Item 4 I Heart Mac and Cheese Backstory
🔎 What I Wasn’t Told About Key Individual Chef Michael Blum
In 2017, when evaluating the franchise opportunity with I Heart Mac & Cheese, I received a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) authored by Marci Rubin (now Adler), General Counsel for Mac and Cheese Franchise Operations, LLC. The FDD was received via email; not at the start of the sales process in August, not at my Discovery Day on September 1, 2017, but in October 2017. Crucially, this document omitted that Chef Michael Blum, the founder and driving creative force behind I Heart Mac & Cheese, had filed for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy a decade earlier.
Blum filed for bankruptcy on November 16, 2006, in the Southern District of Florida (Case No. 06-15944-RBR), with debts discharged on August 15, 2007, within the 10-year disclosure window mandated by the FTC’s Franchise Rule for Item 4.
By 2015, Blum was directly involved in the brand’s operations. He had founded and run the original flagship restaurant in Fort Lauderdale before purportedly selling it to Stephen Giordanella and Mac and Cheese FLL, LLC in 2016. Blum was not merely a figurehead but integral to every major aspect of operations, from leasing, contracting food suppliers, and managing daily restaurant activities, to understanding the financial dynamics intimately.
The 2017 FDD painted Blum as a visionary culinary artist, deeply inspired by fine art, who graduated first in his class from the Culinary Institute of America. It highlighted his former restaurant, Michael’s Kitchen in Hollywood, Florida, which received accolades for its vibrant, theatrical dining experience likened to a culinary "Cirque de Soleil." The document further underscored Blum’s media visibility and involvement in esteemed culinary events, creating an impression of consistent professional success.
In stark contrast, the FDD concealed the reality of Blum’s turbulent financial history. Michael’s Kitchen, initially lauded as promising enough to receive a $150,000 city grant, ended in abrupt financial collapse. Its closure left behind devastated investors such as Phyllis Rudolph, who lost her entire life savings ($130,000), and restaurateur Steven Schnitzer, who struggled to recover a $100,000 loan. Even high-profile investors like professional athlete Bobby Hamilton, who invested $250,000, found themselves ensnared in the ensuing financial chaos. The city of Hollywood faced its own financial repercussions, pursuing Blum for a $120,000 penalty due to unmet conditions of their grant.
Further complicating the picture was Blum’s documented financial recklessness, including misdirecting restaurant revenues toward unrelated debts and personal obligations, leading to litigation from business partners Andreas and Asimina Savvides. Ultimately, Blum’s business history, characterized by persistent instability and significant investor losses, was conspicuously absent from the 2017 FDD.
Why This Matters
Had Blum’s bankruptcy and financial history been included, franchisees like me could have better assessed the risks. But Item 4 of the 2017 FDD concealed red flags that should have raised serious concerns.
And this wasn’t an isolated failure.
In 2020, Joseph Amodio, Vice President of Franchise Development, appeared in Item 2 of the FDD for the first time. He had filed for personal bankruptcy just months earlier, in September 2019. That too was never disclosed.
Roughly 100 franchisees signed franchise or multi-unit development agreements during those years, with hundreds of units sold, without knowing a key executive had declared bankruptcy.
Was this a failure of the attorney, Kevin Ayers, who drafted the FDDs? Is it a franchise attorney’s duty to verify disclosure accuracy? That’s a conversation for the legal community.
But here’s what we know: the franchisor (and Stephen Giordanella, CEO) is ultimately responsible for the FDD’s contents. And in this case, it repeatedly failed to disclose the bankruptcies of two principal figures: Michael Blum and Joseph Amodio.
As of the 2023 FDD, Amodio’s bankruptcy still hadn’t been disclosed. The first time I’ve seen it mentioned is in the Pilar Coffee Bar FDD. If anyone has the 2024 or 2025 I Heart Mac & Cheese FDD, I’m eager to review it. Email it to justfacts@franchiserealitycheck.com. As always, all submissions and their sources are confidential.
Reality Check:
Item 4 isn’t a technicality, it’s a safeguard. It exists to give prospective franchisees the transparency they need to make informed decisions. The omission of Michael Blum’s bankruptcy and his troubling financial history was not just an oversight: it was deception.
Franchisees deserve honesty. They invest life savings, retirement accounts, SBA loans, and personal assets into these systems. Over 80% of I Heart Mac & Cheese locations have since permanently closed, including every corporate-owned location except (maybe) one.
These omissions suggest a pattern. A coordinated effort to enrich Stephen Giordanella, Michael Blum, Marci Adler, Joseph Amodio, and Delia Valles while franchisees continue to bear the losses.
This information is based on publicly available documents, court filings, and the franchisor’s Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). Interpretations, observations, and conclusions drawn herein represent the informed opinions of Franchise Reality Check™ and are intended to encourage deeper due diligence by prospective franchisees. This content should not be construed as legal, financial, or investment advice. Prospective investors should consult with a qualified franchise attorney and CPA before making any franchise purchase decisions.
