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On the heels of chatting with our new friend, John, the kitchen manager at Rocco's, Gothamist decided it was only right to eat at Rocco's. We managed to get a reservation this past Saturday at 9PM - "primo time" as John put it. Saturday morning, just as we started our fasting going over our list of things to try (chicken under a brick), we learned that John had been fired. What?!? Why? What was going on? Why was Rocco firing his kitchen manager, one of the most important pieces of the puzzle, a seasoned back of the house restaurant guy with 15-20 years experience?
Gothamist doesn't have all the facts yet, but, amidst the effluvia of bad reviews (zero stars from the NY Post!!) and buzz about the turnover, not to mention our own readers' thoughts, we have our hypotheses (Was John perhaps getting a little too popular, with the NY Post and Good Day New York interviewing him? Or is Rocco just whimsical and not a great manager?) and we'll see how they test out. But now our meal, besides being an an opportunity for us to see how Rocco's really is, would be an attempt to get some more information about John's dismissal from the one person who would be cranking in the kitchen with him at 6:30AM: Mama DiSpirito.
A rundown of the experience:
- Mob of out of town women taking pictures outside.
- Inside, it was humid and hot, as if the air-conditioning wasn't working.
- Restaurant buzzing with people: Basically people marginally more sophisticated than a tourist visiting the Hard Rock Cafe. Girls were slutted up, guys were slicked back. Everyone was pretty cheesy. Gothamist was disappointed. Maybe we shouldn't have been, having seen the episodes with the loud, rude clientele, but we thought that was just reality TV.
- Server was nice enough, but spacey and not too attentive.
- More senior server, who cut a dashing pony-tailed figure, started to pay attention to us, and his professionalism was breathtaking. Unsurprisingly, he had been at Union Pacific for four years. When we noted how all the tables looked to be single sex, only males or only females, he walked off. At first, Gothamist thought we had offended him. As it turns out, he actually made a round of the entire restaurant. He said, "That's funny - I thought you just meant the tables near you, but you're right." (Of course, we were, we're Gothamist.) He also said there was tons of girls, and while he'd seen "Rocco fans" at Union Pacific, this was crazy. Rocco's certainly has "the gays" and "the girls" on that night.
- Appetizers: Mama's meatballs, fried zucchini flowers, caprese. Meatballs were sublime; caprese was caprese; fried zucchini was greasy, but Gothamist guesses that's what we get when we order "fried."
- Entrees: Chicken under a brick; mixed parmagiana. Again, pretty good but greasy. We weren't sure if that was a function of the dishes' ingredients or just a problem with the actual cooking. We do know that K was ill the next morning.
- Dessert: Chocolate cassata and poached cherries with gelato. Both were heavenly. Also, the dashing server gave us some complimentary Brachetto and that's when we fell in love with him.
- Recommendation: For a Flatiron Jimmy's Downtown (when we went there, we wondered if that was a hooker waiting outside...but no, it was a dubiously dressed patron smoking outside) feel, go to Rocco's, because that's the crowd you'll get. Think Soprano's on East 22nd. Food wise, either go early for some meatballs and a drink or late to have dessert and some dessert wine, but not an entire meal.
The real excitement was when we met Mama. Seventy-eight years old and slaving her days in the kitchen and working the restaurant at night. A marvel. She came over and hugged us. A lot. After telling her how much we loved the meatballs, we asked, "Are you going to write a cookbook?" "Maybe I do! People tell me that," she said. At the very least, some sort of cooking column, Gothamist suggested. We chatted about how she was in the kitchen at 8 this morning, then we went in for the proverbial kill: "So, Mama, our friend worked here." "Oh, really?" "Yeah. John. John C---." Mama gave us a look and said, "John?" "The kitchen manager?" we offered, now realizing Mama was stalling - John had just worked there the day before. And the day before. And the day before. Mama paused, stop talking, and then said, "Oh, my throat is hurting me." Can't fool us, Mama, you're a sharp lady, we know you know something. We settled with stumping Mama and let her "rest" her throat (we do tend to respect our elders, especially elders who can cook a mean meatball). Then Mama regained her voice and lectured us about relationships ("You need trust!") and marriage.
Once we find out more, we'll post on it, but many readers are already railing against Rocco's management tactics. Till then:
- Recipe for Mama's meatballs and the process
- Rocco's "blog" on the OPEN site [Via Gawker]
- More Rocco's reviews
- Gothamist's trip to the Olive Garden, an establishment whose name has been invoked more than twice in relation to Rocco's
- Go see Gypsy on Broadway (all this talk about Mama...)
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I don't know what that is in the picture, but i doubt it's as good as the "Tour of Italy" I had at the Olive Garden.
what exactly is that a picture of?
