Kitchen Nightmares Finale 2013

[gtr]

Okay, it's a guilty pleasure. And I never see the topic come up here,
so that says good things about rfc.

Last night the season finale took place at Amy's Baking Company in
Scottsdal and it was the most astounding thing I've ever seen on one of
this "restaurant saving" programs. Ramsey actually gave up and left. He
says it's the first time he has given up in 200 such ventures.

It is absolutely fascinating to see if you get the chance.

One seminal element of the show is Amy & Husband's feuding with Yelpers
about their reviews. So I wen to Yelp and ran it down. The first
couple of hundred seem to relate more to the Ramsey show. But the
first few hundred (from a few years ago), are fascinating.

http://tinyurl.com/d8vsc4v

Apparently if you gave a bad review to what appears to be an INSANELY
bad restaurant, the paranoid nuts that run the place
responded--repeatedly--to your review, calling you a liar, demanding to
see the receipt to prove you were actually there. All kinds of funny
stuff.

I must say that after seeing the show and going to bed last night I
felt kind of disturbed by the thing. And when I woke up I was having a
dream about the place, also rather disturbing. You wouldn't think
restaurant reviews and restaurateurs would be that scary.

They are!

[Chemo]

Watched it and both husband and wife need counseling. She's totally
dillusional.

[ImStillMags]

On May 11, 9:11 am, gtr <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote:

I never fault anyone for their guilty pleasures.

I've never watched Kitchen Nightmares for the same reason I don't
watch Hell's Kitchen......I don't do well with all the angst and anger
and fear, and the stuff that goes on with restauarnt owners makes my
skin crawl. I don't understand how people can need that much help,
seek it, agree for the show t come in knowing it will upset their
apple cart and then have a hissy fit about the changes.

Plus Ramsey is pretty obnoxious ....on purpose for the camera.....and
I find him off putting.

Some find it entertaining....I find it disturbing. So I don't watch.

[gtr]

On 2013-05-11 17:15:03 +0000, ImStillMags said:

> On May 11, 9:11 am, gtr <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote:
>
> I never fault anyone for their guilty pleasures.
>
> I've never watched Kitchen Nightmares for the same reason I don't
> watch Hell's Kitchen......I don't do well with all the angst and anger
> and fear, and the stuff that goes on with restauarnt owners makes my
> skin crawl. I don't understand how people can need that much help,
> seek it, agree for the show t come in knowing it will upset their
> apple cart and then have a hissy fit about the changes.

It is surprising that folks can be so deluded. They "need help", they
ask for it, someone arrives and looks in the walk-in and says:
"Everything here is rotting!" The owners didn't consider that while
trying to understand their businesses problems? It's really nutt. But
entertaining for a while.

It HAS become a bit formulaic though. It didn't use to be so in the
original BBC show. There seemed to be a broader diversity of problems
and solutions. Not so much in recent years.

> Plus Ramsey is pretty obnoxious ....on purpose for the camera.....and
> I find him off putting.
>
> Some find it entertaining....I find it disturbing. So I don't watch.

Commendable. We watched Hell's Kitchen for a season or two but frankly
it is disturbing in that they fetch incompetents and then winnow them
don't to the least incompetent of the lot for a prestigious job
somewhere they couldn't possibly hold for long. Like all reality shows
its about watching "real people" which has its fascinations, in very
"unreal circumstances", which is problematic.

[notbob]

On 2013-05-11, gtr <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote:

> It HAS become a bit formulaic though. It didn't use to be so in the
> original BBC show. There seemed to be a broader diversity of problems
> and solutions. Not so much in recent years.

OTOH, Ramsey seems to have had more success with US restos. I recall
a website that went back and looked at the UK restos and the majority
went back to the same bad practices almost before Gordon could get out
the door, and therefor failed miserably. US restos seem to take his
advice and run with it, successfully. Also, I think Gordon has calmed
down quite a bit since his early UK shows. Not so much berating,
screaming, and cursing, which I think is remarkable considering how
totally arrogant most Americans really are. I think some of these
jokers deserve way more a tongue lashing that Gordon delivers.

nb

[sf]

Kitchen Nightmares is not appointment television for me, so you know
it was a bad TV night if I found it.

What a kooky couple! He must be rich because normal people would be
long out of business with their poor attitude and service. It also
seems like the negative back & forth on Yelp has gone on long enough
that Yelpers would be prepared with "evidence" if their true purpose
was to inform instead of inflame.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila

[Ed Pawlowski]

On 11 May 2013 18:03:45 GMT, notbob <not...@nothome.com> wrote:



>OTOH, Ramsey seems to have had more success with US restos. I recall
>a website that went back and looked at the UK restos and the majority
>went back to the same bad practices almost before Gordon could get out
>the door, and therefor failed miserably. US restos seem to take his
>advice and run with it, successfully. Also, I think Gordon has calmed
>down quite a bit since his early UK shows. Not so much berating,
>screaming, and cursing, which I think is remarkable considering how
>totally arrogant most Americans really are. I think some of these
>jokers deserve way more a tongue lashing that Gordon delivers.
>
>nb

Some don't deserve to be in business at all. Do you really need to
call in a consultant to tell you to toss the rotted food? To clean
the filth? Fire an incompetent cook or water?

No one is an expert in everything so a consultant can be of help with
costing, portion control, bar tending/serving, advertising and
promotion. Cleaning the kitchen should be easy enough to figure out.

[Chemo]

water?

[graham]

"gtr" <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote in message news:201305110911028776-xxx@yyyzzz...

This one was more interesting than usual in that the Faux formula broke down
a bit.
Usually you have an owner who resists all change until the last 10 minutes
when he/she suddenly sees the light and swoons over GR. All accompanied by
dramatic music and time wasted by previews just before a commercial break
and recaps after.
Graham

[ImStillMags]

On May 11, 12:26 pm, "graham" <g.ste...@shaw.ca> wrote:
\

>
> This one was more interesting than usual in that the Faux formula broke down
> a bit.
> Usually you have an owner who resists all change until the last 10 minutes
> when he/she suddenly sees the light and swoons over GR.  All accompanied by
> dramatic music and time wasted by previews just before a commercial break
> and recaps after.
> Graham

yeah, formulaic.....that's the word I was looking for......it's
reality tv, formulaic and boring after the fits couple of time you see
it.

[Dave Smith]

On 11/05/2013 2:50 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

>
> Some don't deserve to be in business at all. Do you really need to
> call in a consultant to tell you to toss the rotted food? To clean
> the filth? Fire an incompetent cook or water?
>
> No one is an expert in everything so a consultant can be of help with
> costing, portion control, bar tending/serving, advertising and
> promotion. Cleaning the kitchen should be easy enough to figure out.
>

I hate "reality" shows and IMO shows like this are nothing more than a
staged "reality".

[Mark Thorson]

Chemo wrote:
>
> On May 11, 11:50 am, Ed Pawlowski <e...@snet.net> wrote:
> >
> > Some don't deserve to be in business at all. Do you really need to
> > call in a consultant to tell you to toss the rotted food? To clean
> > the filth? Fire an incompetent cook or water?
>

> water?

Heck, I'd fire the air.

[Cheryl]

On 5/11/2013 12:11 PM, gtr wrote:

> Okay, it's a guilty pleasure. And I never see the topic come up here,
> so that says good things about rfc.
>
> Last night the season finale took place at Amy's Baking Company in
> Scottsdal and it was the most astounding thing I've ever seen on one of
> this "restaurant saving" programs. Ramsey actually gave up and left. He
> says it's the first time he has given up in 200 such ventures.
>
> It is absolutely fascinating to see if you get the chance.


