A couple weeks back on the Top Chef live blog, we had TWO commenters who knew and actually worked for Rocco. (Rupert Pupkin and minou.) There were able to share much of the info Sheila reports above.
Speaking of which, there's another Top Chef live blog on Gawker tonight - it'll be posted around 9 Eastern, and the show starts at 10.
How many commenters will know tonight's guest Martha Stewart, I wonder? What personal experiences will they share??
I don't understand - has he totally lost that passion to cook?
Gael, honey, are you new?? Of course he has. Cooking--real restaurant line cooking--is hard. That's why all these guys--Rocco, Wolfgang Puck, Emeril, Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain, even your precious Tom Colicchio, Richard!--all want to get book deals and TV shows and endorse moderately-priced cookware on QVC, so they can get the hell out of the kitchen.
(This comment brought to you by Clare's dad. Clare's dad: Continued curmudgeonosity since 1948.)
Yeah, The Restaurant did wonders for illuminating the amount of douche that resides in him. Smug, unctuous and a nancyboy, he nuked the fridge for all celebuchefs. I would take Rachel Ray anyday over that metro poptart warmer. And to mention Bourdain and this loser in the same breath is blasphemy.
@fileunder: I was sympathetic to Chodorow when I watched The Restaurant. It was impossible to believe that Rocco had a successful restaurant elsewhere and so now he doesn't.
Clearly only Mama was a successful chef in his family. And I couldn't believe he was making his old mama slave over a hot meatball pan when he was out snorting and drinking.
Really, pal, you shouldn't take us seriously. After all, many if not most of us are still eating mac-and-cheese straight outta the box on a regular basis, and some of us are taking shortcuts and just pouring in that powder, no butter or milk or anything, resulting in a really gritty meal that is unlike anything Kraft might depict on their box! For shame. Was it not Kelly Osbourne who once said "I love my Easy Mac"? Yeah, it was. And you thisclose to synonimizing (is that a real word?) Gawker commenters and "the gastronomic elite"! Fact: while some of us have eaten steak at the Hustler Club, none of us can review that joint like Bruni did, me-ow!
And, for real, your dancing on that ABC show wasn't that bad. So what if Cloris Leachman outlasted you? That's AMERICA's fault, and not yours!
You know what is your fault? Letting that jerkoff Chodorow bring that totes obnoxious intern into your fake TV restaurant that one episode. Or was it two episodes? Yeah, he was a fucking jerk. Who the hell did he think he was? Um, what did he do again? Touch your mama's meatballs? I swear, he was a punk, and he upset the wonderful chemistry on that show! Next time, just go with Gordon Ramsay instead, he's always asking for his risotto!
And, for real, no more reality shows, just hang back, cook some pasta, and cook it well, don't forget the sauce, or the love, or the love sauce. Your customers will love you for it! Your love sauce, that is! All will be cool again. Just ignore the health inspectors when they walk through the door, because they're gonna want some of that love sauce, too.
Peace out, brah. Stay less annoying. You'll be aiiight.
There was more coke going up his nose at The Restaurant than Mama's meatballs going into mouths. My favorite was when Choderow (his financial backer) was looking at the $1500 a week going to fresh flowers and noticed that all of the flowers in the place were silk.
How do I put this? As a gastronome, as an acclaimed chef, he's not supposed to be investing in what "the general public" appreciate. The whole point of being a chef (as opposed to a cook) is that you treat food as art — intricate, refined, rustic, baroque, whatever, it's supposed to be overpriced and esoteric. The crowd he plays to should be people who love food and sophisticated dining, not the teevee. The "general public" eats at McDonald's all the damn time. If you have the talent then you should aspire to be more than McDonald's, Rocco.
Colonel Mustard in the comment section with a keyboard! Seriously, I'm quite sick of the beating anything refined has to take, and this constant genuflection at the altar of "real people." Most real people I know are fucking stupid, they have no taste, and they're terribly unhappy.
12/17/08
Speaking of which, there's another Top Chef live blog on Gawker tonight - it'll be posted around 9 Eastern, and the show starts at 10.
How many commenters will know tonight's guest Martha Stewart, I wonder? What personal experiences will they share??
12/17/08
Rocco, where is your line of frozen pizzas? I'm hungry!
And you call yourself a celebrity chef. Jeez Louise!
12/17/08
After working in the high-class kitchens of New York's Penisula Hotel
Rocco DiSpirito: trained to be a dick.
12/17/08
Gael, honey, are you new?? Of course he has. Cooking--real restaurant line cooking--is hard. That's why all these guys--Rocco, Wolfgang Puck, Emeril, Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain, even your precious Tom Colicchio, Richard!--all want to get book deals and TV shows and endorse moderately-priced cookware on QVC, so they can get the hell out of the kitchen.
(This comment brought to you by Clare's dad. Clare's dad: Continued curmudgeonosity since 1948.)
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Shit, he did!
12/17/08
Clearly only Mama was a successful chef in his family. And I couldn't believe he was making his old mama slave over a hot meatball pan when he was out snorting and drinking.
12/17/08
Really, pal, you shouldn't take us seriously. After all, many if not most of us are still eating mac-and-cheese straight outta the box on a regular basis, and some of us are taking shortcuts and just pouring in that powder, no butter or milk or anything, resulting in a really gritty meal that is unlike anything Kraft might depict on their box! For shame. Was it not Kelly Osbourne who once said "I love my Easy Mac"? Yeah, it was. And you thisclose to synonimizing (is that a real word?) Gawker commenters and "the gastronomic elite"! Fact: while some of us have eaten steak at the Hustler Club, none of us can review that joint like Bruni did, me-ow!
And, for real, your dancing on that ABC show wasn't that bad. So what if Cloris Leachman outlasted you? That's AMERICA's fault, and not yours!
You know what is your fault? Letting that jerkoff Chodorow bring that totes obnoxious intern into your fake TV restaurant that one episode. Or was it two episodes? Yeah, he was a fucking jerk. Who the hell did he think he was? Um, what did he do again? Touch your mama's meatballs? I swear, he was a punk, and he upset the wonderful chemistry on that show! Next time, just go with Gordon Ramsay instead, he's always asking for his risotto!
And, for real, no more reality shows, just hang back, cook some pasta, and cook it well, don't forget the sauce, or the love, or the love sauce. Your customers will love you for it! Your love sauce, that is! All will be cool again. Just ignore the health inspectors when they walk through the door, because they're gonna want some of that love sauce, too.
Peace out, brah. Stay less annoying. You'll be aiiight.
Herbal essences,
Aaron
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*Trying to curb my potty mouth.
12/17/08
P.S. New Years plans ... I might be in.
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It's time to give the "celebrity commenter" culture another chance, with or without Foxy Brown.
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12/17/08
Colonel Mustard in the comment section with a keyboard! Seriously, I'm quite sick of the beating anything refined has to take, and this constant genuflection at the altar of "real people." Most real people I know are fucking stupid, they have no taste, and they're terribly unhappy.
12/17/08
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I hope he doesn't loose (di)spirit(o) over this.
12/17/08
So why act like a soft-shell crab Rocco?
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Be careful...the next time he turns up on Dancing with the Stars will be all your fault!
12/17/08
Pretty simple, akshully.
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