What Did the Blue Ribbin Burger Have in Amys Baking Company
 | "The team works overnight to remodel the restaurant." This page is under construction. |
People
- Samy, Owner
- Amy, Head Chef
- Katy, Food Runner
- Miranda, Server
- Jessica, Former Employee
- Henry, Former Employee
Before Gordon's Arrival
Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, husband and wife owners, opened the restaurant in 2006. It was Amy's dream to open a restaurant, and the couple invested over a million dollars. Amy runs the kitchen, while Samy runs the front of house. Two years ago, Yelp users and other bloggers began writing negative reviews of the restaurant, which Amy and Samy believe are lies.
During dinner service, the camera crew documents slow wait times, as the kitchen, under Amy's leadership, only prepares one ticket at a time. Samy displays poor customer service, such as telling the camera crew that he will tell anyone who doesn't like Amy's food to leave. Another instance shows him telling a customer who dislikes his salad dressing to know what they like to eat before they order it. One customer complains to Samy that he and his friend have waited over an hour for one pizza. This causes Samy to lash out at the customer and order them to leave, as well as pay for the drinks they received, but the customers refuse as they have not received their food. Amy threatens to call the police and insults the other customers, as the camera crew escort the customers out of the restaurant.
First Impressions
Gordon is impressed with the restaurant's decor and the cleanliness of the dining room. He is shocked by the cleanliness, hygiene, and organization of the kitchen, believing it to be a joke. While discussing the restaurant's problems with Amy and Samy, he samples a slice of cake, made by Amy, that he finds delicious. However, he becomes wary when Amy describes the Yelp reviews as "lies", when Amy refers to her and Samy's cats as "three little boys stuck in cat bodies", and especially when Amy and Samy admit to closing the restaurant whenever either of them cannot be there.
First Meal
Food Ordered
- Fig and pear prosciutto pizza
- Blue ribbon burger
- Red pepper ravioli
- Salmon burger
Impressions of the Food
Gordon is put off by the length of time he spends waiting for his food. After 75 minutes, he receives the fig and pear prosciutto pizza, which he finds to be too sweet. Additionally, the dough is undercooked. The blue ribbon burger, which was ordered medium rare, is served with the burger nearly raw, while the bun is soaked with grease, dripping when Gordon takes a bite. Additionally, he finds the combination of condiments (bacon, mushrooms, bleu cheese, garlic aioli, and white truffle oil) to be odd. The red pepper ravioli exhibits a sweet and spicy flavor, which Gordon finds "confusing". Despite the menu advertising the dish as freshly made, Gordon learns from Samy that the raviolis are actually store-bought frozen pasta. Lastly, the salmon burger comes overcooked and poorly presented.
Throughout his lunch, Gordon discovers additional problems. Samy tells Gordon that he doesn't tell Amy about problems with dishes, as she does not deal with criticism well. He learns that Samy, while in charge of front of house, only has one server on shift at a time. Samy is also the only person who is allowed to use the restaurant's POS system, despite Miranda, the server on duty, having used POS at every one of her previous jobs. Miranda reveals to Gordon that Samy often inputs the orders incorrectly, causing mistakes such as ordered dishes being omitted. Miranda also reveals that the servers do not make tips, instead making hourly. Samy justifies this by saying he does much of the front of house work, and the servers, who in his view do their job wrong, do not deserve the tips (despite Samy making most of the mistakes himself). This policy angers and shocks Gordon. When leaving the restaurant, he gives Miranda a cash tip and tells her it is for her only.
First Dinner Service
Gordon criticizes Amy and Samy for the food served to him during lunch. Amy, however, refuses to admit any problems with the dishes, as Samy did not inform her about any problems; she further claims that she has "never had any problems" with the food Gordon ordered. Gordon criticizes Amy for using frozen ravioli and marketing as fresh, but Amy claims the raviolis are delicious. Gordon responds by announcing the deception to the restaurant and removing it from the menu, which angers Amy.
Throughout service, customers are shown complaining about wait times, and frequently send back disliked dishes, with Samy taking those dishes directly to the dishpit to avoid telling Amy the critiques. One table is shown not receiving a dish they ordered, because Samy omitted it when inputting the order, despite Miranda showing Samy she wrote it on the ticket. One table leaves Miranda a $10 tip, which Samy, when asked by Gordon, tells him he is taking. Gordon tells the table that the tip they left is going directly to Samy, leading the customer to reply "that's horrible". Gordon and Samy get into a heated argument, where Gordon tells Samy "don't f**k with me", telling him he cannot take his servers' tips. At another point, Amy gives Katy, a food runner, a table number, before correcting herself with a different table. Katy asks Amy if she is sure, leading to her to accuse Katy of having an "attitude problem". Amy tells Samy to send Katy home, causing Katy to attempt to clarify her question. Amy, however, sees this as more attitude and fires Katy on the spot. Samy tries to change Amy's mind, but she does not. Katy leaves the restaurant in tears, and Amy later describes her as a "poisonous little viper".