>

You sold me. I just started watching it on-demand.


--
CAPSLOCK�Preventing Login Since 1980.

[Julie Bove]

"gtr" <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote in message news:201305110911028776-xxx@yyyzzz...

Was this the British or American version? I love that show but never know
when it's on. Mostly I seem to catch the reruns on the British channel.

Some people can be very hard headed. They might need to change but they
won't. Nor will they listen to anyone.

[Julie Bove]

"notbob" <not...@nothome.com> wrote in message
news:slrnkot1v5...@nbleet.hcc.net...

Americans are arrogant? How so?

[Julie Bove]

Somewhere there is a loose "i" running around.

[Julie Bove]

Used to be a pizza place in Lynnwood in the 80's. Didn't last too long.
The owner had a reputation of yelling at people, especially if they ordered
the "white" pizza. He would tell them that it was terrible and they
wouldn't like it! Now why he put it on the menu is beyond me. At that
point in time, there was no other place around here that offered it.

My husband (we weren't married then) and I went in to see just how bad he
was. And indeed he did yell at people a lot. I had intended to try to
order the white pizza just to see what happened, but then when I saw the
cheese pizza available by the slice (again something uncommon here in those
years), just ordered that. My husband asked him if he could do Strombli?
All of a suddent the owner got very nice and struck up a long conversation
with him. Again, back then Stromboli was unheard of here and I don't know
know if it can be had here although some places do Calzones now. The owner
was so pleased that my husband had not only heard of Stromboli but that his
female relatives made it at home.

So while we did witness his very bad and seemingly uncalled for bad
attitude, he was very nice to us.

[Julie Bove]

Oooh! Gonna go look for it now!

[Ed Pawlowski]

Watch it. The lady is a real nut case. The husband takes the tips
and she fires people every week.

My guess: Now that this has hit the air, they will have a slight
surge in business from curiosity seekers, then it will shut down.

[Ed Pawlowski]

On Sat, 11 May 2013 23:05:24 -0700, "Julie Bove"
<juli...@frontier.com> wrote:



>
>Was this the British or American version? I love that show but never know
>when it's on. Mostly I seem to catch the reruns on the British channel.
>
>Some people can be very hard headed. They might need to change but they
>won't. Nor will they listen to anyone.
>

American version on Fox

[sf]

On Sat, 11 May 2013 23:23:23 -0700, "Julie Bove"
<juli...@frontier.com> wrote:

>
> Used to be a pizza place in Lynnwood in the 80's. Didn't last too long.
> The owner had a reputation of yelling at people, especially if they ordered
> the "white" pizza. He would tell them that it was terrible and they
> wouldn't like it! Now why he put it on the menu is beyond me. At that
> point in time, there was no other place around here that offered it.
>
> My husband (we weren't married then) and I went in to see just how bad he
> was. And indeed he did yell at people a lot. I had intended to try to
> order the white pizza just to see what happened,

It sounds like he was a Seinfeld fan and was emulating the Soup Nazi.

> but then when I saw the
> cheese pizza available by the slice (again something uncommon here in those
> years), just ordered that. My husband asked him if he could do Strombli?
> All of a suddent the owner got very nice and struck up a long conversation
> with him. Again, back then Stromboli was unheard of here and I don't know
> know if it can be had here although some places do Calzones now. The owner
> was so pleased that my husband had not only heard of Stromboli but that his
> female relatives made it at home.
>
> So while we did witness his very bad and seemingly uncalled for bad
> attitude, he was very nice to us.

It was probably before whatever the name of the movie was that
featured stromboli (20 or so years ago - not the earlier one titled
Stromboli). That's the first time I'd ever heard of it and I don't
think I've actually seen it on a menu yet. I'm afraid to make it at
home, mainly because I just can't see the inside baking properly - but
also, it just doesn't sound very good to me. I don't order meat pizza
and meat bread is more of the same only ickier. I do like calzones
and used to make them to put in kids lunch boxes every time I made
pizza, but mine are mainly ricotta and spinach, with a nod to meat
(but not in my calzone).

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

[Ophelia]

"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:6d9vo8luqcguvt39u...@4ax.com...

> It was probably before whatever the name of the movie was that
> featured stromboli (20 or so years ago - not the earlier one titled
> Stromboli). That's the first time I'd ever heard of it and I don't
> think I've actually seen it on a menu yet. I'm afraid to make it at
> home, mainly because I just can't see the inside baking properly - but
> also, it just doesn't sound very good to me. I don't order meat pizza
> and meat bread is more of the same only ickier. I do like calzones
> and used to make them to put in kids lunch boxes every time I made
> pizza, but mine are mainly ricotta and spinach, with a nod to meat
> (but not in my calzone).

What do you mean by 'meat bread'?

--
--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

[sf]

I was just thinking that Kalmia should take one for the team, go there
and report back. I'm curious now. How can they be so crowded if they
are really that bad?

[sf]

Think how cinnamon bread starts off flat, you sprinkle on cinnamon
sugar and roll it up... stromboli is the same method only wetter. I
just don't see how the inside of the bread will cook properly when
it's rolled up with tomato sauce and all those other fillings.
<http://www.laurenslatest.com/how-to-make-stromboli/>
I'm not going to waste my money on it "testing" and I'm not going to
waste my time on it "trying".

[Ophelia]

"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message

news:ogbvo8paudeu67qik...@4ax.com...

No, don't blame you. So, is 'meat bread' another way of describing
'stromboli'?

>

--
--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

[sf]

On Sun, 12 May 2013 16:17:08 +0100, "Ophelia"
<Oph...@elsinore.me.ku.invalid> wrote:

> No, don't blame you. So, is 'meat bread' another way of describing
> 'stromboli'?

No. It's *my* way of describing it.

[Ophelia]

"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message

news:8sevo819qt0fakp1r...@4ax.com...

> On Sun, 12 May 2013 16:17:08 +0100, "Ophelia"
> <Oph...@elsinore.me.ku.invalid> wrote:
>
>> No, don't blame you. So, is 'meat bread' another way of describing
>> 'stromboli'?
>
> No. It's *my* way of describing it.

lol no problem. Just so long as I know what it means:)
--
--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

[Nancy Young]

On 5/12/2013 11:03 AM, sf wrote:

> <http://www.laurenslatest.com/how-to-make-stromboli/>
> I'm not going to waste my money on it "testing" and I'm not going to
> waste my time on it "trying".

Stromboli is super easy to make, and delicious, but I'm sure
no one intends to force you to try it.

nancy

[graham]

"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message

news:n3avo8l4l4oprfnf0...@4ax.com...

They take so long to serve up that the tables fill with unsuspecting
patrons.
Graham

[jmcquown]

Yep, I seem to recall Stromboli is what you take when tail-gating at
football games (in season). You've said it's super easy. I may have to
try making it sometime. :)

Jill

[Mark Thorson]

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> Watch it. The lady is a real nut case. The husband takes the tips
> and she fires people every week.
>
> My guess: Now that this has hit the air, they will have a slight
> surge in business from curiosity seekers, then it will shut down.

How long is it between filming the show
and airing it? I'd guess they might be
closed already.

[Julie Bove]

"Ed Pawlowski" <e...@snet.net> wrote in message
news:tv0vo8lblvvndlqcg...@4ax.com...

Yeah. Her eyes looked crazy!

[Julie Bove]

"Ed Pawlowski" <e...@snet.net> wrote in message

news:761vo8h6mftoke3aj...@4ax.com...

Thanks! I realized it was a stupid question after I saw that the place was
in AZ.

[Julie Bove]

"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message

news:6d9vo8luqcguvt39u...@4ax.com...

