Amy's Baking Company

"Amy's Baking Company"
Kitchen Nightmares episode
Episode no. Season 6
Episode 16
Directed by Jay Hunter
Produced by
  • Arthur Smith
  • Gordon Ramsay
  • Kent Weed
  • Patricia Llewellyn
  • Lindsay Kugler
  • Kristen Stabile
  • Shawn Gutierrez
  • Dawn Haber
  • Drew Seltzer
Production code December 2012 (2012-12)[1]
Original air date May 10, 2013 (2013-05-10)
Running time 43 minutes

"Amy's Baking Company" is the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of Kitchen Nightmares, and the 82nd episode of the series overall. The episode first aired on May 10, 2013 and centered on Gordon Ramsay attempting to help Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, owners of Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, Arizona.[2]

The episode marked the first time in the series that conflict with the owners prevented Ramsay from completing the restaurant's transformation.[3] The owners' actions received negative attention in social media. Their online responses were then further spread in social media in a manner which Forbes called an example of how a business should not react to comments posted on social media.[4]

A follow-up episode, titled "Return to Amy's Baking Company", aired as the season 7 premiere on April 11, 2014.[5]

Synopsis

Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, the wife and husband owners, explain the history of their restaurant: Samy invested over a million dollars to build the restaurant in 2006 in order to fulfill Amy's dream. About two years prior to the episode's filming, bloggers began writing negative reviews of the restaurant's food. Amy says the reviews are "lies" and states that they cost the restaurant a "tremendous amount of business".[1][6]

One of the verandas of Amy's Baking Company where customers can choose to dine.

The day before Ramsay arrives, the cameras are set up to show that Miranda was unable to handle money, the computer systems or alcohol. One customer orders another meal as opposed to the caesar salad, causing Samy to berate him for "not knowing" what he likes. One customer complains to Samy that he has been waiting over an hour for one pizza, causing Samy to verbally abuse him and eject him from the restaurant. Amy calls the police and a member of production team becomes involved when Samy strikes the customer's friend.

Ramsay is initially overwhelmed with the kitchen's good hygeine and organisation, though becomes more wary when Amy admits that she closes the restaurant if either Samy or Amy are not there. After initial discussion, Ramsay prepares to sample the dishes. Despite liking the desserts, he has a rather negative response towards the other menu items: The fig and pear prosciutto pizza was very sweet and the dough was undercooked, the blue ribbon burger was also undercooked (despite asking for it to be medium rare) and the bun was dripping with grease, the red pepper ravioli was what he called "confusing" and found out that it was mass-produced frozen ravioli despite the menu advertising it as freshly made, and finally the salmon burger was overcooked and the presentation of it was unappealing. At one point during the sampling, Ramsay learns from one of the servers, Miranda Winant,[7] that they do not make tips, but that tips instead go to the owner. During the first day dinner service, Ramsay criticizes Amy and Samy for the food he was served during lunch and Amy responds by denying any wrongdoing because Samy refused to tell her the problems about the food. He also criticizes Amy for using frozen ravioli instead of fresh ravioli, and announces to the customers that ravioli is off the menu, which doesn't sit well with Amy. Throughout the night, customers are seen complaining about the long wait, and several customers are shown sending back their dishes. At one point, Amy accidentally gives the wrong table number to Miranda. Subsequently, when giving food to Katy Cipriano,[7] another server, as well as the table number, Katy asks, "Are you sure?". Amy responds by accusing her of having an attitude problem and demands that she leave. When Ramsay witnesses a customer giving a tip intended for the servers and Samy taking it for himself, he reveals the restaurant's tipping policy to the customer, to which he replies, "That's horrible."[4]

Ramsay returns to the restaurant, finding it is closed. Ramsay takes this opportunity to talk to previous workers in the restaurant. Ramsay then attempts to talk to Amy and Samy, telling them what they are doing wrong, though Amy refuses to listen. As a result, Ramsay realises he can't help them and leaves the restaurant, and in a concluding monologue, states that this is the first time he has ever met a restaurant owner or owners he could not help. Before leaving the area he cites the fact that the restaurant has gone through a hundred staff members, states that Amy and Samy have upset the local community and are incapable of accepting criticism, and believes they would not have adhered to any changes he would have implemented to improve the restaurant anyway.[3]