Reflections
Gordon is shocked by the poor quality of service displayed by Amy and Samy. He insists on meeting them in the morning to discuss the service.
Remainder of the Visit
Gordon arrives at the restaurant the next morning, but Amy and Samy are not there. He meets with Jessica and Henry, two former employees, who both describe the awful experiences they had there. Henry reveals that he was forced to wash Samy's car during a service, while Jessica claims that over 50 people were fired during the 18 months she worked at the restaurant.
Gordon meets with Amy and Samy, telling them all that they are doing wrong. Amy refuses to listen, becoming increasingly hostile towards Gordon, insisting that the customers are lying. When Gordon brings up Jessica's claim that over 50 people were fired, Amy calls this a lie, but Samy reveals it was actually over 100 people that were fired. Gordon eventually realizes that Amy and Samy are not open to making any changes to their restaurant, and leaves, wishing them good luck. In a closing monologue, Gordon states he believes that Amy and Samy would not have been open to changes due to their inability to accept criticism, and even if they did, would not have adhered to the changes he implemented.
After Gordon's Departure
The first episode of Season 7, "Return to Amy's Baking Company", detailed what happened after Gordon's departure. The episode's airing caused Amy and Samy to become internet memes, with the restaurant becoming something of a tourist attraction. Amy and Samy made profanity-laden Facebook posts in all caps, telling critics to back off and that they are wrong. They later would claim that they were hacked, and they attempted to capitalize on their fame by making t-shirts. Miranda was shown to have quit.
Never-before-seen footage was shown, including clips showing Amy stating that she only hired women because men other than Samy in the small kitchen with her made her uncomfortable, Samy justifying this by saying the kitchen is a good place for women, and Amy justifying the use of store-bought gnocchi. Their submission video is shown, in which Amy believes Samy does a poor job at leading front of house.
Reporter Ana Garcia conducts an interview, in which Amy says the restaurant has become "Disney World for the crazies" and Samy demands money from Gordon. Amy claims that customers who visit as a tourist attraction find that the food is actually good, and also claims that one customer left a rubber cockroach on a plate as a prank. Amy additionally says that her and Samy standing up for themselves should be a business model for other businesses.
The restaurant held a "grand re-opening" after the show was aired, but eventually closed in September 2015. Amy claimed that this was due to an issue with the landlord, not due to the show or the bad reviews. Another restaurant was opened in its place, but would later close. The space is now home to an Aikido school. Amy created a special order cake business after the closing of the restaurant, and wrote a cookbook called "Baking with Amy". It appears that the couple moved to Samy's native Israel, where they live in a large condo, with Amy posting pictures of her baked goods to Instagram.
Production Notes
911 was called by a customer due to the conflict shown before Gordon's arrival, but left when everything was determined to be fine.
Trivia
- This episode is the first and only occurence when Gordon left without completing the transformation of the restaurant due to conflicts with the owners.
References
| Kitchen Nightmares US - Restaurants | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | Peter's • Dillon's • The Mixing Bowl • Seascape • The Olde Stone Mill • Sebastian's • Finn McCool's • Lela's • Campania • The Secret Garden |
| Season 2 | Handlebar • Giuseppi's • Trobiano's • Black Pearl • J Willy's • Hannah & Mason's • Jack's Waterfront • Sabatiello's • Fiesta Sunrise • Sante La Brea • Cafe 36 |
| Season 3 | Hot Potato Cafe • Flamangos • Bazzini • Mojito • Lido di Manhattan • Le Bistro • Casa Roma • Mama Rita's • Anna Vincenzo's • Fleming • Sushi-Ko |
| Season 4 | Spanish Pavilion • Classic American • PJ's Steakhouse • Grasshopper Also • Davide • Down City • Tavolini • Kingston Cafe • La Frite • Capri • Zeke's • Oceana |
| Season 5 | Blackberry's • Leone's • Mike & Nellie's • Luigi's D'Italia • Burger Kitchen • The Greek at the Harbor • Michon's • El Greco • Park's Edge • Spin-A-Yarn Steakhouse • Charlie's • Cafe Hon • Chiarella's • Zocalo |
| Season 6 | La Galleria 33 • Mama Maria's • Ms. Jean's Southern Cuisine • Barefoot Bob's • Olde Hitching Post Restaurant & Tavern • Levanti's Italian Restaurant • Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room • Nino's Italian Restaurant • Mill Street Bistro • Yanni's • Prohibition Grille • Chappy's • Amy's Baking Company |
| Season 7 | Pantaleone's • Old Neighborhood • Kati Allo • Mangia Mangia • Zayna Flaming Grill • Bella Luna |
| Misc | Revisited |
Amy's Baking Company was owned by husband and wife Samy and Amy Bouzaglo. One of the most notorious episodes in Kitchen Nightmares history, Samy and Amy were unable to handle criticism and would constantly get into shouting matches with customers who complained over the food but were forced out the restaurant.