> On Sat, 11 May 2013 23:23:23 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> <juli...@frontier.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Used to be a pizza place in Lynnwood in the 80's. Didn't last too long.
>> The owner had a reputation of yelling at people, especially if they
>> ordered
>> the "white" pizza. He would tell them that it was terrible and they
>> wouldn't like it! Now why he put it on the menu is beyond me. At that
>> point in time, there was no other place around here that offered it.
>>
>> My husband (we weren't married then) and I went in to see just how bad he
>> was. And indeed he did yell at people a lot. I had intended to try to
>> order the white pizza just to see what happened,
>
> It sounds like he was a Seinfeld fan and was emulating the Soup Nazi.
>

But I am pretty sure this pre-dates Seinfeld. When was that on? The guy
was from NY though.


I wonder if the "You don't want that!", thing is common in NY. There was a
little mom and pop store near where we lived. I didn't shop there often
because the prices were high, but we were near there and I stopped in to see
if they had anything for dinner. They did have tomatoes and basil so I
asked if they had fresh Mozzarella. They did but it was just one serving.
The guy kept telling me that I didn't want it because it wouldn't be enough
for me. I actually did want it because I only wanted it for me. Husband
and daughter wouldn't eat Caprese.

Yes. This would have been early/mid 80's. Stromboli is dead easy to make
and I've never had it not bake on the inside. Just use regular pizza dough,
rolled pretty thin. Put in the filling, fold it over and bake until it
starts to turn golden on the outside. About 20 minutes.

[Julie Bove]

"Ophelia" <Oph...@elsinore.me.ku.invalid> wrote in message
news:av9nlp...@mid.individual.net...

Not sure what she means. Had a neighbor who made what he called pizza
bread. It was a long, flatish loaf of bread with pizza seasonings and
pepperoni slices baked into it.

[Julie Bove]

"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message

news:n3avo8l4l4oprfnf0...@4ax.com...

From some of what I read online, the desserts are quite good. Perhaps they
should stick to that?

[Nancy Young]

On 5/12/2013 6:02 PM, jmcquown wrote:
> On 5/12/2013 12:03 PM, Nancy Young wrote:

>> Stromboli is super easy to make, and delicious, but I'm sure
>> no one intends to force you to try it.

> Yep, I seem to recall Stromboli is what you take when tail-gating at
> football games (in season). You've said it's super easy. I may have to
> try making it sometime. :)

I really like it on occasion, I don't make it very often. It helps
that I start with store bought pizza dough.

There are also stuffed breads, and I don't know if they're
technically much different. I've bought them with maybe
broccoli and ricotta, sausage, any number of fillings.

They are often served cut crosswise, that's how I like to
have it.

nancy

[Julie Bove]

"Nancy Young" <rjynly...@vverizon.net> wrote in message
news:519025c8$0$58755$862e...@ngroups.net...

My MIL always used store bought dough. It's very common in PA and I'm not
talking about the stuff in the can. Only fairly recently could you get it
here. And I am wishing I had it now. I got some kind of a boxed mix,
something gourmet-like that I am going to go make pretty soon here. Got it
at Wights. That's actually a nursery but they sell a lot of Christmas stuff
during the season and they also sell a lot of gift type items.

[gtr]

On 2013-05-12 12:01:55 +0000, Ed Pawlowski said:

> Watch it. The lady is a real nut case. The husband takes the tips
> and she fires people every week.

Another big bonus he yells, threatens and pushes a customer who after
waiting an hour or so for his pizza his complaining. Then said
customer and friend attempt to leave. The owner tries to block his
exit, demanding payment for the pizza that was never received. As they
exit the Amy, the chef is calling them pansy's or some such slur.

> My guess: Now that this has hit the air, they will have a slight
> surge in business from curiosity seekers, then it will shut down.

Check them on yelp. The last few HUNDRED of the reviews are of people
who have never been there but are incensed about one thing or other
that they saw on the show. Another group is people who've been there
but never wrote a review and figure it's time to pile on.

sf asks:

> How can they be so crowded if they are really that bad?

Gordon lauds her desserts in the program. Apparently she does one thing well.

A number of the Yelp reviews, pre-Gordon, indicate the place is empty,
or that they are only one of two couple or some such.

[Andrew Tillinghast]

Still open. Read their facebook page. they are still screaming and
crying!The comments are hilarious.
https://www.facebook.com/amysbakingco?fref=ts

[sf]

On Wed, 15 May 2013 14:31:30 -0700, gtr <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote:

> sf asks:
>
> > How can they be so crowded if they are really that bad?
>
> Gordon lauds her desserts in the program. Apparently she does one thing well.

I heard that too, but it didn't explain why they were so crowded when
they were supposedly so bad.

>
> A number of the Yelp reviews, pre-Gordon, indicate the place is empty,
> or that they are only one of two couple or some such.

Aha. Okay, that is more realistic.

Thanks!

[sf]

I read their FB page, but it was dumb... filled with troll posts and
other incomprehensible yelling - nothing seems real. It's more like a
fake FB page with fake posts.

[gtr]

On 2013-05-11 20:23:46 +0000, Dave Smith said:

> On 11/05/2013 2:50 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
>> No one is an expert in everything so a consultant can be of help with
>> costing, portion control, bar tending/serving, advertising and
>> promotion. Cleaning the kitchen should be easy enough to figure out.
>
> I hate "reality" shows and IMO shows like this are nothing more than a
> staged "reality".

Technically the news, a cooking show, 60 minutes, a football game,
sitcoms and Broadway musicals: All are "staged realities". I don't care
for them, but I'm human and the lurid has its way of beckoning.
Fortunately it's ability to do this wanes.

I just got through reading "Believing is Seeing" be Errol Morris we
generally deals with realites and their stagings; how we came to
images with our own beliefs and confer them on the images. The most
fascinating read I've had in many years.

[gtr]

On 2013-05-16 04:28:37 +0000, sf said:

> On Wed, 15 May 2013 14:31:30 -0700, gtr <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote:
>
>> sf asks:
>>
>>> How can they be so crowded if they are really that bad?
>>
>> Gordon lauds her desserts in the program. Apparently she does one thing well.
>
> I heard that too, but it didn't explain why they were so crowded when
> they were supposedly so bad.

Oh you mean during the taping? Word gets out when Ramsey is in town and
completely dead places come to life very rapidly, if only so they can
participate in the "before" portion of the program.

[gtr]

For fun reading, check here:

<http://www.yelp.ca/biz/amys-baking-company-scottsdale#query:amys%20bakery>

[Nancy Young]

On 5/16/2013 12:30 AM, sf wrote:

> I read their FB page, but it was dumb... filled with troll posts and
> other incomprehensible yelling - nothing seems real. It's more like a
> fake FB page with fake posts.

I finally saw some of the footage (on The Chew, maybe). Wow, they
were off the wall, to put it nicely. Afterwards one of them (I can
guess which one) posted a diatribe, then recanted the next day saying
they were hacked.

Whatever the truth, they came across as totally ridiculous on that
show, just from the bit I've seen.

nancy

[jmcquown]

Interesting video portions of the show. These people are ridiculous.

http://www.extratv.com/2013/05/15/kitchen-nightmares-amys-baking-co-blames-facebook-posts-on-hackers/

Jill

[Kalmia]

On Tripadvisor, it is ranked 628 out of 764 restos in Scottsdale reviewed. The 'terrible' raters are a scream to read. The ones who gave it an 'excellent' are probably relatives : ))

How has the place survived so long? Wish I had seen the show - had to be a riot.

