The Best Kitchen Nightmares Episode Puts A Bakery In The Spotlight

In the Venn diagram of cooking shows and reality television, "Kitchen Nightmares" sits firmly at the epicenter. It has all the ingredients of a certifiable classic: Gordon Ramsay, dysfunctional restaurateurs, explosive kitchen drama, and despite it all, success stories of businesses turning it around after some tough love from America's favorite master chef. 

Since first airing in 2007, we at Mashed have had plenty of time to reflect upon and rank the best moments of Kitchen Nightmares. However, no episode looms larger in the viral public consciousness than Season 6, Episode 16 featuring Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, Arizona.

We ranked this as the best episode of Kitchen Nightmares primarily for the sheer spectacle. Although Ramsay is uncharacteristically impressed by the delicious baked goods and the restaurant itself in the beginning, the façade quickly unravels as culinary taboos and extreme communication breakdowns reveal themselves in rapid succession. It culminates in something unprecedented in the show's history: Ramsay walks away in resignation that the company is beyond his help. 

Amy Bouzaglo is the head chef and co-owner of Amy's Baking Company. She has a genuine talent for baking but struggles with taking critical feedback. Her husband and co-owner Samy, a self-styled "Vegas playboy" and "gangster," runs the front of the house with the best of intentions, but his lack of trust in waitstaff, expletive-laden confrontations with dissatisfied customers, and tendency to shield Amy from criticism hamper the productivity and image of their restaurant.

Gordon Ramsay bears witness, attempting corrective action each time a restaurant norm is shattered, suggesting to a belligerent Amy that she remove the frozen ravioli (advertised as fresh) from the already-oversized menu, and revealing to horrified customers that Samy takes waitstaff tips for himself. However, the episode is at its best when Ramsay confronts Amy and Samy directly. Tensions boil over as the owners vehemently deflect responsibility and even accuse Ramsay of disrupting the success of their restaurant — often in plain view of the customers. The disconnect between how Amy and Samy behave on camera and their supposed concern with the restaurant's reputation is stunning to behold.

If you're wondering how Amy's Baking Company is doing today, it may not come as a surprise that it is now closed. The business confirmed the closure in a September 2015 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding, "Now we can focus on several other projects!" We can only hope those other projects come with a touch more self-awareness.