(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 2 | View All Season 2 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: November 13, 2008
Sabatiello's Address: 269 Bedford St Stamford, CT 06901
Episode Recap
Sabatiello’s was a Stamford, Connecticut restaurant featured on Season 2 of Kitchen Nightmares.
Though the Sabatiello’s Kitchen Nightmares episode aired in November 2008, the actual filming and visit from Gordon Ramsay took place much earlier in February 2008.
It was Kitchen Nightmares Season 2 Episode 9.
Located in Stamford, Connecticut, Sabatiello’s is owned by Sammy Settembre.
Sammy grew up working in his brother’s restaurant and always had a dream of opening his own fine dining establishment.
The restaurant has been declining, and now they are months away from closure.
David, the head waiter, and Lauren, Sammy’s girlfriend, say that Sammy’s behavior is to blame for the decline.
He is rude to staff and customers. Sammy says it is not his fault the staff won’t listen to him.
Sammy and his girlfriend Lauren have put their house up as collateral and are in a lot of debt.
The restaurant definitely needs a jolt of life from Gordon Ramsay.
On the way to Sabatiello’s, Gordon reads negative reviews of the restaurant to get a sense of what he’s dealing with.
Once he arrives, Gordon receives a warm welcome and is impressed by the décor.
He orders the soup of the day and homemade lasagna. Gordon also adds on a New York strip steak, cooked medium-rare.
The soup of the day is bland and is prepared very fast.
The lasagna is made with white meat and is definitely not homemade.
The New York strip steak is not cooked correctly and is very greasy.
Sammy tells Gordon that frozen doesn’t mean bad, but Gordon disagrees.
The head chef Jose says the soup is days old, the lasagna was made days ago and frozen, and the steak is a different cut than what was advertised.
Sammy becomes upset with Gordon after Gordon accuses him of making excuses.
Gordon goes to inspect the kitchen, and he finds it spotless, which is a step up from a lot of the restaurants that end up on Kitchen Nightmares.
However, the fridge has raw chicken next to cooked chicken which is extremely dangerous.
Gordon tells Jose to rearrange the meat, but Sammy doesn’t see a problem with the fridge.
Sabatiello’s stuffed sole dish is stuffed with imitation crab meat.
A guest orders it and returns it, but Sammy doesn’t see an issue with it.
Undercooked beef is sent back to the kitchen, and Sammy puts it in the microwave. Eww, that’s so gross, right?
The customer sends it back again. Sammy then goes out to the dining room and proceeds to argue with the customer.
Lauren apologizes on Sammy’s behalf.
Gordon tells Sammy that his behavior is alienating his staff and his customer base, so his attitude needs to change along with the rest of the restaurant.
As part of revamping Sabatiello’s, Gordon Ramsay introduces two new dishes – authentic, homemade lasagna and filet mignon carved at the table.
Customers can get a taste of these dishes as the next dinner service.
The restaurant is fully booked for dinner that evening.
However, steaks keep coming back to the kitchen because they are undercooked.
Sammy then begins to lose his patience with Jose, the head chef.
Beyond the new menu, Gordon relaunches the restaurant as an Italian steakhouse.
Jose can’t keep up with the demand on relaunch night, so Sammy jumps in to assist him.
Sammy manages to turn the kitchen around.
Customers leave Sabatiello’s restaurant happy and full.
Sammy ended up being a tremendous help during relaunch night.
So was the Kitchen Nightmares Sabatiello’s episode a long-term success? Keep reading to learn what happened next and if Sabatiello’s is still open in 2024.
Sabatiello's Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Sabatiello’s Kitchen Nightmares episode, let’s talk about what happened to the restaurant after Gordon Ramsay and his crew left Stamford CT.
While things seemed to be going well on the Sabatiello’s Kitchen Nightmares, there were a lot of beyond-the-scenes details that weren’t so happy.
Let’s go through them, starting with the most important question.
Is Sabatiello’s Still Open?
Sabatiello’s closed in October 2008, which was before the episode aired on TV and around six months after Gordon Ramsay visited the restaurant.
This means that it definitely was not successful Kitchen Nightmares visit.
Reviews after Gordon’s visit were generally negative so it’s no surprise that the restaurant eventually ended up closing.
As of 2023, the old Sabatiello’s Stamford CT location is occupied by a pizza place named Tutti Pazzi, which seems to have mixed reviews on Yelp with a 3.5 star rating.
You can see the old Sabatiello’s restaurant Stamford CT location in this image from Google Maps street view:
Sammy Settembre Wasn’t Totally Happy About the Kitchen Nightmares episode
Sammy said that the restaurant lost money when it was closed to film the show and that he didn’t think it was worth it.
What’s more, Sabatiello’s didn’t get any expensive new kitchen equipment as part of the remodel, so he felt the show didn’t bring much value.
What Happened to Sammy Settembre from Sabatiello’s?
After the episode aired, Sammy Settembre was charged with criminal charges relating to allegedly accepting deposits for holiday parties even though he knew Sabatiello’s would be closing.
You can read about this in an article from the Stamford Advocate.
For one company that placed a deposit, Sammy also allegedly charged more than $20,000 on the credit card, which was not an authorized charge.
Beyond that, Sammy was also charged with vandalism in relation to $20,000 worth of damage that occurred at the Bedford St building while he was being evicted by his landlord.