[jmcquown]

On 5/16/2013 10:52 AM, Kalmia wrote:
>
> On Tripadvisor, it is ranked 628 out of 764 restos in Scottsdale reviewed. The 'terrible' raters are a scream to read. The ones who gave it an 'excellent' are probably relatives : ))
>
> How has the place survived so long? Wish I had seen the show - had to be a riot.
>

I didn't see the show when it aired but you can see parts of it here:

http://www.extratv.com/2013/05/15/kitchen-nightmares-amys-baking-co-blames-facebook-posts-on-hackers/


Even before Chef Ramsay got there, the cameras were in place. They
caught the guy screaming at customers. Both of them were having hissy
fits. The guy says they invited Ramsay there to "tell people" [who had
been posting negative reviews (two years! before Ramsay got there) "how
good the food is". Um, that's not why he went there. He doesn't go to
restaurants like this to sing their praises; it's not what the show is
about. They're obviously delusional. It's pretty funny if you like
watching a train wreck. :)

BTW, the guy admitted he doesn't give servers their tips (if on a credit
card) saying, "I pay them hourly wage." Yeah, maybe the hourly wage for
employees wherever he's from (sounds like a country in a former Soviet
Union) is sufficient to live on. In Scottsdale, Arizona? Not friggin
likely.

Ramsay made a point of handing his server *cash* right in front of them,
saying, "You deserve this."

Jill

[jmcquown]

BTW, these people certainly don't talk or act like they're the
"religious" people they purported to be. Of course were "hacked"...
yeah, right. Got the FBI right on it! LOLOL Watch the video, fools,
then look in the mirror. No one else would have posted those replies.
Makes for interesting reading and viewing.

Jill

[Nanzi]

Ditto. Not very scintillating comment, but you nailed it ImStillMags.

[jmcquown]

On 5/16/2013 11:59 AM, Nanzi wrote:
> Ditto. Not very scintillating comment, but you nailed it ImStillMags.
>

Would have been nice if you'd quoted:

"Plus Ramsey is pretty obnoxious ....on purpose for the camera.....and
I find him off putting.

Some find it entertaining....I find it disturbing. So I don't watch."

Well, I'm enjoying watching the train wreck. Ramsay is much more
subdued these days. It was the owners who were nuts even before he got
there.

Watch the video of them ordering customers out of the restaurant if they
didn't like the food. That was before he even arrived. Then look at
the burger he tasted when he arrived to critique the food.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6LY7TJ16pg&feature=player_embedded#!

Ramsay was able to squeeze the hamburger out like a sponge; it was
dripping with grease. Ugh! Yet they insist their food is stellar.

At least the kitchen was clean. Ramsay was amazed by that. :)

Jill

[gtr]

On 2013-05-16 15:29:36 +0000, jmcquown said:

> BTW, these people certainly don't talk or act like they're the
> "religious" people they purported to be.

Welcome to modern religion.

[Ema Nymton]

On 5/16/2013 8:56 AM, jmcquown wrote:

> Interesting video portions of the show. These people are ridiculous.
>
> http://www.extratv.com/2013/05/15/kitchen-nightmares-amys-baking-co-blames-facebook-posts-on-hackers/
>
>
> Jill

They are husband and wife? I saw this on television and I thought she
was his daughter or granddaughter. I do not watch Kitchen Nightmares, so
I missed this.

Becca

[notbob]

On 2013-05-16, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net> wrote:

> At least the kitchen was clean. Ramsay was amazed by that. :)

One has to wonder about the desserts, too. She sez she make's 'em,
but dense rich desserts like that can be purchased and stored for
quite some time in a cool case and remain excellent. Considering her
monster ego and unrelenting arrogance, I'm doubtful.

The clincher was:

"You no longer work here"

"Don't walk away from me when I speak to you"

I'm amazed this witch has not been laid out cold, before.

nb

[Nancy Young]

On 5/16/2013 11:29 AM, jmcquown wrote:

> BTW, these people certainly don't talk or act like they're the
> "religious" people they purported to be. Of course were "hacked"...
> yeah, right. Got the FBI right on it! LOLOL Watch the video, fools,
> then look in the mirror. No one else would have posted those replies.
> Makes for interesting reading and viewing.

Wishing hurt on someone? Yes, that's WJWD. I checked out that
link you posted. Holy Crow, I don't know who's more off the wall.
The husband who thinks he can use the computer better than the
waitresses (hahahahaha!!!! hunt and peck) or the lady who thinks
waiting an hour for each dish is normal restaurant service.

And the instant someone pops out that word Haters, I am done
with them.

nancy

[Julie Bove]

Yes. Husband and wife. I suspect that she is older than she looks.

[sf]

Thanks, but I read it before I found their FB page.

[sf]

On Thu, 16 May 2013 12:57:58 -0700, "Julie Bove"
<juli...@frontier.com> wrote:

> Yes. Husband and wife. I suspect that she is older than she looks.
>

I suspect she's a younger "trophy" wife and the restaurant is kept
afloat by whatever money he has.

[jmcquown]

On 5/16/2013 4:17 PM, sf wrote:
> On Thu, 16 May 2013 12:57:58 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> <juli...@frontier.com> wrote:
>
>> Yes. Husband and wife. I suspect that she is older than she looks.
>>
> I suspect she's a younger "trophy" wife and the restaurant is kept
> afloat by whatever money he has.
>

I think so, too. She mentioned he spent over a million bucks to open
her "dream restaurant". There's some mention of him having been a
"playboy" (ha!) in Las Vegas with a string of women before she got ahold
of him.

Jill

[jmcquown]

On 5/16/2013 1:53 PM, notbob wrote:
> On 2013-05-16, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> At least the kitchen was clean. Ramsay was amazed by that. :)
>
> One has to wonder about the desserts, too. She sez she make's 'em,
> but dense rich desserts like that can be purchased and stored for
> quite some time in a cool case and remain excellent. Considering her
> monster ego and unrelenting arrogance, I'm doubtful.
>

Good point. I sure didn't see her doing any baking in the videos I
looked at, did you? Well, except for the crappy pizza.

> The clincher was:
>
> "You no longer work here"
>
> "Don't walk away from me when I speak to you"
>
> I'm amazed this witch has not been laid out cold, before.
>
> nb
>

I have no doubt if they remain in business and continue to treat
customers and employees like that, it will happen.

Jill

[sf]

On Thu, 16 May 2013 17:46:58 -0400, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net>
wrote:

Money can buy a certain kind of "love". :)

[Julie Bove]

"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:nlfap81pht679jjli...@4ax.com...

> On Thu, 16 May 2013 12:57:58 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> <juli...@frontier.com> wrote:
>
>> Yes. Husband and wife. I suspect that she is older than she looks.
>>
> I suspect she's a younger "trophy" wife and the restaurant is kept
> afloat by whatever money he has.

Could be. I'm not a good judge of age.

One of my aunts had a store for a while. Didn't make her any money but gave
her something to do. She was wealthy so didn't need any income that it
might have generated.

[Nancy Young]

On 5/16/2013 5:52 PM, jmcquown wrote:
> On 5/16/2013 1:53 PM, notbob wrote:

>> One has to wonder about the desserts, too. She sez she make's 'em,
>> but dense rich desserts like that can be purchased and stored for
>> quite some time in a cool case and remain excellent. Considering her
>> monster ego and unrelenting arrogance, I'm doubtful.
>>
> Good point. I sure didn't see her doing any baking in the videos I
> looked at, did you? Well, except for the crappy pizza.

It struck me that it takes her forever to put out a plate of
food, and those pastries all looked very time consuming to make.
Also, her food didn't look attractive like someone accustomed to
making pretty desserts. I would think some sense of aesthetics
would be apparent.