Gordon deems the restaurant a lost cause due to all the conflicts within it and his belief Samy and Amy won't stick to any changes he makes, so for the first time in the series, he walks away from a restaurant without helping it thrive.
Food ordered
- Fig Pear Prosciutto Pizza (raw, soggy, and wet dough)
- Blue Ribbon Burger (soggy bun with a burger patty full of grease)
- Red Pepper Ravioli (sweet and spicy)
- Salmon Burger (overcooked, dried, and unappealing as Gordon describes it as "dried cat food")
Problems
- Both Amy and Samy had an aggressive attitude towards the customers' response to the waiting times and criticism which led to the chaos in the restaurant, even the customers heard the argument from the kitchen. An example was this is when a customer had enough of waiting for one pizza for a long time which led to a tirade of insults by Samy, almost getting into a fistfight with the customer's friend and blocking his way forcing the customer to pay him despite the customer didn't get the pizza until being escorted by a cameraman.
- The food was delivered so slow due to two things: Amy prefers to be working one ticket at a time and failure to hire another chefs to assist her.
- Amy fires Katy for no reason after Katy asks a question to Amy.
- Failure to listen to Gordon's advise and criticism to the point where Gordon Ramsay quits. This marks the only time in Kitchen Nightmares where Gordon Ramsay fails to help the staff to improve the restaurant.
Synopsis
The episode starts off with Amy explaining the history of the restaurant: Samy had invested over $1 million to build the restaurant in 2006 in order to fufill Amy's dreams of becoming a chef. About two years prior to the episode's filming, Amy claims that bloggers began writing negative reviews about the restaurant on websites such as Yelp which she claims are "lies" and cost them a "tremendous amount of business". Said reviews noted the restaurant's food and, in particular, the horrific customer service; Amy and Samy routinely argue with diners, dish out threats (on one occasion, Amy deliberately added more spice to a served plate of food in an attempt to hurt a diner) and refuse to take any form of criticism.
The day before Ramsay's arrival, the camera crew witnesses diners waiting for long periods of time for their food. This is mainly because Samy is the only one who was allowed to input the orders (as well as pour wine and handle money) resulting in him often inputting orders incorrectly and sometimes omitting them altogether due to the large influx of tickets he receives, and also because Amy chooses to cook one ticket at a time. The diners who do receive their food find out it was definately not worth the wait due to its poor quality and send it back, frustrating Samy and Amy. Tensions reach a breaking point when a diner confronts Samy and claims that he and his friend have been waiting for a pizza for over an hour, causing Samy to scream and curse at the two and demand that they leave, but not before insisting that they pay for the pizza (since it was already in the oven while they were being kicked out) as well as the drinks they received. As Amy threatens to call the police, Samy turns his anger to the diner's friend, and the situation nearly escalates into a fist-fight until one of the cameramen steps in and escorts the diners outside. Amy then berates and insults the other diners in the restaurant before storming back into the kitchen.
Upon arriving, Ramsay is impressed with the restaurant's presentation, as well as the kitchen's cleanliness and organization, though he becomes more wary when Amy notes that she closes the restaurant if either she or Samy is not there (because she cannot find any "quality workers") and also when Samy admits that he was not trained in the restaurant business, his original job being a real estate developer. After the initial discussion, Ramsay prepares to sample the food. While talking with server Miranda, the latter reveals that she and the other servers only work on an hourly wage and do not make tips; Samy instead takes them for himself, which is illegal. Samy justifies this by saying that he does most of the front-of-house work (even though he doesn't do it properly) then takes Ramsay's order.
