is amazing (look at the "'press release") and the ensuing hilarity in the comments....
Katsmeow is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 05-17-2013, 01:41 AM   #2
Moderator Emeritus
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 12,894
Wow! It's a miracle that they stayed in business for so long.
FIREd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 06:48 AM   #3
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Sojourner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 2,581
I saw this a few days ago and was flabbergasted. It's incredible to see such broken, despicable people running a restaurant that is still in business. After watching the video, I read pretty much all the articles I could find online about this and discovered that Amy Bouzaglo has a very unseemly past -- she's been in jail before for identity theft and financial fraud, for starters.

Amy Bouzaglo's criminal past
Sojourner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 06:57 AM   #4
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
I think she took one too many self help courses that taught her she can do anything if she looks in the mirror and tells herself over and over that she can do it. Without any actual skills or experience.
__________________
Retired in 2013 at age 33. Keeping busy reading, blogging, relaxing, gaming, and enjoying the outdoors with my wife and 3 kids (8, 13, and 15).
FUEGO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 07:47 AM   #5
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Helen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Portland
Posts: 2,038
They both seem shady, but she has to have some kind of personality disorder.
Helen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 07:55 AM   #6
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
heeyy_joe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Madeira Beach Fl
Posts: 1,403
No soup for you!!!!
__________________
_______________________________________________
"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do" --Bob Dylan.
heeyy_joe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 08:56 AM   #7
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 11,401
Quote:
Originally Posted by Helen View Post
They both seem shady, but she has to have some kind of personality disorder.
Can you spell "narcissist"?

That was very entertaining! Finally, owners who can out-insult Gordon Ramsay! It's unbelievable that these people think they can treat customers and staff like that and get away with it in a society like the US. I would not be surprised if the restaurant is a front for money laundering. Why else would Samy refuse to let the servers use the computer? They have temporarily closed and are reopening on Tuesday night. Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall? It would almost be worth a trip to Arizona LOL!
Meadbh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 09:04 AM   #8
Moderator Emeritus
bssc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 10,125
Down the street from us. They have had an ongoing feud with the local foodie reviewers which you can see on yelp. A cow-orker and I actually tried going there before the episode aired but they stopped opening for weekday lunch. My understanding is that they actually believed Gordon would say how good they were.
__________________
Angels danced on the day that you were born.
bssc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 09:17 AM   #9
Administrator
MichaelB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,584
Quote:
Originally Posted by bssc View Post
Down the street from us. They have had an ongoing feud with the local foodie reviewers which you can see on yelp. A cow-orker and I actually tried going there before the episode aired but they stopped opening for weekday lunch. My understanding is that they actually believed Gordon would say how good they were.
Too bad you missed that. You can still go back - for the entertainment value.

Looks like they are having more confrontations on Yelp and Facebook, and just as bad. From their facebook page

Quote:
Obviously our Facebook, YELP, Twitter and Website have been hacked. We are working with the local authorities as well as the FBI computer crimes unit to ensure this does not happen again. We did not post those horrible things. Thank You Amy &Samy
MichaelB is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 10:13 AM   #10
Moderator Emeritus
W2R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,472
Quote:
Originally Posted by FIREd View Post
Wow! It's a miracle that they stayed in business for so long.
+1

Competetion in the restaurant industry here is intense. We have seen some terrific restaurants go under very quickly, because while terrific, they still aren't good enough to compete effectively. One little issue can ruin a restaurant's reputation. I can't imagine a restaurant like that surviving even a week!

I see no reason for anybody go there when I am sure there are a plethora of other, better restaurants available in Scottsdale. What surprises me is that they had any customers at all.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.

Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
W2R is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 11:51 AM   #11
Moderator Emeritus
bssc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 10,125
The Washington Post even featured them, showing their messages and an analysis of their "hacked" messages.

Amy’s Baking Company vs. The Entire Internet

I realized that they are the restaurant version of Fawlty Towers.
__________________
Angels danced on the day that you were born.
bssc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 11:57 AM   #12
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Crownsville
Posts: 3,709
My take on this whole fiasco is that it's run by a rich old man who coddles his trophy wife and tries to shield her from anything negative, at all costs. He was a custom home builder, but in 2006, as the market was starting to dry up (their words, I didn't think it started crashing until late 2007, but maybe he was in a different market), so he put $1M into this restaurant so his wife could realize her passion.