Who knows.

nancy

[sf]

On Thu, 16 May 2013 14:56:32 -0700, "Julie Bove"
<juli...@frontier.com> wrote:
>
>
> One of my aunts had a store for a while. Didn't make her any money but gave
> her something to do. She was wealthy so didn't need any income that it
> might have generated.
>

She probably had a reason. In the city, you see lots of stores that
aren't doing much business but manage to stay open way beyond the time
normal people would have thrown in the towel. There are two reasons
for that, either they're a way to launder money or some old goat is
making work for his mistress and he's using it as a write off. Your
aunt's store was probably a way she supported her hobby and she could
travel under the guise of buying for the store. Everything she bought
was for sale so it was legal and she could write off all her expenses,
which included travel and rent.

[Julie Bove]

"Nancy Young" <rjynly...@vverizon.net> wrote in message
news:5195576b$0$39902$862e...@ngroups.net...

I used to bake a lot of stuff and take it to work. Once day someone said to
me, "I know you can bake. But can you cook?" I always assumed that the two
went hand in hand. Apparently not. I have seen countless chefs on TV say
that they didn't bake. And although I don't bake much any more (mainly
because we don't eat much of that stuff), I still can do it.

Of the two, I would have to say that cooking is usually easier. Unless
perhaps it is certain kinds of candies. I have made many kinds of candies
over the years and the one that always stumped me was taffy. Mine always
comes out too hard even though I am careful to do the water test and check
the candy thermometer. I have made it in school and it was fine. Made it
at other people's houses and it was fine. But make it at home? I wind up
with a hard candy and I am talking the break your tooth kind of hard. But I
do think that candy making and baking are more of a science than most
cooking is. Although I guess it all is sort of a science.

I am always astounded when I get truly horrible food at a restaurant.

When we first moved here, there was a Mexican restaurant. It's no longer
there. Was two different Indian places after that and now an Italian place.
I just think that building is doomed. All of those places have gotten
horrible reviews. Even the Italian one! The owner of that has another
location in Everett and it has gotten excellent reviews. But at the Mexican
place, the nice man who seated us pointed out to us many times how we were
getting such a good deal because the portions were huge! And huge is
generally not what I am looking for in restaurant portions.

I started by ordering a dinner salad. He tried to talk me out of it by
saying that it was only a plain salad. And it all went downhill from there.
That salad, pathetic as it was, was the only edible thing on our table. The
chips were greasy, limp and stale. The salsa was like red water. Nothing
else seemed to have any seasonings whatever. My dad, daughter and I had
dined there. My mom was sick or injured or something and my husband was at
work. As soon as we could flag the waiter down, we got the bill, drove
straight to Burger Master for some good food and took it back to my house to
eat it. That place closed soon after. But being new to the area and not
even having my Internet up and running yet, we had no clue which places were
good and which weren't.

It also amazes me when restaurants that I consider to be truly bad are still
in business years later. There is another Mexican place that has locations
in several different cities. I tried two of the locations and each time got
the same bad food. Literally the only thing they serve that has any flavor
at all is the beans. But they have a very bad flavor! Now that I have
tried Epazote, I am wondering if perhaps it is that? Perhaps they put a lot
of that in there? I just don't know. I only used a pinch in my beans both
times that I tried it after reading cautions online not to use too much.

But the food was really, truly bad. Old looking meat with bad texture.
Flavorless sauces. Stale chips. Stale taco shells and yes, they use the
crispy "American" style shells. We all ordered different things and all
disliked the food. My daughter's friend did order a steak and although it
was huge, she said that it wasn't very good. She also had a baked potato
and they had glopped it up so much that she didn't want to eat it. I
personally would not order American food at a Mexican place but this was a
kid. This was several years ago. We tried the newer location by mistake.
I didn't realize that it was in fact the same place until we walked in. I
immediately had a bad feeling about it. Then it was confirmed when our bean
dip was brought to the table. They put diced chicken in it! Who puts
chicken in bean dip? They should have disclosed this on the menu. Totally
ruined it. Nobody would eat the stuff. And when my dad asked for some
hotter salsa, they brought him a bottle of something red and said that they
didn't know what it was. I suspected that it was Sriacchia (sp?). It was
just in a generic, clear squeeze bottle.

All of those locations are still open and all get mostly not only bad
reviews but REALLY bad reviews. But they also get a few rave reviews.
Makes me think those people were shills.

[jmcquown]

On 5/16/2013 2:16 PM, Nancy Young wrote:
> On 5/16/2013 11:29 AM, jmcquown wrote:
>
>> BTW, these people certainly don't talk or act like they're the
>> "religious" people they purported to be. Of course were "hacked"...
>> yeah, right. Got the FBI right on it! LOLOL Watch the video, fools,
>> then look in the mirror. No one else would have posted those replies.
>> Makes for interesting reading and viewing.
>
> Wishing hurt on someone? Yes, that's WJWD.

I'll bet they even have that little fish symbol on the back of their
cars. Speaking of cars, Ramsay spoke to some former employees. One of
the bussers said he had to wash the guy's car for him!

> I checked out that
> link you posted. Holy Crow, I don't know who's more off the wall.
> The husband who thinks he can use the computer better than the
> waitresses (hahahahaha!!!! hunt and peck)

I know, right? Not allowed to touch the computer. Then he gets
flustered when a server needs him to pour another glass of wine while
he's entering an order. Because the servers aren't allowed to pour
wine, either.

> or the lady who thinks
> waiting an hour for each dish is normal restaurant service.
>

She only handles one ticket at a time! That's ridiculous. There are
some jobs where you simply *have* to be able to multi-task. Being a
chef is definitely one of them.

I'd like to see her try to last a single day as a short-order cook.
(I'm thinking Waffle House, around 7:30AM.) Oh, sorry, I can only cook
one order at a time. They'd laugh her right out the door.

> And the instant someone pops out that word Haters, I am done
> with them.
>
> nancy
>

I'm with you there.

Jill

[Ema Nymton]

Sounds like my brother, he has been married 4 times and they were all
young. This one was his secretary, and she is smart enough to never
leave his side. Smart woman.

Becca

[jmcquown]

I'll admit I'm not a baker. But that stuff looked like she'd have to be
up and baking at 3AM. Even if she only had to do it a couple of days a
week, she just didn't strike me as the type. Purely a subjective
opinion, of course.

Jill

[jmcquown]

On 5/16/2013 1:53 PM, notbob wrote:
>

> The clincher was:
>
> "You no longer work here"
>

> nb
>
No, nb. The *real* clincher was when they said, with all seriously,
"You have to clone us". Please don't!

Jill

[sf]

On Thu, 16 May 2013 18:23:20 -0400, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net>
wrote:

> > And the instant someone pops out that word Haters, I am done
> > with them.
> >
> > nancy
> >
> I'm with you there.

I kinda like that word. Saw a funny t-shirt. It said "Haters gonna
hate". Yep, that's what they do best.

[ko...@letscook.com]

On Sat, 11 May 2013 09:11:02 -0700, gtr <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote:

>Okay, it's a guilty pleasure. And I never see the topic come up here,
>so that says good things about rfc.
>
>Last night the season finale took place at Amy's Baking Company in
>Scottsdal and it was the most astounding thing I've ever seen on one of
>this "restaurant saving" programs. Ramsey actually gave up and left. He
>says it's the first time he has given up in 200 such ventures.
>
>It is absolutely fascinating to see if you get the chance.
>
>One seminal element of the show is Amy & Husband's feuding with Yelpers
>about their reviews. So I wen to Yelp and ran it down. The first
>couple of hundred seem to relate more to the Ramsey show. But the
>first few hundred (from a few years ago), are fascinating.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/d8vsc4v
>
>Apparently if you gave a bad review to what appears to be an INSANELY
>bad restaurant, the paranoid nuts that run the place
>responded--repeatedly--to your review, calling you a liar, demanding to
>see the receipt to prove you were actually there. All kinds of funny
>stuff.
>
>I must say that after seeing the show and going to bed last night I
>felt kind of disturbed by the thing. And when I woke up I was having a
>dream about the place, also rather disturbing. You wouldn't think
>restaurant reviews and restaurateurs would be that scary.
>
>They are!

