Rocco DiSpirito: Misunderstood Chef of the People or Megalomaniacal Celebrity?
"What DiSpirito really loves to do is bring attention to himself Paris Hilton–style and try to cash in on it."
There is a silly profile of Rocco DiSpirito in today's New York Times that is notable for its lack of insight. Yes, DiSpirito was at one point a very talented young chef who, it must be said, never figured out how to run the kitchen of a successful restaurant.
But his reality TV show debacle The Restaurant showed in horrifyingly minute detail how little interest Rocco had in either cooking for people, doing anything meaningful with his kitchen skills, or even running a successful business.
Reality shows often don't offer up complete portraits of their stars. But in DiSpirito's case The Restaurant did. DiSpirito turned out to be obsessed with becoming famous. Rocco DiSpirito didn't lose his focus, as the reporter suggests. In fact, I would say that he discovered he had a laserlike focus on fame and fortune, which he may or may not have achieved.
For the Times to let DiSpirito's obviously disingenuous-verging-on-fictitious assertion that "what he loves to do is to bring his rarefied culinary skills to regular folks everywhere" go unchallenged is unfathomable. In fact, it verges on the weird. Because what DiSpirito really loves to do is bring attention to himself Paris Hilton-style and try to cash in on it. Only she can't cook.
Now, a zillion appearances on reality TV shows (it's too bad he never ended up vying for Flavor Flav's affections on VH1); a radio show on WOR in which he routinely never prepared for even the most basic interviews (I was a guest a number of times and saw his lack of preparation and aggressively shallow, egomaniacal on-air persona firsthand); a bunch of poorly conceived and received cookbooks; and too many Page Six mentions to mention, DiSpirito has become a caricature of himself.
His fall from grace out of the kitchen shows what can happen when a talented cook loses his way and in the process loses touch with reality by appearing on too many reality shows. Rocco DiSpirito's feet left the ground a long time before he hoofed it on Dancing with the Stars.
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29 Comments:
It's really a damned shame because, although people should be allowed to pursue whatever the hell it is they want to do, most will now view Rocco as a dolt and the truth is that he was more than just a "young talented chef"....he was an AMAZING chef. His departure from the kitchen is my tummy's loss.
vinovamp at 11:25AM on 12/17/08
I mean, he is what he is. He shills for Bertoli and has guest appearances on Top Chef.
Are we supposed to just think any other TV personality that pushes a product is any more or less egomaniacal? There's plenty of douchebags on TV and if he happens to be another one, so be it.
foodinmouth at 11:32AM on 12/17/08
Yes, there are plenty of douchebags on TV, but none of them can cook as well as Rocco, and very few of them appear to have wasted or squandered such a prodigious talent.
Ed Levine at 11:37AM on 12/17/08
It will be interesting to see if he makes a comeback in terms of regaining his culinary footing.
www.EatCheapEatWellEatUp.com
AlisonEats at 11:42AM on 12/17/08
yeah that's what i've been wondering. what would it take for him to be respected again as a professional cook, if he does go down that route again? (if it in fact happens; who knows if he even wants it, but you'd think that would be a logical step for him in the future). i think in general we (the public) tend to be extremelly forgiving.
years ago when The Restaurant was airing on tv, i borrowed one of his books from the library and by God it sucked. don't know what his new book is like.
french tart at 11:56AM on 12/17/08
I know that Rocco used to have some talent. Several critics, well-regarded chefs, and others say good things about his early Union Pacific days.
As I've said before, Rocco is a wash-up of the highest caliber. He doesn't go away, he just gets more pathetic with each showing. Even when he shows up someplace like Top Chef where there's the possibility of him showing some of his culinary talent and insight again? Nope, he just ends up shilling for some tacky pre-made food product.