This allegedly included smashed mirrors and decorate glass, which the police discovered when serving the eviction papers.
Sammy was arrested and charged with first-degree criminal mischief, but Sammy said that the place was fine when he left it:
I don’t know if they went there but when I left the place, it was fine,
You can learn more about the vandalism charges in this news article.
Sammy Settembre Now – His Work Post Kitchen Nightmares
After Sabatiello’s closed, Sammy soon opened another related restaurant called Sabatiello Gourmet Pizza 2008, located in Cos Cob, CT.
However, that restaurant also ended up closing eventually.
I can’t find any online reviews for Sabatiello Gourmet Pizza, so I’m not sure how it was received.
The Yelp page for the new restaurant is empty.
Currently, Sammy is believed to be working as a chef at The Appalachian Market in New York.
I’m not sure if that’s current, though, as he doesn’t have too much of an online presence and I don’t like digging too deeply into people’s personal lives if they don’t want to be found.
Final Thoughts on Sabatiello’s Restaurant
Overall, the Sabatiellos Kitchen Nightmares episode was definitely not a success as the restaurant was already closed before the episode even aired on TV.
After its closure, Sammy had some issues over alleged credit card charges and vandalism, though it was nothing too major.
Sammy did get back into the restaurant game with a pizza shop, but that restaurant also ended up closing.
If you want to see another Kitchen Nightmares Connecticut episode, you can check out my update for Cafe Tavolini in Bridgeport CT.
There were also some nearby episodes in New York – Fiesta Sunrise in West Nyack and The Olde Stone Mill in Tuckahoe are two good updates to look at.
Thanks for reading!
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Last updated: 2023-01-03 05:21
I wonder what happened to Lauren?
Lauren ran for the hills when Sammy was arrested for card fraud
She looked so fine
Sammy September (that’s what his last name means in Italian) was succeeded as owner by Otto October and Ned November.
Sabatiello’s couldn’t stay open with someone like Sammy running the show.
What a sincere waste of time for Chef Gordon.
In Sammy’s defense, sometimes customers are idiots who don’t know what’s good for them and need to be yelled at. Reheating steak in a microwave is a perfectly appropriate way to make sure it is not undercooked.
Perhaps but she had ordered lam and not steak. Also, her problem was not with the temperature. It was undercooked.
No, I didn’t really mean that customers should be yelled at, that’s bad for business.
Fake customer, that was a producer. The first gut who complained is a state Trooper and a former friend of Sammy who ended his friendship with Sammy when he started all his criminal activities
I worked for Sammy. After his failed restaurant in Cos Cob he opened one in Westport called Eatalia in Westport that also closed due to his twisted personality ring off customers and bad reputation. Head Chef Jose stay at the CosCob restaurant for a time after Sammy closed. The Chinese owner started a pizza place and called it Marco Polo because of the Chines Italian connection. Steer that closed last I seen him was in a deli in Darien as a cook but that to has closed. Jose told me Sammy’s brother the wealthy person who finances all his restaurants opened one up for him in Westchester. That’s the last I heard of either of them.
Thanks for sharing some insider knowledge!
Eyyy Frankie boy how’s it goin? You got your facts wrong there gopaza, That gagoots brained Jose was a cretino, he couldn’t tell gabagool from prosciutto.
I wonder if he ever got convicted and went to prison for his crimes? Seems like he had more than one criminal case!
Looks like the kind of guy that would thrive in prison.
I mean he couldn’t blame Gordon when it’s his fault as to why his restaurant failed. I mean his second restaurant failed too & the dude was a straight up criminal. I’m actually not surprised he closed the restaurant & that he’d point fingers at Gordon. I can’t believe he actually accepted checks when he was closing, but you could tell he was shady & it’s not a surprise. I can’t believe him keeping his composer means him trying not to kill a customer because HE told the chef to cook the lamb chops in the microwave. Like he said he was fumigating when that happened 🤣🤣. Omg he was a mess, his restaurant was a mess his food was a mess & the lasagna that he said “it’s not a damn Chinese lasagna” was a mess. I don’t even know what he meant by “Chinese lasagna” but anyways he was a shitty business owner & a shitty person too.
I have seen every KN episode (or so I thought!) and was entertained by this one tonight. Sammy obviously is a super errr “passionate?” guy, but he does border on abusive to his staff, AND his own girlfriend (who is already way out of his league imo. I mean he’s not a terrible looking dude, she was just really pretty to me.)
All that being said, when he asked the woman if she manufactured microwaves because “you seem to know a lot about microwaves”, I cry laughed. 😂
As a life long New Yorker, the guy runs the complete gamut of stereotypes and it’s both hilarious and terrifying. All I know is he would probably be one of those guys who is fun to have a beer with at the bar….but that’s about it. I truthfully don’t know how Lauren wasn’t deaf with all his yelling. 😂
see, I disagree. I think he’s got a face only a blind mother could love. Like the south end of a northbound jackass
Sammy’s Facebook updated last month.
https://www.facebook.com/sam.settembre/
He’s opening a new place called EATalia Market.
What a pompous worm that Sammy was… and ofc he’s a con and thief.
One of the worst owners next to that crazy Amy’s Bakery.
Sammy was horrible and rude. Good riddance.