You can't buy this kind of press. They are getting exactly what they
were after, press and attention. It doesn't matter if it's bad or not,
they will do a great business because some people will want to go
check out the new "soup nazi"

koko
--
Food is our common ground, a universal experience
James Beard

www.kokoscornerblog.com

[jmcquown]

On 5/16/2013 6:56 PM, jmcquown wrote:
> On 5/16/2013 1:53 PM, notbob wrote:
>>
>> The clincher was:
>>
>> "You no longer work here"
>>
>> nb
>>
> No, nb. The *real* clincher was when they said, with all seriously

seriousness!

[jmcquown]

On 5/16/2013 7:31 PM, ko...@letscook.com wrote:
> On Sat, 11 May 2013 09:11:02 -0700, gtr <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote:
>
>> Okay, it's a guilty pleasure. And I never see the topic come up here,
>> so that says good things about rfc.
>>
>> Last night the season finale took place at Amy's Baking Company in
>> Scottsdal and it was the most astounding thing I've ever seen on one of
>> this "restaurant saving" programs. Ramsey actually gave up and left. He
>> says it's the first time he has given up in 200 such ventures.
>>

(snipped)

>
> You can't buy this kind of press. They are getting exactly what they
> were after, press and attention. It doesn't matter if it's bad or not,
> they will do a great business because some people will want to go
> check out the new "soup nazi"
>
> koko
> --

That may be true for a while. But at least the "soup nazi" allegedly
served good soup. :)

Jill

[Kalmia]

On Thursday, May 16, 2013 11:11:19 AM UTC-4, jmcquown wrote:
> On 5/16/2013 10:52 AM, Kalmia wrote:
>
> >
>
> > On Tripadvisor, it is ranked 628 out of 764 restos in Scottsdale reviewed. The 'terrible' raters are a scream to read. The ones who gave it an 'excellent' are probably relatives : ))
>
> >
>
> > How has the place survived so long? Wish I had seen the show - had to be a riot.
>
> >
>
> I didn't see the show when it aired but you can see parts of it here:
>
>
>
> http://www.extratv.com/2013/05/15/kitchen-nightmares-amys-baking-co-blames-facebook-posts-on-hackers/
> >

Three minutes told all. What a couple of JERKS.

[gregz]

I just watched the whole thing. Well, they are a failing restaurant. About
it. No one would kick me out of a restaurant without me doing lots of
damage. Was a very nice looking place

Greg

[Julie Bove]

She said it gave her something to do. She made what she called "dinks".
This was just an assortment of artsy craftsy things. It was mostly her
stuff that she was trying to sell. She had a small back room in the shop
and she'd sit back there and make things. Sadly they were the sort of
things that people wanted to buy.

I know that she wouldn't be doing money laundering. She used to have a
cabin and named it PTL. My uncle was in the oil business and did very well
at it. So she never had to work.

[Julie Bove]

jmcquown wrote:
> On 5/16/2013 2:16 PM, Nancy Young wrote:
>> On 5/16/2013 11:29 AM, jmcquown wrote:
>>
>>> BTW, these people certainly don't talk or act like they're the
>>> "religious" people they purported to be. Of course were "hacked"...
>>> yeah, right. Got the FBI right on it! LOLOL Watch the video,
>>> fools, then look in the mirror. No one else would have posted
>>> those replies. Makes for interesting reading and viewing.
>>
>> Wishing hurt on someone? Yes, that's WJWD.
>
> I'll bet they even have that little fish symbol on the back of their
> cars. Speaking of cars, Ramsay spoke to some former employees. One
> of the bussers said he had to wash the guy's car for him!

Where I used to work we had "gofers". No set job for them. Just do what
they were told! But they knew this from the git go. But the rest of us
were also told that we were never to say, "That's not my job!" So some of
us did do an assortment of things like picking up dry cleaning, buying food
for the birthday breakfast, taking money to the bank, going to buy supplies
or checking competitor's prices.

>
>> I checked out that
>> link you posted. Holy Crow, I don't know who's more off the wall.
>> The husband who thinks he can use the computer better than the
>> waitresses (hahahahaha!!!! hunt and peck)
>
> I know, right? Not allowed to touch the computer. Then he gets
> flustered when a server needs him to pour another glass of wine while
> he's entering an order. Because the servers aren't allowed to pour
> wine, either.
>
>> or the lady who thinks
>> waiting an hour for each dish is normal restaurant service.
>>
> She only handles one ticket at a time! That's ridiculous. There are
> some jobs where you simply *have* to be able to multi-task. Being a
> chef is definitely one of them.
>
> I'd like to see her try to last a single day as a short-order cook.
> (I'm thinking Waffle House, around 7:30AM.) Oh, sorry, I can only
> cook one order at a time. They'd laugh her right out the door.

Heck I just made three entirely different meals in my kitchen and I wasn't
frazzled. Granted only one of those meals was cooked. That was Fettucine
Alfredo with chicken. But at the same time I was also washing dishes,
putting away the food that we bought, and prepping some of the veggies for
tomorrow's pot roast!

>
>> And the instant someone pops out that word Haters, I am done
>> with them.
>>
>> nancy
>>
> I'm with you there.

Yep.

[Julie Bove]

sf wrote:
> I kinda like that word. Saw a funny t-shirt. It said "Haters gonna
> hate". Yep, that's what they do best.

It's true that there are some people like that. Sadly, my grandma was one
of them. And for some odd reason, I was one of the few people in the world
that she did not hate. Of course this didn't bode well for me in the eyes
of my cousins. But for the most part that woman hated everyone and
everything!

[Julie Bove]

ko...@letscook.com wrote:
> You can't buy this kind of press. They are getting exactly what they
> were after, press and attention. It doesn't matter if it's bad or not,
> they will do a great business because some people will want to go
> check out the new "soup nazi"

Very true.

I once dined at a place that was featured on the other show with Robert
Irvine. I was astounded that they were on there because the food had been
so very good! Although we dined there many years ago. Apparently the
problem was that somebody died (can't remember who) and the other relatives
were trying to run it but failing. One of the bunch had sort of taken
charge and she came across as very pig headed. Robert did help them but
then the pig headed one just closed the restaurant within weeks after Robert
had been there. So by the time the show aired, people saw it and were
eager to dine there. But no more! There were tons of complains online at
yelp or some place like that from the locals who felt that if the woman had
just given it a chance she would have made money. The place is sort of out
in the middle of nowhere which is what led us to stop there. I was hungry
and there was no place else.

[Julie Bove]

gregz wrote:
> I just watched the whole thing. Well, they are a failing restaurant.
> About it. No one would kick me out of a restaurant without me doing
> lots of damage. Was a very nice looking place

I never actually got kicked out but I was told at a Pizza Hut that I'd have
to leave if I didn't stop dancing. Apparently they had no dance license.
But it was late at night and my friends and I were the only ones in there.