This place has probably been losing money for years, but the husband probably keeps dumping his money into it, to keep his wife's hobby afloat. The wife can't stand any kind of criticism, and has an ingrained victim mentality, so the husband does everything in his power to shield his wife from that. But all it does is perpetuate her beliefs that she can do no wrong.
Andre1969 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 12:03 PM   #13
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
jollystomper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 6,129
Quote:
Originally Posted by heeyy_joe View Post
No soup for you!!!!
The difference is, the real place that inspired the Seinfeld episode makes REALLY good soup.
__________________
FIREd date: June 26, 2018 - "This Happy Feeling, Going Round and Round!" (GQ)
jollystomper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 02:47 PM   #14
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
heeyy_joe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Madeira Beach Fl
Posts: 1,403
Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R View Post
+1

Competetion in the restaurant industry here is intense. We have seen some terrific restaurants go under very quickly, because while terrific, they still aren't good enough to compete effectively. One little issue can ruin a restaurant's reputation. I can't imagine a restaurant like that surviving even a week!

I see no reason for anybody go there when I am sure there are a plethora of other, better restaurants available in Scottsdale. What surprises me is that they had any customers at all.
All the local lawyers eat there. Hmmmm....
__________________
_______________________________________________
"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do" --Bob Dylan.
heeyy_joe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 05:05 PM   #15
Moderator Emeritus
M Paquette's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Portland
Posts: 4,946
When I see a new flavor of ravioli on sale at Costco, there's this one Italian place that I know will have a remarkably similar item on their Specials menu this weekend!

A long time back, when Costco first rolled out the Giant Muffins From Heck, they showed up pretty quickly in many of the little coffee and snack kiosks in the area. I don't fault them a bit. It's really hard for a little bitty one man coffee stand to run a bakery and a roastery, and I know darn well that they are buying their stuff somewhere. On the other hand, none of THEM are claiming to make all the goodies themselves.
M Paquette is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 05:47 PM   #16
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Badger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 3,395
If her bakery items are as good as they appear to be (Gordon even seemed to be impressed - at least at first glance) then maybe they should focus on that instead of a restaurant. Neither of them need to be dealing with the public. I'm surprised there hasn't been a serious knock-down and drag-out fight with customers. Evidently Scottsdale has some pretty laid back, tolerant, forgiving people. The show speaks well of the folks in Scottsdale.

I would still like to go there for an evenings entertainment but I would probably get asked to leave after I finish the pastry.

Cheers!
Badger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 06:26 PM   #17
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Katsmeow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 5,307
Quote:
Originally Posted by Badger View Post
If her bakery items are as good as they appear to be (Gordon even seemed to be impressed - at least at first glance) then maybe they should focus on that instead of a restaurant. Neither of them need to be dealing with the public. I'm surprised there hasn't been a serious knock-down and drag-out fight with customers. Evidently Scottsdale has some pretty laid back, tolerant, forgiving people. The show speaks well of the folks in Scottsdale.
There has apparently been subsequent information indicating that the bakery goods may have been bought elsewhere also....

The owner's Facebook page seemed to admit reselling the bakery stuff although they now claim the page was "hacked" and they didn't really say all the awful stuff posted.

Also, many of the food items pictured on Facebook as being their items apparently have turned out to be photos from a variety of other places.

There was also a Reddit AMA by the waitress who was fired during the show.

Former waitress Katy Cipriano from Amy's Baking Company; ft. on Kitchen Nightmares : IAmA
Katsmeow is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 08:23 PM   #18
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Sarah in SC's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 13,566
I never watch stuff like that, but thanks--very entertaining! I watched both episodes. And then found this. I have a great weakness for a Venn Diagram, and the one at the end of this very funny article does not disappoint.

Amy’s Baking Company vs. The Entire Internet

Hahahaha! Such a good story to cheer up my Friday. Many thanks!
__________________
“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching.”
Gerard Arthur Way

Sarah in SC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2013, 09:48 AM   #19
Gone but not forgotten
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Sarasota,fl.
Posts: 11,447
What a hoot ! I watched the whole episode . Definitely a crazy couple but I bet their place will be packed with people wanting to see how crazy they really are .
Moemg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-18-2013, 11:07 AM   #20
Moderator
Walt34's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,299
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moemg View Post
Definitely a crazy couple but I bet their place will be packed with people wanting to see how crazy they really are .
I'd take a pass on that. Having to deal with enough nutcases in the past I'm sure not going to seek them out.
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
Walt34 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:21 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.