Though he was impressed with one of the desserts he tried earlier during the meeting with the couple, he has a rather negative response to the other menu items: the fig and pear prosciutto pizza was very sweet and the dough was raw; the blue ribbon burger was not medium rare as requested, had a combination of condiments that Ramsay found bizarre, and the bun was dripping with grease; the red pepper ravioli exhibited a combination of sweet and spicy flavours that Ramsay found confusing and he learns from Samy that it was made with mass-produced frozen ravioli even though the menu advertises it as being freshly made; and the salmon burger was overcooked and the presentation of it was unappealing.
Later during dinner service, Ramsay criticizes Amy and Samy for the food he was served during lunch as well as the fact that they use frozen ravioli instead of making it from scratch, though Amy denies any wrongdoing because Samy doesn't tell her about the problems with the food (as he knows she doesn't take criticism very well). After announcing to the diners that ravioli is off the menu, Amy retaliates by saying that the diners can only have cakes for their meals. Throughout the night, diners are seen complaining about the long waiting times, and those who receive their food send it back. At one point, Amy accidentally gives Miranda the wrong table number, and later accuses server Katy of "having an attitude problem" when she asked Amy "are you sure" while trying to confirm the table number for a plate of food. In the dining room, Ramsay witnesses Samy taking a $10 tip intended for the servers, though Samy again defends this. Ramsay then informs the diner who left the tip about what Samy does, and the diner responds "That's horrible". Samy and Ramsay then get into a heated, profanity-laced arguement during which Samy utters the infamous phrase "I'm the gangster not you". Eventually, Amy closes the restaurant and fires Katy on the spot. Despite Samy attempting to change Amy's mind, Katy announces that she is quitting and leaves the premises in tears, while Amy describes her as a "poisonous little viper".
The next day, Ramsay returns to the restaurant, only to find it closed. He takes this opportunity to talk to Henry and Jessica, two former employees who describe the horrible working conditions at the restaurant: Henry claims that Samy made him wash his car on one occasion and Jessica says that at least 50 people were hired and fired over a period of 18 months, the length of time she worked at the restaurant. Ramsay is eventually able to talk to Samy and Amy and tries to get them to understand that what they are doing is wrong, but Amy once again shows that she will not take any form of criticism and responds to Ramsay by loudly arguing with him and becoming increasingly hostile and aggressive. Samy also reveals that they had actually fired over 100 employees during the 18 month period, not 50.
Exasperated, Ramsay realizes that they are not open to making any changes to how they run their business and, after giving them a dressing down about how he cannot help owners who won't listen to him, leaves the restaurant. As the camera crew remove their equipment, Ramsay states in a concluding monologue that it's the first time he's met two restaurant owners who he could not help, and cites the fact that they have gone through 100 staff members, infuriated the local community with their behaviour and business practices, and believes that they would not have adhered to any changes implemented to improve the restaurant regardless.
| Kitchen Nightmares US - Restaurants | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | Peter's • Dillon's • The Mixing Bowl • Seascape • The Olde Stone Mill • Sebastian's • Finn McCool's • Lela's • Campania • The Secret Garden |
| Season 2 | Handlebar • Giuseppi's • Trobiano's • Black Pearl • J Willy's • Hannah & Mason's • Jack's Waterfront • Sabatiello's • Fiesta Sunrise • Sante La Brea • Cafe 36 |
| Season 3 | Hot Potato Cafe • Flamangos • Bazzini • Mojito • Lido di Manhattan • Le Bistro • Casa Roma • Mama Rita's • Anna Vincenzo's • Fleming • Sushi-Ko |
| Season 4 | Spanish Pavilion • Classic American • PJ's Steakhouse • Grasshopper Also • Davide • Down City • Tavolini • Kingston Cafe • La Frite • Capri • Zeke's • Oceana |
| Season 5 | Blackberry's • Leone's • Mike & Nellie's • Luigi's D'Italia • Burger Kitchen • The Greek at the Harbor • Michon's • El Greco • Park's Edge • Spin-A-Yarn Steakhouse • Charlie's • Cafe Hon • Chiarella's • Zocalo |
| Season 6 | La Galleria 33 • Mama Maria's • Ms. Jean's Southern Cuisine • Barefoot Bob's • Olde Hitching Post Restaurant & Tavern • Levanti's Italian Restaurant • Sam's Mediterranean Kabob Room • Nino's Italian Restaurant • Mill Street Bistro • Yanni's • Prohibition Grille • Chappy's • Amy's Baking Company |
| Season 7 | Pantaleone's • Old Neighborhood • Kati Allo • Mangia Mangia • Zayna Flaming Grill • Bella Luna |
| Misc | Revisited |
Source: https://kitchennightmares.fandom.com/wiki/Amy%27s_Baking_Company