Another time we went to the Vogue in downtown Seattle and I'd been told to
dress appropriately. So I put the burgundy mousse in my hair, donned my
black lace gloves and clothing and jewelry that I didn't normally wear. My
friends were dressed similarly. The Thirteen Coins refused to allow us
entry at 2:00 a.m. Hmph! They are open 24 hours. I just think they
disliked our style of dress and the stench of clove cigarettes that we'd
picked up from the Vogue. Amazingly there was a deli across the street that
was open. They sold us some food to go.

[sf]

On Thu, 16 May 2013 20:42:44 -0700, "Julie Bove"

<juli...@frontier.com> wrote:

> sf wrote:
> > On Thu, 16 May 2013 14:56:32 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> > <juli...@frontier.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> One of my aunts had a store for a while. Didn't make her any money
> >> but gave her something to do. She was wealthy so didn't need any
> >> income that it might have generated.
> >>
> > She probably had a reason. In the city, you see lots of stores that
> > aren't doing much business but manage to stay open way beyond the time
> > normal people would have thrown in the towel. There are two reasons
> > for that, either they're a way to launder money or some old goat is
> > making work for his mistress and he's using it as a write off. Your
> > aunt's store was probably a way she supported her hobby and she could
> > travel under the guise of buying for the store. Everything she bought
> > was for sale so it was legal and she could write off all her expenses,
> > which included travel and rent.
>
> She said it gave her something to do. She made what she called "dinks".
> This was just an assortment of artsy craftsy things. It was mostly her
> stuff that she was trying to sell. She had a small back room in the shop
> and she'd sit back there and make things. Sadly they were the sort of
> things that people wanted to buy.
>
> I know that she wouldn't be doing money laundering.

I didn't say she did/

> She used to have a cabin and named it PTL.

Did you know what PIL meant?

> My uncle was in the oil business and did very well
> at it. So she never had to work.
>

I will absolutely guarantee people in those circumstances don't throw
money away and that her business sheltered their wealth in some way.
I don't expect you to know how or why. I'm just saying that you
should wake up and smell the coffee.

[Julie Bove]

"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message

news:4cibp8l23kgnu2ine...@4ax.com...

PTL. Yes. Praise the Lord! She didn't used to be the religous type but
she got that way at some point. To the extreme!

>
>> My uncle was in the oil business and did very well
>> at it. So she never had to work.
>>
> I will absolutely guarantee people in those circumstances don't throw
> money away and that her business sheltered their wealth in some way.
> I don't expect you to know how or why. I'm just saying that you
> should wake up and smell the coffee.

Could be. My dad did say that they would walk around with quite a lot of
money on their person so that they wouldn't have to declare it.

[sf]

On Thu, 16 May 2013 21:00:00 -0700, "Julie Bove"
<juli...@frontier.com> wrote:

> I never actually got kicked out but I was told at a Pizza Hut that I'd have
> to leave if I didn't stop dancing. Apparently they had no dance license.
> But it was late at night and my friends and I were the only ones in there.

What? That's weird.

[Julie Bove]

"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message

news:uqjbp8ddng94eoe40...@4ax.com...

> On Thu, 16 May 2013 21:00:00 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> <juli...@frontier.com> wrote:
>
>> I never actually got kicked out but I was told at a Pizza Hut that I'd
>> have
>> to leave if I didn't stop dancing. Apparently they had no dance license.
>> But it was late at night and my friends and I were the only ones in
>> there.
>

I wasn't even being wild either. One guy in our party asked me if I could
show him how to do some dance. I can't even remember which one now but it
was a ballroom dance. We were seated in the back corner, waiting for our
food so it's not like we were in anyone's way. It was a very simple dance
so we were only up for less than a minute.

[Ed Pawlowski]

On Thu, 16 May 2013 23:34:18 -0700, sf <s...@geemail.com> wrote:

>On Thu, 16 May 2013 21:00:00 -0700, "Julie Bove"
><juli...@frontier.com> wrote:
>
>> I never actually got kicked out but I was told at a Pizza Hut that I'd have
>> to leave if I didn't stop dancing. Apparently they had no dance license.
>> But it was late at night and my friends and I were the only ones in there.
>
>What? That's weird.

Weird, but true. I've heard of that in some places in bars that have
music. Separate license is needed for dancing. Local laws can be
strange.

[Jim Elbrecht]

On Thu, 16 May 2013 23:34:18 -0700, sf <s...@geemail.com> wrote:

>On Thu, 16 May 2013 21:00:00 -0700, "Julie Bove"
><juli...@frontier.com> wrote:
>
>> I never actually got kicked out but I was told at a Pizza Hut that I'd have
>> to leave if I didn't stop dancing. Apparently they had no dance license.
>> But it was late at night and my friends and I were the only ones in there.
>
>What? That's weird.

That someone was dancing in a pizza hut?
or that pizza hut didn't like it. . . .
or that no-one else was in there?<g>

Jim

[notbob]

On 2013-05-17, barbie gee <boo...@nosespam.com> wrote:
> Some posts out there on the interwebs seem to indicate she was lying about
> the pastries being her own work.

Yeah. The extratv.com link gregz posted indicated they'd been accused
of "selling desserts from other restaurants". Another negative only
if they claimed to have made the desserts themselves, which the video
shows they (she) did.

nb

[Nancy Young]

On 5/17/2013 1:47 AM, barbie gee wrote:

>
>
> On Thu, 16 May 2013, jmcquown wrote:
>
>> On 5/16/2013 6:02 PM, Nancy Young wrote:

>>> It struck me that it takes her forever to put out a plate of
>>> food, and those pastries all looked very time consuming to make.
>>> Also, her food didn't look attractive like someone accustomed to
>>> making pretty desserts. I would think some sense of aesthetics
>>> would be apparent.

>> I'll admit I'm not a baker. But that stuff looked like she'd have to
>> be up and baking at 3AM. Even if she only had to do it a couple of
>> days a week, she just didn't strike me as the type. Purely a
>> subjective opinion, of course.
>

> Some posts out there on the interwebs seem to indicate she was lying
> about the pastries being her own work.

Something doesn't add up for me with her and all those pastries.
I have trouble picturing her getting herself organized and focused
enough to do all that work. I mean, even if God gave her all that
ability and all. Heh.

And yet, when they take Gordon to see the pastry case, they beam
with pride. Look what I did! I don't know.

nancy

[jmcquown]

On 5/15/2013 6:23 PM, Andrew Tillinghast wrote:
> On May 12, 3:29 pm, Mark Thorson <nos...@sonic.net> wrote:
>> Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>>
>>> Watch it. The lady is a real nut case. The husband takes the tips
>>> and she fires people every week.
>>
>>> My guess: Now that this has hit the air, they will have a slight
>>> surge in business from curiosity seekers, then it will shut down.
>>
>> How long is it between filming the show
>> and airing it? I'd guess they might be
>> closed already.
>
> Still open. Read their facebook page. they are still screaming and
> crying!The comments are hilarious.
> https://www.facebook.com/amysbakingco?fref=ts
>
It now says on Facebook:

Other Side of Amy�s Baking Company Controversy in Scottsdale To Soon Be Told

SCOTTSDALE, AZ. MAY 15, 2013 -- Amy�s Baking Company will host a Grand
Re-Opening on Tuesday night, May 21, following unflattering portrayals
on national television.

Customers will be able to decide who is correct: a famous celebrity chef
or the marketplace that has supported the small, locally-owned business
for six years.

When re-opened, a portion of proceeds will benefit a charity organized
to bring awareness to cyber bullying.

Seating is limited. Reservations may be made by emailing <I snipped>

Diners will also have the opportunity to meet, and judge for themselves
the character of owners Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, who have devoted their
lives to and earn their living from their small restaurant. The
Bouzaglos have been married for 10 years, after Sammy emigrated from Israel.

