Results tagged “roccodispirito”

This week's NY Times Dining section has a long profile about Jamaica, Queens native Rocco DiSpirito, who many in the dining biz have criticized for focusing on TV shows and cookbooks when he could be running a restaurant. Some, like cookbook author Michael Rhulman, believe "he’s almost gotten to the point where people in the food world feel sorry for him and want him back." Others, like former NY Mag critic Gael Greene, opine, "I do believe that ‘Dancing With the Stars’ is kind of the last stop. I don’t understand—has he totally lost that passion to cook?" In his defense, DiSpirito paints himself as a populist who loves "advocating" for the "general public." But Ed Levine at Serious Eats scoffs at that, slamming DiSpirito and the Times in a fun blog post: "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."

The Insatiable Critic brings concrete news of Borough Food and Drink's imminent demise. According to Eric Lemonides and Jason Weiner, both of "much loved" Almond and Almoncello in the Hamptons, the space will transform into "an American bistro, 'totally affordable, with strong French roots.'"

Like a Jedi knight with an offset spatula, pastry chef Jehangir Mehta switched over to the savory side last September when he opened his first restaurant Graffiti in the East Village. Armed with a few induction burners and assorted kitchen gadgets, Graffiti’s 4-person staff prepares and serves Mehta’s eclectic food out of a pint-sized kitchen. Before Graffiti, Mehta worked with Jean Georges Vongerichten, Rocco DiSpirito, and lots of other chefs. He was most recently pastry chef at Aix.

What’s worth watching on food-related TV this week?

What's worth watching, food-wise, on TV this week?

-Food and Wine magazine released its Best New Chefs 2007 list earlier this week. April Bloomfield, the 32 year-old chef and co-owner of West Village gastropub The Spotted Pig, is among the ten honorees to be featured in the magazine’s July issue. Eater attended Wednesday night’s announcement party at 7 World Trade Center and watched “everyone who has ever been on an episode of Top Chef” party like it was 1999, the not-so-distant year that Rocco DiSpirito was named a F&W Best New Chef.

We were fascinated by today's Salon article, "Bad Taste," in which prominent food writers chronicle their absolute worst meals ever. Jane and Michael Stern, Regina Schrambling, Steven Rinella, Julie Powell, Michael Ruhlman and Robert Sietsema all chime in with stories of "washcloth steak," "embryonic duckling boiled alive in its shell, one week before birth," (apparently a Filipino delicacy), and "mealy" skate with "low-tide nasty" lobster foam, prepared by Rocco DiSpirito.

January 12: Restaurants from the Inside Out

May 14th & 15th: The Ninth Avenue International Food Festival

Flavor, by Rocco DiSpirito (Hyperion, 2003)

When Gothamist first heard that the reality-TV-based infamy that was Rocco's (a.k.a. NBC's "The Restaurant") would be replaced by a Brazilian-themed "Brasserio," we chuckled. Seemed like quite a random departure from the previous incarnation of upscale-yet-kitschy Italian Americana. But then again, wasn't that the point? To try to make people forget the unforgettable bickering and lawsuits that led chef Rocco DiSpirito and restauranteur vet Jeffrey Chodorow to split?

The other shoe has finally dropped for Rocco DiSpirito. The celebrity chef who sold his soul for the NBC reality series "The Restaurant" has now lost not only the restaurant that bears his name, but the restaurant that made it.

The lawsuit stems over a fight for control over Rocco's, the subject of the NBC reality show, 'The Restaurant". DiSpirito says he owns half of the restaurant while Chodorow says he never agreed to any ownership role for DiSpirito. Chodorow and his partners in China Grill Management sued DiSpirito because they accused him mismanaging the restaurant. DiSpirito counter-sued alleging that Chodorow and his partners fudged the numbers to make the restaurant look less successful than it really was.

Laurie Woolever, Cook/Food Writer

[Via TMFTML]

The new season of The Restaurant starts on April 19. Maybe for May sweeps, NBC will have Donald Trump fire everyone at Rocco's.

Mama DiSpririto, a word of advice: After you spank Rocco, you should go out on your own, opening a tiny shop that serves early dinner and that's it.

Movies that make you hungry: Big Night, Eat Drink Man Woman, Babette's Feast, Like Water for Chocolate.

The Post tallies up the city's most eligible bachelors (and, yes, the usual suspects are there, like Derek Jeter, Rocco DiSpirito and Adrien Brody as well as some not so usual, like Billy Crudup – who knew the dump the soon to be mother of my child type which is hot to Page Six and homophobe Jeremy Shockey; Gothamist, though, is thrilled with the inclusion of chef Marcus Samuelsson, sigh). The Post also adds what their pros and cons would be. A few examples:

Last night, Rocco DiSpirito's reality show, The Restaurant, premiered and the Times' food critic William Grimes reviewed the show in the weekend's Arts & Leisure section. (Gothamist is curious if one of the TV critics Alessandra Stanley or Julie Salomon or even Caryn James - who we haven't seen much of lately - will be reviewing Rocco's On 22nd Street, the restaurant, as a restaurant then?) Biff loves the "thrilling" glimpse into what goes into making a New York restaurant buzz, but was also reminded of "the unholy alliance of creativity, money and public relations that dominates New York's restaurant economy." The LA Times on the show and Newsday on Rocco's mother, Niccolina, who was his mentor of sorts.

The Daily News says there are operational issues with Rocco's reality restaurant. Like no one could see that one coming. Gothamist is still excited about the Southern Italian restaurant, Rocco, since it involves TV and food, two of our most favorite things. If Sam Waterston played the manager, we'd be living there. We just suggest that there's an inverse relationship between hotness of restaurant staff and actually getting a meal.

Gothamist cannot wait to go to "Restaurant," the new restaurant/reality series from Rocco DiSpirito (Union Pacific), Mark Burnett (Survivor), and NBC (Channel 4 here in NY). There's nothing we like more than food and a little insanity. The Times Styles section looks what seems to be a hilarious casting/hiring process, as employees need to be competent but cute. But in a city of actors who work as watiers, Gothamist has to hand it to the genius of Mark Burnett to capitalize on it.