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cygnia ([info]cygnia) wrote in [info]otf_wank,
@ 2013-05-21 11:20:00


Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:food, lawsuits

UPDATE on Amy's Baking Company...
...or "Excuse me, how much is a slice of Schadenfreude Pie?"

***

Amy’s Baking Company gets lawsuit threat, nixes conference


The more than 1,500 people who have requested reservations to eat at Amy’s Baking Company in Scottsdale during its “grand reopening” week, which starts Tuesday night, will bear witness to the next chapter of one of the most vilified restaurants in the country.

The national media will not.

On Monday afternoon, the restaurant’s public-relations company, Rose+Moser+Allyn Public & Online Relations, announced that the news conference scheduled at 1 p.m. Tuesday had been canceled. Jennifer Parks, an agency representative, said no media would be allowed inside the restaurant and that the owners, Amy and Salomon “Samy” Bouzaglo, would not be giving previously arranged interviews.

A May 17 letter from the law firm representing the producers of Fox’s “Kitchen Nightmares” show, which featured the restaurant in its May 10 season-finale episode, may have prompted the Bouzaglos’ change of heart.

“If you disparage the show, its host, or its producers, you will breach your obligations under Paragraph 10 of your Personal Release and Paragraph 14 of your Participant Agreement,” states the letter from the Los Angeles office of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. A breach would expose the Bouzaglos to damages of $100,000 each, according to the law firm.

“That’s not a hollow threat,” said Jason Rose, president and founder of Rose+Moser+Allyn, which is parting with the Bouzaglos after a short-lived attempt to restore their reputation. “That would get anybody’s attention.”

The Scottsdale-based firm will stop representing Amy’s Baking Company after Tuesday’s grand reopening. Rose said the two parties disagreed over public-relations strategies but declined to elaborate.

“It’s been a fun week,” he said. “From the time Amy called on Wednesday through tomorrow (Tuesday) night, it’s been a very challenging and exciting week. The number of reopening reservations is noteworthy and hopefully gives the restaurant a chance for success. We wish them nothing but the best.”

The Bouzaglos plan to donate 10 percent of the proceeds from this week’s dinners to the Megan Meier Foundation, which raises awareness of cyberbullying.

Amy’s Baking Company held a job fair Sunday in an effort to hire 30 employees, from hosts and servers to busers and cooks.

The owners had planned to appear at a news conference before the restaurant reopens to answer questions about the “Kitchen Nightmares” episode and its aftermath.

On the show, the Bouzaglos are seen yelling at and pushing customers. Patrons are unaware that the tips they leave for the servers end up with the owners. The couple refuse to listen to chef Gordon Ramsay’s criticism, prompting the British host to walk away from the restaurant before his job was done for the first time.

What happened on social media after the show aired elevated the restaurant’s problems to a full-blown crisis.

Thousands of people from across the country took to Yelp, Facebook, Reddit and other user-driven websites to voice their disgust with the owners.

A social-media poster claiming to be the Bouzaglos retaliated, spewing obscenities and vowing legal recourse. Buzzfeed called it “the most epic brand meltdown on Facebook ever.” Yahoo, Forbes, the Daily Beast, E! Online and Huffington Post all had stories on the Bouzaglos, who have since claimed their website and all of their social-media accounts were hacked.

The Scottsdale Police Department confirmed it is investigating “a report for computer tampering” taken May 14 at the restaurant’s address, 7366 E. Shea Blvd.

Amy’s Baking Company got into trouble for two liquor-law violations three years ago.

The Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control cited the restaurant for serving a minor and for failing to use proper procedures for checking identification. The restaurant paid $2,000 in fines for the violations in July 2010.

Inspectors from the Maricopa County Department of Health Services turned up a few minor violations at Amy’s in 2012. That included failing to have proper sanitizer in the dishwasher, improper storage of food cases on the floor of the walk-in freezer and improper storage of a knife and pizza cutter.

The restaurant earned A ratings (zero violations) during three other 2012 inspections and the latest on April 2.

In 2003, Amy Bouzaglo pleaded guilty to the misuse of a Social Security number after she applied for a $15,000 bank loan. At the time, her name was Amanda Bossingham (her ex-husband’s last name). She married Samy Bouzaglo in January 2004. She surrendered to federal authorities and entered prison in late 2008. She was released in October 2009.

ETA: Loopywafflehead with some further updated links HERE!

Return of the ETA: The International Meanies are looking to deport Samy!

Revenge of the ETA!: Amy's Baking Company kicks us out after we find flies in the vodka (three times)


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[info]lanas_archive
2013-05-21 06:12 pm UTC (link)
When it came out that they weren't open this past Mother's Day someone said that they never open on a Sunday; if that's true then the number of daily covers goes up even higher. In a place that can't handle Gordon Ramsey ordering four dishes without it all going pear shaped.

There's biting off more than you can chew, and then there's biting off enough to choke yourself to death before you even get chance to chew.

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