The first word that came to mind was "slop".
I think there's a veal or chicken under that cheese and sauce but it really does look like something you can get at the corner pizzaria. Maybe it tastes better but I dunno. Sure doesn't look like much.
Funny, maybe it's that I haven't gotten lunch yet, but that pile of slop looks delicious.
Good grief, Jen. A pun? Between A Rocco And A Hard Place? Yikes.
I was reading Time Out recently--which alone merits another posting on another day--and I noticed nearly every article title was a pun, and the majority of those were extremely lame. I wasn't aware Time Out had moved into the realm of the sports page and boutique/specialty stores. (Remember The Lumbar Yard, where Elaine's boyfriend got her a custom mattress, from a Seinfeld episode?)
Damn puns!
It certainly doesn't look worthy of the probable pain associated with catching a table at the latest upscale tourist haunt
I know it's cheesy, but I thought my pun was funny.
Rocco's is an opportunity to see how the other half lives. I don't know what that other half is. All I know is that I hated the crowd there. But then again, I'm picky. And punny.
Not as cheesy as the mixed parmiagiana. Actually, your pun made me chuckle in anticipation of you trashing Rocco's. You didn't really. I know it's probably mixing apples and oranges (then again, maybe not), but since you mentioned it, how did the whole experience compare to Gothamist's Olive Garden caper???
Remember the cutlery store at the shopping mall on The Simpsons: "It's a Wonderful Knife."
Ha! Knife! Life! Pun-tastic!
Well, we had low expectations going in with the Olive Garden...since we had a big group, that was pretty fun. At Rocco's, we're thinking, ah, here's the chef from Union Pacific, he wants to prove his chops with his own Italian place...so it was more of a disappointment. But as I said, the meatballs are great, as are the two desserts I mentioned. If it's not so busy, it's a nice space.
I think the dish that's pictured belongs here...
http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html
"I know it's cheesy..."
Ha! Another pun! I get it!!!
I got pun fever and I can't stop! Oy.
The Washington Post's food critic commented in his on-line chat today that while critics differ in the way they do their jobs, having the NY Post critic person there on the second night, supposedly even identified on television, was just very "bad form."
Toward the very end of the chat:
http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/03/r_food_sietsema080603.htm
Jen - I may be crazy, but I'm pretty sure Mama was hitting on me at dinner. During her elaborate speech on trust/relationships, not only did she have her arm around me, I think I saw her wink once or twice. It looks like the meatball did not roll far from the plate - whatever that means.
T, you're right - Mama was really friendly with you. One possibility is that you reminded her of her own daughter/niece, as you have that ability to look so many different races.
Rocco's is perhaps the worst resturant I've been to in the past few years. The food is awful, the crowd is awful, the decor is REALLY awful. I give it another 12 weeks to live.
The whole critic thing was a debacle. She is the TV critic, not food, and it's pretty certain that Rocco's PR guy twisted himself in a knot getting her there. That in mind, you would think that someone in charge of minding Rocco would have paid better attention. (Or were they secretly hoping he would behave just the way he did?)
Thanks for an amazing review!
Is it just me or has anyone noticed the constant Coors and Amex mentions in the show?
In every episode they fit in both and its not even subtle... totally scripted!
Rocco is so fake it kills me.
I hear you JessiePink, I thought it was a commercial when I first turned it on. More ridiculous even than the copious footage of Amex-swipes and Coors being poured was the scene where Rocco is in his office lamenting their financial losses, then suddenly says something very close to "I know what I'll do! I'll have my assistant apply for a line of credit with [whatever the name of Amex's small business program is]!"
Hey! Problem solved!
He's giving us Italians a bad name!
the NY Post critic wasn't even a food critic; she was a tv critic. real food critics work hard to be incognito and some even wear disguises. she was yet another diner taking advantage of the camera. i hate it when journalists make other journalists look bad.
See what I mean?!
Read this Sundays post and see all the other product placement deals Rocco's got.... ones I didnt catch.
"Look... Rocco's SUV is being towed"
Okay, but I'm still gonna watch tonight :)
Thanks for clearing up the confusion about the critic. I didn't watch the show and was going by a Washington Post chat . . .
Does Rocco have a nose job?
I have had nightmares after watching the last 2 episodes of The Restaurant. I dreamed we sat there 3 hours, only had a salad and then received a bill for $427 to which the waiter said that the minimum for coming in the joint was $50. After reading the reviews of Rocco's on the internet, maybe it's a premonition. What do you think?
I think Rocco is kinda a perv
I wish I had started a log of product placements from the first episode. It's hilarious. And, I believe the line was "Rocco's MITSUBISHI is being towed."
