I love cooking/food shows. I follow quite a few, but especially Chopped (my favorite), Master Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, and occasionally Kitchen Nightmares– the last three of which feature the controversial foul-mouthed Gordon Ramsay. Kitchen Nightmares is the hardest to watch, because you see things that make you fear eating out, or even grocery shopping for that matter.
So imagine Gordon’s, and my, surprise, when he went to Amy’s Baking Company in Phoenix and found a meticulous kitchen and a thoroughly organized operation. Even when he sampled one of Amy’s baked goods, Gordon was pleased by the taste and texture. Wow, why do they need Gordon’s help? It quickly became clear. 
Apparently, the reason they wanted Gordon’s help was to restore their good name after a series of negative internet reviews, by “haters out to get them.” Amy revealed that she had already gone after the reviewers herself, which only brought more haters out to tarnish their good name. Aha.It’s all their fault, those haters, and now Amy’s Baking Company needs Gordon to say “This restaurant is the best! The food is the most awesome ever! The service made me smile! You haters are all wrong!”
So imagine what happened when Gordon tried several dishes on the menu and… found them lacking. Then, he discovered that the owners take all the tips and only pay servers an hourly wage. And finally, when he tried to tell chef Amy’s husband of the issues, he wouldn’t tell Amy, and she totally freaked out when Gordon tried to set her straight. Uh-oh, someone can’t handle criticism. But it gets worse.
Amy confessed to the camera, “The customer’s not always right, and I have to stand up for myself.”
Oh. Oh, dear. In the end, Gordon Ramsay walked out, unable to help a restaurant for the first time ever because Amy and her husband refused to see that anything was wrong with them. It was the haters! All you haters! People who don’t know food! But the fun had only started, because after the Kitchen Nightmares episode aired, Amy and husband went totally full screech apesh*t on their own Facebook website, ranting at reviewers, at diners, at anyone who dare question that they are the best. Most of the rants have been deleted and the couple claimed their social media sites had been hacked, but… it was something to see.
You can still find some at various websites if you google Amy’s Baking Company, but at least go watch the episode on Fox. Or click here (USAtoday), here (Yelp), here (HuffPo, with Facebook screengrabs), or here (watch the show).
It’s a valuable lesson for authors on why you shouldn’t respond to bad reviews. We’ve seen a few similar author meltdowns happen. It’s fascinating to watch, and hard to look away even when we know we should. In the end, the author’s reputation, like Amy’s, tends to end up in shreds because the more one tries to respond logically somehow, the more likely it is that the arguments go to crazy places and it blows up and gets seen all over the internet. Remember Amy if you ever think you’ve been reviewed unfairly.
Ever witness a meltdown? Have you seen this episode of Kitchen Nightmares or the corresponding reviews/social media rants? Was it all staged for effect? Do you love cooking/food shows? Has it changed the way you dine out?
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