Amuse! told What Now Atlanta over the phone it might close, then emailed us a different story.
After being tipped off by industry insiders that Amuse! would shutter, What Now Atlanta asked Haykel Arfaooui, general manager at the French bistro, if it was going to close, in a telephone interview Tuesday.
“Nothing is finalized at this time,” Arfaooui said. “We’re trying to keep [Amuse!] open. We’re still working on some things.”
We sent an email to Amuse! hoping to receive comment from its owners on its possible closure.
Instead, Arfaooui, the same manager we spoke to over the phone moments before sending the email, responded.
His story wasn’t the same, the second time around.
As a proffesional journalist you should know what are you writing about. There is 25 employees at AMUSE! this story about closing the restaurant is taking our bread away. We live and pay our bills from this restaurant. Closing is unknown subject. Never heard about it.
All respect to you and your work.
What Now Atlanta is still waiting for comment from the owners of Amuse!.
Developing…
17 Responses
Not closing, yet they have their business listed for sale on the web. C’mon… really?
I like your website but these types of stories are so bad for restaurants that are just trying to survive. You could probably find another 100 restaurants in Atlanta just like Amuse – just barely making it. Many of them with great food and great service but just having trouble in this economy.
I cannot understand why you would want to report this? So you can say you were the first? No one cares about who the first one to report a story is anymore…when will bloggers understand this? Take the higher road and report it after it actually closes so people know not to go there.
I’m sure they are losing good staff because of these kinds of reports and it puts a bad perception out to the public about Amuse. It’s not amusing in any way.
I agree with Cale. Due to the increasing popularity of your blog, you should be a lot more careful. Some of these posts are “bad for business.” Sometimes the posts are informative and enlightening, but some make you seem like a restaurant/retail TMZ.
I have to agree with the other posters. It was pretty unprofessional to do something like this recent article that could cause this business to lose money. While you are having fun outting that GM, that business still has employees there that have nothing to do with this. I like your blog but will not support anything that will destroy someone.
A market is not a charity. If a blog breaks your business; how good was it in the first place? The fact is Atlanta area is rapidly declining and many more are going to go under, no matter how good they are or who blogs about them.
I like this restaurant but, I have not been in a while. Thank you for reporting this so I will know that I need to go and support it.
Everyone else: this is a blog not a news outlet. Don’t read this if you don’t like this type of info. Read the ajc instead.
It seemed like the original post was pretty clear – there was a possibility of Amuse! closing, but nothing was set – I don’t remember it saying that it was absolutely, positively going out of business…
There is a possibility that every restaurant will close at any given time; I don’t blame the managers and staff of Amuse being upset. If the restaurant was in some trouble (as most are these days) this story may have helped to seal their fate.
Nice job Caleb!
Not cool Caleb. Not cool.
I think its pretty clear the management means that closing is unknown subject to the employees. You dont tell your employees that you might close and have them run around worried or expecting to lose their job while serving customers.
A few more of these and you will be blacklisted from talking to the hostess, much less the manager, at restaurants. Except of course for that a$$hole manager who ‘tips you off’ that their rival restaurant is on the verge of closing (a huge amount of restaurants are always on the verge of closing).
I was going to go eat at Amuse! today but this article has changed my mind. I’d hate to show up and the place be shuttered.
What goes around comes around, Sir.
Who tells a member of the media that they’re looking at possibly closing down and then gets surprised when it comes out in the media that they’re looking at possibly closing? If you want to discuss something that you don’t want to be common knowledge, you ask to speak off the record or you simply keep your mouth shut. And if you accidently let something slip, unless it’s shocking news like you use bodies from the morgue in the hamburgers, explicitly ask that it not be repeated at this time and most people in the media will honor your request.
It’s a simple system that the vast majority of businesses are able to handle dealing with. Anyone who can’t handle the above should be restricted from speaking to anyone “out of family”.
Am I going to be the one that says it? I guess so. Their food sucks. Cheaper and better places for brunch in the neighborhood, and better places for lunch/dinner … they also lack atmosphere. Sorry, but usually the problems start with your own business. This news doesn’t surprise me. Wish the owners all the best.
It’s one thing to post news based on permits or interviews.. But this type of story is really tacky and lowers the bar of this site into TMZ territory.. Trading in industry gossip doesn’t really make you a journalist.. You are going to just ride a rumor and browbeat the staff until you get a real quote from the owner, meanwhile damaging the livelihoods of all the people who work there in the meantime.. You obviously don’t rely on tips to pay your rent or livelihood bc you wouldn’t be getting any for this one.. I think I may be checking this blog a little less in future in maybe others will do the same…
Ate hear ONCE. Delicious food. Worst service at any restaurant I’ve ever eaten at. Manager wasn’t interested in addressing issues.
I have to respectfully disagree with many comments that this article is unfair. Did I miss that the purpose of this blog is to help struggling restaurants make money? Is this a place where only good news is reported and the only quotes come from press releases?
There’s an industry rumor that the place is going to close. Just publishing the rumor would be unfair, but the GM and ownership were given opportunity to comment on it on the record. Any of them could have said that the rumor isn’t true. But that’s not what they did.
They may not LIKE that this story was published, but that doesn’t make it wrong to publish it.