Also, I wish I had started a log of the "oh, the camera just happened to be in this person's apartment when the phone rings" moments.
If these were drinking games, the audience would be in a product-placed, poorly scripted stupor.
What gets me is the time when the staffs paychecks were delayed and Rocco came up with a brilliant idea,"Hey, let's use our Amex small business credit and pay our employees!"
You’re telling me that with all this backing, product placement, overpriced food and packed very night evenings you can’t pay your staff?!
Rocco is a sell out! I would never grace that place even for curiosity!
Just a note to everyone.... remember that whomever was hired for the show had to sign a waiver that they could not speak of or interview with anyone while filming was taking place and before the shows actually aired...... the good news is ...... now anyone can talk about it and its not a pretty picture....... I had someone near and dear to me who was selected to be on the show and they didn't show her but a few flash seconds during the entire 6 weeks..... she was not one of the main people because she was in the kitchen and very serious about her "JOB" of cooking and took alot of heat from people barking orders........ theres more where that came from and if anyone ever wanted an interview, boy could she give one..... if she didn't I certainly would... let's just say, I was totally disappointed with everything that happened...... No, she was not fired.... she waited and hung in there until it was all over and even a few weeks past the airing then quit because of the lack of professionalism that went on........ should we say disgusted .......
talk back....
I don´t know what to say about the food in that plate but one thing I´ve learned from watchin the show is they know nothing about food presentation.
We just visited NY City for the first time this past weekend myself , wife, and my daughter. We really enjoyed our visit to the city. The worst experience of the whole trip was to? you guessed it ROCCO'S sum it up IT SUCKED , BAD FOOD , OVERPRICED. We had two orders of spaghetti and meatballs and one order of spaghettini which came to lets see 17+17+13= $47 for some of the sorriest spaghetti and bread I've ever eaten but when they brought the bill I thought well that won't be too bad they really wanted to eat there because of the TV show and all but then to my surprise was the bill 50 no 60 no but get this over 70 dollars approx. $75 you do the math. We had iced tea to drink? surprise $21.00 for Tea needless to say I was Not Happy so if you read this take some advice save your money it won't be hard to find a better place to eat. We are from Virginia and to make a comparison our fast food Italian Fazollis is 100% better. Aldos In Va. Beach is 200% better so Rocco should take a Vacation sometime and eat some real Italian Food .
Why is it that so many people are shocked at the bad atmosphere and/or service at Rocco's? It's in New York afterall. Rocco's is just trying to live up to other reputations.
TV producers are very smart. America is board. If you don't think they are making millions on advertisement. Then keep watching.The more crazy the show the more we watch.
MR. ROCCO I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO YOUR RESTAURANT BUT I AM SURE THAT IT IS A GREAT PLACE. I AM AVON LADY AND MY POINT TO THIS IS THAT IN ORDER TO MAKE YOUR BUSSINESS GREAT AND WONDERFULL MAKE SURE THAT GOD IS IN FRONT OF IT. IT WOULD BE A GREAT PLEASURE TO MEET YOU ONE DAY.
YOUR FRIEND
OLGA
hi
when are you going to air "the resturant" on t.v.
I miss you guys
espically mama
please let me know
I turn (Iowa channel) 7 and no Rocco's on
so what's going on???
thanks please let me know
I get bummed out when your not on
a concerned viewer from cedar rapids, Iowa
sherry kunce
hi
when are you going to air "the resturant" on t.v.
I miss you guys
espically mama
please let me know
I turn (Iowa channel) 7 and no Rocco's on
so what's going on???
thanks please let me know
I get bummed out when your not on
a concerned viewer from cedar rapids, Iowa
sherry kunce
hi
when are you going to air "the resturant" on t.v.
I miss you guys
espically mama
please let me know
I turn (Iowa channel) 7 and no Rocco's on
so what's going on???
thanks please let me know
I get bummed out when your not on
a concerned viewer from cedar rapids, Iowa
sherry kunce
Hello Mr.Rocco's,
Thanks to your resturant and have not been there but i love the resturant. i base in china and china is highest country in the world that consume a lot of food. And in china food is more important than money and the love food and it gives them joy. and the most important point is that with the chinese population the never cook at home,mother,father and children eat in resturant and the eat day and night. And the funny thing is that without food the can not work, and some factory in china keep works give them food and the will be working and the labor is so cheap and the work's very hard. i tell you the brazil resturant china are making good money in china and in one year the have open in one city 4 branches and all are doing so good and i beleive your restrant will also do very good and i will help to get at list african's customers. if you are intrested you can contact me on phone or mail : 0086-13724880789 0r 0086-13798016043. then i will tell more about food in china.