The owners will likely be holding a press conference before the Grand
Re-Opening and answer falsehoods depicted on a reality television show,
including assertions that the restaurant confiscates tips from servers.

In fact, wait staff is paid $8-$14 per hour, two and half to nearly five
times the standard hourly wage for servers.

Questions will also be answered about what happened to their Facebook page.

Amy�s Baking Company was recently featured on the hit PBS show �Check
Please� and has received A+ reports from CBS 5 for kitchen preparedness.

�We are very upset by what has taken place, apologize about the acrimony
that has ensued but now must fight back to save our business. We hope
and believe much good can result from what has transpired. We ask the
public to keep an open mind as we begin to tell our side of the story,�
Samy Bouzaglo said.

Jill

[George Leppla]

On 5/17/2013 9:06 AM, jmcquown wrote:
> In fact, wait staff is paid $8-$14 per hour, two and half to nearly five
> times the standard hourly wage for servers.

While that is true, when servers are paid the server rate, they keep
their tips. In a good restaurant, that can easily come to more than
$200 a night.

Fact is that these people are creeps.

George L

[jmcquown]

On 5/17/2013 10:18 AM, barbie gee wrote:

>
>
> On Fri, 17 May 2013, jmcquown wrote:
>
>>> On May 12, 3:29 pm, Mark Thorson <nos...@sonic.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> Still open. Read their facebook page. they are still screaming and
>>> crying!The comments are hilarious.
>>> https://www.facebook.com/amysbakingco?fref=ts
>>>
>> It now says on Facebook:
>>

>> Other Side of Amy?s Baking Company Controversy in Scottsdale To Soon
>> Be Told
>>
>> SCOTTSDALE, AZ. MAY 15, 2013 -- Amy?s Baking Company will host a Grand

>> Re-Opening on Tuesday night, May 21, following unflattering portrayals
>> on national television.
>>
>> Customers will be able to decide who is correct: a famous celebrity
>> chef or the marketplace that has supported the small, locally-owned
>> business for six years.
>>
>> When re-opened, a portion of proceeds will benefit a charity organized
>> to bring awareness to cyber bullying.
>>

(snip)

>> The owners will likely be holding a press conference before the Grand
>> Re-Opening and answer falsehoods depicted on a reality television
>> show, including assertions that the restaurant confiscates tips from
>> servers.
>>
>> In fact, wait staff is paid $8-$14 per hour, two and half to nearly
>> five times the standard hourly wage for servers.
>>
>

> This should be amusing!
>
Almost amusing enough to make me wish I was in Scottsdale. But not
really. :)

> No matter how they edited the footage, there is no way that some of
> their behavior is okay. The food? Who knows. The two of them need to
> let someone else manage the front of the house for awhile. Keeping tips
> is inexcusable, however.
>
I definitely don't believe what they claim they pay their servers.
(Maybe they will *now*, but...) Surely when Ramsay expressed disbelief
to the server about not getting to keep her tips she would have said,
"Oh, it's okay. They're paying me plenty!" She didn't, because they don't.

Besides, customers don't know what the servers are being paid. Even if
they did, if they want to give them a little extra that's their
business. It doesn't belong in the owners pocket.

There's a petition on change.org initiated by people trying to get them
investigated by the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division for the
charges of tip theft. It's pretty clear from the video I watched the
guy *admits* he keeps their tips.

Jill

[jmcquown]

Please note, I was quoting something put on Facebook by their new
publicist. :) I don't care if they pay the servers $50 an hour, when
someone leaves a tip it goes to the person who served them, not to the
owner. And yes, they are creeps.

I'll be interested to see what happens at their "grand reopening".
Perhaps Amy will have learned how to cook a pizza by then. LOL

Jill

[jmcquown]

On 5/16/2013 6:23 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
> When we first moved here, there was a Mexican restaurant. It's no longer
> there. Was two different Indian places after that and now an Italian place.
> I just think that building is doomed.

There's a building like that in nearby Port Royal. Seems like every
year it's a different restaurant. I can't figure out why; it's on the
main thoroughfare with lots of traffic. Surely not every single owner
could have been completely incompetent? It would appear so.

Jill

[gtr]

On 2013-05-17 14:06:10 +0000, jmcquown said:

> On 5/15/2013 6:23 PM, Andrew Tillinghast wrote:
>> On May 12, 3:29 pm, Mark Thorson <nos...@sonic.net> wrote:
>>> Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>>>
>>>> Watch it. The lady is a real nut case. The husband takes the tips
>>>> and she fires people every week.
>>>
>>>> My guess: Now that this has hit the air, they will have a slight
>>>> surge in business from curiosity seekers, then it will shut down.
>>>
>>> How long is it between filming the show
>>> and airing it? I'd guess they might be
>>> closed already.
>>
>> Still open. Read their facebook page. they are still screaming and
>> crying!The comments are hilarious.
>> https://www.facebook.com/amysbakingco?fref=ts
>>
> It now says on Facebook:
>

> Other Side of Amy’s Baking Company Controversy in Scottsdale To Soon Be Told
>
> SCOTTSDALE, AZ. MAY 15, 2013 -- Amy’s Baking Company will host a Grand

> Re-Opening on Tuesday night, May 21, following unflattering portrayals
> on national television.
>
> Customers will be able to decide who is correct: a famous celebrity
> chef or the marketplace that has supported the small, locally-owned
> business for six years.
>
> When re-opened, a portion of proceeds will benefit a charity organized
> to bring awareness to cyber bullying.
>
> Seating is limited. Reservations may be made by emailing <I snipped>
>
> Diners will also have the opportunity to meet, and judge for themselves
> the character of owners Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, who have devoted their
> lives to and earn their living from their small restaurant. The
> Bouzaglos have been married for 10 years, after Sammy emigrated from
> Israel.
>
> The owners will likely be holding a press conference before the Grand
> Re-Opening and answer falsehoods depicted on a reality television show,
> including assertions that the restaurant confiscates tips from servers.
>
> In fact, wait staff is paid $8-$14 per hour, two and half to nearly
> five times the standard hourly wage for servers.
>
> Questions will also be answered about what happened to their Facebook page.
>

> Amy’s Baking Company was recently featured on the hit PBS show “Check
> Please” and has received A+ reports from CBS 5 for kitchen preparedness.
>
> “We are very upset by what has taken place, apologize about the

> acrimony that has ensued but now must fight back to save our business.
> We hope and believe much good can result from what has transpired. We
> ask the public to keep an open mind as we begin to tell our side of the

> story,” Samy Bouzaglo said.
>
> Jill

I understand if this is successful they'll be doing it every Saturday night.

[gtr]

On 2013-05-17 14:29:16 +0000, George Leppla said:

> On 5/17/2013 9:06 AM, jmcquown wrote:
>> In fact, wait staff is paid $8-$14 per hour, two and half to nearly five
>> times the standard hourly wage for servers.
>
> While that is true, when servers are paid the server rate, they keep
> their tips. In a good restaurant, that can easily come to more than
> $200 a night.

In the other 98%, probably not so much.

> Fact is that these people are creeps.

Inarguably.

[sf]

On Fri, 17 May 2013 10:41:13 -0400, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net>
wrote:

> Besides, customers don't know what the servers are being paid. Even if
> they did, if they want to give them a little extra that's their
> business. It doesn't belong in the owners pocket.

Abso-frikkin-lootly!

[sf]

On Fri, 17 May 2013 11:13:55 -0400, jmcquown <j_mc...@comcast.net>
wrote:

Sometimes there's a problem with the building and there's a dispute
over who is responsible for fixing it.