Crikey.... you want respect as a chef again? Stop dancing, stop shilling, and stop the reality TV appearances. Get a job as a chef, spend some time in your own restaurant's kitchen, and actually start cooking for a change, and you should be able to put the rest of this crap behind you.
kaszeta at 11:58AM on 12/17/08
This post is hysterical because of its timing. I just had a conversation with a colleague of mine about how much I despise Rocco. I saw him on Top Chef this season and thought to myself, "And this is what he is doing instead of cooking? Shame on him." He is one of those chefs that rubs me the wrong way and will continue to do so until he shapes up and gets back in the kitchen.
victorylow at 12:16PM on 12/17/08
All I wanted to do was smack him while watching "The Restaurant". I'd sit there yelling at the screen for him to get back down into his kitchen and stop all the flitting and posing upstairs. The reason that restaurant failed was entirely his fault! IMHO
Duncansmom
duncan1205 at 12:44PM on 12/17/08
Anytime I see him on a show I change the channel. You would think if someone was so focused on being famous that they would show more attention in thier appearance, whereever I see him on tv or in a photogragh his hair etc.. looks as though he washed up about 10 days beforehand, yuck!
HelloChris at 12:49PM on 12/17/08
yeah, i think at this point he doesn't much care what anybody thinks. he can get so much bank and is popular enough that going back to his supposed passion doesn't even need to cross his mind. all he sees are the 0's on his checks and the legions of women fans. while sad from a culinary view, i don't know many people who would give up what he has to be what critics/food people want him to be.
mikeismora at 1:37PM on 12/17/08
He will have trouble getting back into actually cooking for people, because his Botoxed face will cause them to lose their appetites.
KBestOliver at 1:43PM on 12/17/08
Life is about making choices. Some poor and some good but speaking for myself I'm in no position to make that call about others.
Am I disappointed that meals at UP are a thing of the past? Sure, but I'm not loosing any sleep over it.
Knowingly or unknowingly Rocco made a choice that changed the direction of his future. That was his decision and so be it.
robert40 at 1:56PM on 12/17/08
Rocca is a talented cook. But if you examine his resume, you quickly see a pattern: brilliant early buzz, very good review, lots of press, restaurant gone in six months. Rocco could cook, but Rocco could never control food costs, labors costs, or manage personnel. A chef cooks well, but also need to run a successful business, or allow others too. At Union Pacific, he had the Main Street Restaurant Group to keep him in line, but I still suspect his inability to manage ended that run. "The Restaurant" confirmed all of this. Rocco used cooking to find what he really wanted- fame. It's easier to be a famous former chef than a famous actual working chef.
Jerseyjohn at 2:10PM on 12/17/08
He and Bourdain should have a show together during which they just preen and mug for the camera and stroke each other's highly overinflated egos.
simon at 2:20PM on 12/17/08
As somebody who didn't live in NYC during Rocco's critical heyday it doesn't really bother me. He is what he is. Can't fault the guy for making the easy money. Being a chef in a kitchen is an extremely hard, and low paying job compared to the money he can make shilling for Bertolli. Not to mention, the same people who lament his departure from cooking would probably be the first in line to tear him apart if he was to ever open another restaurant again. Why bother putting yourself through that.
That being said, if David Chang ever ended up following the "Rocco" path I would be super disappointed and really critical. So I can see how Union Pacific fans feel the way they do...
Zach Brooks at 2:24PM on 12/17/08
I like Rocco. He was a butt munch on The Restaurant and I believe he knows that now. However, he's trying to fight his way back to being a respected chef and I admire that expecially since a lot of chefs are mugging for the camera now.
ArchieLeach at 2:31PM on 12/17/08
"he's trying to fight his way back to being a respected chef"
He is? How so? Is he cooking?
simon at 2:38PM on 12/17/08
@ robert40: you're not going to get anywhere on the internet being all reasonable and non-hyper-judgmental. Especially if you don't call people you don't know names or make denigrating comments about their appearance while you do it.
ccbweb at 2:57PM on 12/17/08
Yes, I also don't understand why he doesn't get back in the kitchen. In the article he points out he can still cook, but he's apparently completely unwilling to find respectable work again (I don't consider becoming a human ad respectable). He knows he has, or had, the talent, but it's his choice to squander it. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to eat in UP, but watching The Restaurant did make me never want to work in one.
queensblondie at 3:00PM on 12/17/08
I need to find out who this guy's publicist is. He or she is absolutely relentless. Rocco has made the press rounds this past month in the most extraordinary way.
