Bothameboutasteak?

Tommy, I am so curious as to why you tiresomely defend Rocco Dispirito. You are the only remaining deluded person in the world. He wasn't "portrayed" any way....he Is a huge a**hole. Take it from all who have worked for the guy and have posted here. If I didn't know better, I would suspect that you either are him, or are close to him. And if you are harboring a little crush, well his boy toy, Uzay Toomer, has all those positions filled already.

errr, perhaps that could afford it at that point? Rocco took everyone to The Hamptons as a season finale for NBC. I am sure it cost him nothing, as NBC often picked up the tab when everyone went out drinking. For the blackout in NYC last week, the salaried cooks at Rocco's were docked from their paychecks, which they found out when they opened them this past week. A final slap in the face for many, who promptly took off their aprons and left. Thanks Rocco.

This was the single most annoying post I've read on eGullet. Is it common for you to laugh at yourself, use excessive punctuation, and generally act like a chimp? If you're going to participate in a debate, try and actually make a valid point once in a while. And as Tommy said, try not to play both sides; or even with your extraordinary grasp on the English language, you won't be taken seriously. LOLOLOLOL! OMG WTF!!1 Thanks for the compliment! If you paid attention, I commented on his reputation. His reputation. NOT his cooking demonstrated at UP. This reputation is made up of several components, not just his abilities at the stove.

Bux, you make valid points. Rocco can cook indeed. He just doesn't do it at Rocco's.

Okay. We will all wait until The NYTimes gives it no stars.

Does anybody really take the New York Post seriously? At all? As typically mean-spirited and obnoxious as anything else that appears in that rag, I think I'll ignore it and wait for the Times review. Regardless, I'll probably try Rocco's at some point anyway. Among other things the guy missed the point of the concept, even after watching the show. Not surprising since the staff apparently missed it as well, with the exception of that one guy at the gripe session. Am I the only one aside from Rocco who thinks it's funny to have an Italian-American theme restaurant? Rocco had a mediocre reputation among serious, talented chefs to begin with in New York. Before the show, he was seen as a pretty boy with sufficient talent to open restaurants, but overall, not a contender. Now, well, now.... And everybody here in NYC reads the Post. say what you like about it's reputation, but it is read by many. And if Grimes reviews it, well today he gave Odette Fada from san Domenico ( what used to be the best Italian in NYC), 2 **. And her food is leaps and bounds over the slop served at Rocco's, so I wouldn't hold my breath for Grimes. From what I have seen, Rocco Despirito had a far better reputation among both NY's diners and chefs than the NY Post had among people who could read and write. In terms of restaurant reviews, the Post seems not to have any reputation. I just don't hear anyone mention it or the reviews that appear in it. By the way, I've lived in NYC all my life. More to the point, how long has Rocco's, the restaurant, been serving food? It seems much too short a time for any self respecting journalist or newspaper to write or publish a review. That review appeared so quickly just reminded my of the hatchet job the popular press did on AD/NY when pandering to an audience that would never consider visiting a restaurant like AD/NY. While the review supports all my prejudices about the restaurant as formed from watching the TV show, I can't really say it offered any more insight than watching the show on TV. If Rocco doesn't respect The Post, then why does his publicist call them daily to put him on Page six?? He is literally in the gossip column every day now. The sword cuts both ways.....

He's keeping track of how many of his 15 minutes are left. A huge kiss, if I may, to you, MsRamsey .....brilliant!

and others, of course, think his work at UP has been brilliant. Yep.

Does anybody really take the New York Post seriously? At all? As typically mean-spirited and obnoxious as anything else that appears in that rag, I think I'll ignore it and wait for the Times review. Regardless, I'll probably try Rocco's at some point anyway. Among other things the guy missed the point of the concept, even after watching the show. Not surprising since the staff apparently missed it as well, with the exception of that one guy at the gripe session. Am I the only one aside from Rocco who thinks it's funny to have an Italian-American theme restaurant? Rocco had a mediocre reputation among serious, talented chefs to begin with in New York. Before the show, he was seen as a pretty boy with sufficient talent to open restaurants, but overall, not a contender. Now, well, now.... And everybody here in NYC reads the Post. say what you like about it's reputation, but it is read by many. And if Grimes reviews it, well today he gave Odette Fada from san Domenico ( what used to be the best Italian in NYC), 2 **. And her food is leaps and bounds over the slop served at Rocco's, so I wouldn't hold my breath for Grimes.

Oh Gideon, you poor, poor little man. I just got off the floor from laughing my ass off! I am sorry this was your home run, your big break. What now? Oh, Lordy. Lordy, Lordy!!! Wouldn't want to F&*%$K with NBC???? LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!! I hope your "website" gets lots of hits, LOLOLOLOLOL. I don't give a flying F*&%k what NBC does to anyone! You fail to realize that the COOKs were actually there to COOK!!!!! Jackass....LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. you crack me up, thanks for that.