Production

The episode was shot in December 2012. On December 10 a local media interview with a diner described his altercation with Samy during taping. The diner saw what he thought was an act for the purposes of the show, but a producer told him that "what was happening was real". The diner went on to explain that police were on the scene by the time he left the restaurant. The diner reported that police were responding to a "911 hangup call" from the restaurant, and that they left after "conclud[ing] everything was fine".[8]

Reception and reaction

Entrance of the restaurant

The episode premiered on May 10, 2013, viewed by approximately 3.34 million people. It earned a 1.2/5 share in the 18–49 demographic, meaning it was seen by 1.2% of all 18- to 49-year-olds and 5% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast.[9] The episode met with praise from reviewers, with one critic writing, "The episode is nothing short of amazing."[10]

After the show aired, the restaurant became a momentary tourist attraction.[11] The restaurant received extensive negative feedback on their official Facebook page. When the owners Amy and Sammy responded by excoriating people who posted negative comments, it provoked more of the same, not only on Facebook, but also on Yelp and Reddit. Forbes used the reactions as a poster example of how a business should not react to comments from social media.[4][12] The owners later claimed that they were hacked, and that they had not posted any of the comments.[13][14] This prompted more negative responses and the original comments and responses were eventually removed.[13] As a result of the Kitchen Nightmares episode and Facebook posts, awareness of the incident caused the "meltdown" to go viral.[4]

The company hired a local public relations firm, and a second Facebook page was eventually taken down as well, while another one called "I support Amy's Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro 100 percent" appeared on May 15.[15] A press release announced that they would be holding a "Grand Re-Opening" on May 21, 2013.[16] On April 11, 2014, Kitchen Nightmares aired a special episode revolving around the events at Amy’s Baking Company during and after the episode aired with a new, specially-recorded interview with the owners conducted by local reporter Ana Garcia.[17]

On July 10, 2015, the restaurant announced its closure; this occurred in September.[18][19]

References

  1. 1 2 Hahnefeld, Laura (May 23, 2013). "Chasing Amy: Overcooked Reality and the Decline of Western Civility". Phoenix New Times.
  2. ↑ Gordon, Claire. "Amy's Baking Company Has Epic Facebook Fail". AOL. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Martin, Sami K. (May 15, 2013). "Amy's Baking Company Under Fire for 'Kitchen Nightmares' Appearance (VIDEO)". Christian Post.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Lessons From Amy's Baking Company: Six Things You Should Never Do On Social Media". Forbes. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  5. ↑ McClellan, Jennifer (March 28, 2014). "4/11: Amy's Baking Co. returns on 'Kitchen Nightmares'".
  6. ↑ Laudig, Michelle (August 20, 2010). "Ouch! Today's Hard Lesson on Yelp". Phoenix New Times.
  7. 1 2 "Return to Amy's Baking Company". Kitchen Nightmares. Season 7. Episode 1. April 11, 2014. Fox Broadcasting Company.
  8. ↑ Hahnefeld, Laura (December 10, 2012). "Screaming, Expletives, and, Eventually, Police: All in the First Night of Kitchen Nightmares Taping at Amy's Baking Company - Phoenix - Restaurants and Dining - Chow Bella". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Friday Final TV Ratings:'Kitchen Nightmares' Adjusted Up; No Adjustment for 'Nikita', 'Vegas' or 'Touch'". TV By The Numbers. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  10. ↑ "The meltdown to end all meltdowns - Amy's Baking Company". GlobalTV.com. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Amy’s Baking Company turning into Scottsdale tourist attraction; see photos (Video)". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Restaurant owners' ranting goes viral - Video on". Today. May 15, 2013.
  13. 1 2 "Kitchen Nightmares: Amy's Baking Company Goes Nuts on Facebook, Claim They Were Hacked". E Online. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  14. ↑ Erwin, Elizabeth (May 14, 2013). "Restaurant owners slammed on national TV speak out". KPHO-TV. CBS 5.
  15. ↑ Rachel Tepper (May 16, 2013). Amy's Baking Company Freaks Out Online After Epic Meltdown On Gordon Ramsay's 'Kitchen Nightmares' [UPDATED]. Huffington Post.
  16. ↑ "Kitchen Nightmares: Amy's Baking Company plans grand re-opening to address social media meltdown". ABC 15. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  17. ↑ McClellan, Jennifer (April 12, 2014). "Scottsdale's Bouzaglos return to 'Kitchen Nightmares'". Arizona Republic. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Scottsdale 'Kitchen Nightmares' restaurant to close". fox10phoenix.com. July 10, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale has closed". azcentral.com. September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
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