Michele Humes at 3:44PM on 12/17/08
ccbweb, You may be right. LOL
robert40 at 4:04PM on 12/17/08
Zach hit the nail on the head. People asking "I don't see why he doesn't get back in the kitchen" have probably never worked in a kitchen. Obviously, Rocco could get money behind him and open a restaurant and obviously, that's not what he wants. A lot of "celeb chefs" have graduated from actually working in their kitchens. Is he worse for doing it after 1 successful restaurant rather than 5? Not if it brings him to the same ends, which apparently it has. He is motivated by his own happiness rather than your respect for him as a chef.
Big B at 2:33PM on 12/18/08
ed, i have to say i had the same issue with the times article... its as if they didn't do any research on his actual career pre-reality show. he's never lived up to his hype and has always been a petulant, fame-hungry chef.
that said, i had one of the best meals in my jaded life at union pacific in the early days. he had talent. its a shame he took the "star" route.
mycherrypie at 4:54PM on 12/18/08
why doesn't someone smart out there figure out a way for him to cook without having to be responsible for a restaurant 365 days of the year? obviously he is "supernaturally talented" in the kitchen but just doesn't want to deal with the hassle of day in/day out running of a restaurant. lets be selfish and get him cooking in way that he can be successful at it (and we can eat his food)!
robbie805 at 7:01PM on 12/18/08
I understand he is not a management person. So with all his assets and connections why not haul his happy ass back to Restaurant management school and get some education. Get a mentor. Do something other than piss and moan about how it is everyone else's fault.
I saw him on Mike and Juliet in the morning with his mother again this week. I am sure she is proud of him but holy shit stop turning your mother out for TV. There she was hawking his new book and her son. He wonders why people are passing rumors about his sexuality could it be because his mother accompanies him everyplace.
My advise is for him to go back to his roots and cook some great food maybe with an organization that can babysit him. Or go back to school and learn how to turn a profit. It is not a hard formula to learn. Take the talent add the method and turn it around. Stop being a damn whiner.
JerzeeTomato at 11:51AM on 12/20/08
Wow- at least if Rocco DID open a restaurant, he would know that all of you haters or lovers would be customers. He's one of the nicest, most talented guys in the food world. Of course he has an ego, what chef doesn't?!? You have to have some form of an ego when you're competing with 945,000 other restaurants in this country. So do the thousands of investment bankers that walk around NYC- guess what? If investment bankers were on a reality show flaunting their money and skills, they would have even bigger egos too. Is it bad that Rocco wants to get in and teach to mainstream America- I don't think so- I actually think more people should do that.
akap9 at 12:24PM on 12/22/08
I saw him on The Restaurant--I had never heard of him before, actually. Watching him simper for the ladies while his staff was in the weeds made me hate him. What kind of chef opens a restaurant and spends no time in the kitchen? What kind of MAN has his poor old mama making meatballs for the restaurant? Give me a break! I always get the impression that he's waiting to be given a job on the Food Network--like it's his God-given right as a "celebrity chef" and if he can only put his face out there enough, FN will come knocking on his door. I hope that never happens.
Donnamarie at 1:28PM on 12/22/08
Union Pacific was an amazingly delicious restaurant. It opened up new worlds of food and wine appreciation for me--ones that I haven't had equaled, not at Per Se, not at Ko.
I took a date there who swore that she didn't like certain foods and left wanting to know why she'd been so blind all her life. The service was impeccable. And when I was fortunate enough to talk to Chef DiSpirito, he was very modest about it all.
So, enough with the hate. Let's get Rocco back in the kitchen where he belongs.
Thomas_Traveler at 5:19PM on 12/22/08
Great write-up Thomas_traveler...
Donnamarie... by the way... Rocco was on Food Network long before the current Food Network personalities were ever on there.
Anyhow- you'd be surprised by how much time your favorite chefs actually do spend in the kitchen. A chef that actually has the personality to talk to their guests, should.
akap9 at 9:59PM on 12/22/08