The show will end as follows: Because none of us had been paid for 3+ weeks, and some excellent staff walked out because of it, Rocco had to pull a rabbit out of his hat. (Even though the "not paid" stuff was done on purpose to create drama, unbeknownst to the staff). And so Rocco announces that we are all invited to the Hamptons on our one day off for fun and games! Whoopee!! And so the fun ensues of much drinking and debauchery etc. What they will show, who knows. Episodes 4 and 5 are supposedly much, much more kitchen staff drama, which has been negligible until now.

Maybe some of our newer members who were on the show can answers this. What are the chances that he is sitting at home watching this for the first time along with us, smacking himself upside the head and calling to scream at his publicist (who he was complaining to in the first episode), Mark Burnett or his dog? Has he been out actively promoting this lately? He doesn't have creative control at all. His "publicist" used to work for NBC and now has several high profile clients, Rocco being the least famous of them all. Is he sitting home? I doubt it...He has not been promoting the show as of late, but NBC is thrilled with the ratings and acclaim so far....so they really don't need Rocco to promote it.

I agree with you in that he is not looking too good at this point. However, I think NBC is going to take this in the other direction in the coming episodes.

EPISODE 105 Stage fright The staff is angry that their paychecks haven't arrived - some of them can't even pay the rent. Rocco's overworked Mom gets sick. Then three of his cooks can't come to work because they got in a bloody bar fight, and Rocco wonders if the bad news will ever end. Bringing food to his sick Mom, Rocco realizes he has been pushing everyone too hard. He decides to work as a server and demonstrate he's part of the team. That night he works with Uzay. Struggling to keep up, Rocco earns the staff's grudging admiration. He also gains a new appreciation for how difficult their jobs are. TV-PG And the fun begins.......

No, he wasn't. And is it just me, or . . . is he really not *that* cute? What I did like was the line cooks sitting around the bar, after their shift, with *no* drinks. Those weren't cooks, they were waitstaff. And no drinks is ludicrous....they drank nonstop!

Bless you Malachi. From what I understand, NBC will be showing more BOH in the 4th and 5th episodes. Whoever this guy or girl is ,who worked or works as a server there cannot argue with the outright idiocy of 90% of the waitstaff hired there.

The last line is very telling, eh? Click here for the review. Soba In the show - there was mention of a NY Times critic who had to leave due to the smoke. Was it Grimes ? What does he look like ? It wasn't Grimes. I believe it was Linda stasi from the Post....but I'm not sure. Grimes wrote a book a few years back and his photo is on the back cover, and posted inside the reservation book of every New York City restaurant!! He looks like a librarian. About 5 feet 10, glasses, darkish, thinning, grayish hair. About 160 lbs. Always eats in a group of 4 or 5 people. Leaves a Queens phone number for confirmation, (718), and uses a credit card with a fake name. "John Mitchell" is one, but he has several.

The fire was 100% unstaged. Rocco had us chopping firewood and putting it on the grill to create a "Woodsy smokiness", and the fire ocurred because the correct insulation was not in place yet for the adjacent wall.

Rocco doesn't have "several " restaurants. He has Union Pacific one block from Rocco's, and consults only on "Tuscan".

Yes. Nancy is a lovely woman who was the pastry chef and worked under insane conditions with the rest of us. Quite talented. Wow, very cool. Thanks for the info. Now watching HER would be something I'd be intersted in.... Yes. Watching Nancy is interesting. But they aren't showing kitchen stuff yet. They should though...

Unfortunately, I am still there until my other job resumes in the fall.

Yes. Nancy is a lovely woman who was the pastry chef and worked under insane conditions with the rest of us. Quite talented.

Tommy boy...nobody was naiive. One does expect the "chef" to make an appearance at least daily in a kitchen where he is filming a TV show for chrissakes. Also...he had no idea what we were making!! None!! There was no "spaghettini al olio" on the menu. He actually hired decent, experienced cooks who were not part of the NBC hiring process.

Well.....Gideon is a whiny bitch. The waitstaff, like I said in earlier posts, was hired because of their drama value. The camera doesn't lie. As for "Union Pacific" employees, they had Rocco to cook with and learn from for a long time. Yeah..he's not there now, but he and all the other guys who work there have been there for awhile.

Elizabeth..that's just the beginning. Like someone says," If I were a celebrity chef...I'd spend more time being a chef, and less time being a celebrity". Indeed....just wait. Cooks start quitting because they signed on to work with Rocco and he's never in the kitchen. The focus of the show begins to go to the real deal after the next episode....