Rocco Radio:The continuing saga of Rocco DiSpirito

[handmc]

Maybe Rocco can become the host for the next Fear Factor or host a reality show from a trailer park next.

The fact that a great restaurant lay in waste, and I'm not speaking of Rocco's, is truly sad.

[jhlurie]

Wow. For all the talk, apparently very few of us were actually interested enough to listen. I guess that, in of itself, probably means something. When even the train wreck holds no interest, it's time to start looking for the next wreck down the tracks...

[mighty quinn]

Maybe Rocco can become the host for the next Fear Factor or host a reality show from a trailer park next.

i'm thinking maybe something with paris hilton??

[Rachel Perlow]

I've listened once so far. Rocco talks too fast.

[Rachel Perlow]

OK, I'm listening over the computer now (click "listen live" link at http://www.wor710.com). He's got Rocky Aoki on today, talking about Benihana, sake, etc.

Edit: After a while it became obvious the main reason for Rocky to be on the show was to promote his Sake Club, click RKA-SakeClub.com.

When I listened the first time, Alton Brown was on and I wasn't sure if Rocco was talking too fast because Alton was talking fast too. Rocco is still talking too fast. I think it's contagious, because Rocky is talking a little fast too. Also, the commercials, especially the restaurant commercials, do seem a little more intrusive then when AS was at the helm.

Edited October 20, 2004 by Rachel Perlow (log)

[suzilightning]

and he was on Tony Danza's show this morning(hey, it was on in the gym)...didn't even bother to put my book down and watch once i saw A) it was Rocco and B) he was on Tony Danza's show......ewwwwwww

[Northshore]

and he was on Tony Danza's show this morning(hey, it was on in the gym)...didn't even bother to put my book down and watch once i saw A) it was Rocco and B) he was on Tony Danza's show......ewwwwwww

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Rocco talks too fast. Rocco talks down at his listeners, whether he realizes it or not. He must remember he is not funny. A woman asked the other day a question as she was having a big anniversary affair and asked for some food help, he tried to be cute by commenting that she was having an anniversary and an affair at the same time. He just does not seem to be the right person for a show that talks about restaurants when he is a restauranter. I feel WOR really picked the wrong guy.

[fiftydollars]

But what I didn't like was that he recommended she bake a bunch of halibut, covered with olive oil and herbs.  Just didn't seem like a good dish to cook, refrigerate and serve cold as a luncheon main course...but to each his/her own.

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This sounds like an escabeche, which is actually very good and about my favorite way of eating cooked fish cold.

I don't imagine his cooking advice will be all that bad. He is, no matter what sort of embarrassments he has put himself through recently, a talented cook. Just because he can't manage a restaurant, runs with degenerate convicts (Chodorow), and spends his time whoring for media attention in a manner that would make Paris Hilton proud... doesn't mean the guy can't teach Rose from New Jersey, Sophie Glickstein from Great Neck, or Stella Esposito from Astoria a thing or two about dining, cooking and all-around cuisine. He's still the effin' Rocco DiSpirito that has spent the majority of his adult life behind a stove in some of New York's best restaurants.

[suzilightning]

This sounds like an escabeche, which is actually very good and about my favorite way of eating cooked fish cold.

isn't escabeche poached? at least that was how it was taught to me.

he may be a good chef. don't know - just know my sil was conned into spending 50.00 for her brother's dinner at the late, perhaps unlamented rocco's...

[fiftydollars]

isn't escabeche poached?  at least that was how it was taught to me.

he may be a good chef.  don't know  - just know my sil was conned into spending 50.00 for her brother's dinner at the late, perhaps unlamented rocco's...

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I think you're right... I believe an escabeche is usually poached or fried fish that is marinated and served cold. I have seen the preparation made in various ways, but I'll admit I have never seen it as described by Rocco (baked covered in olive oil and herbs). My main point is that I really do love escabeche and I don't care who knows it!

Edited October 20, 2004 by fiftydollars (log)

[KatieLoeb]

My understanding from working with an Argentine chef is that escabeche is raw fish that has boiling hot oil poured over it that cooks it med-rare quickly in the hot oil. Sort of a quick oil poach without complete submersion.

[chezcherie]

. He's still the effin' Rocco DiSpirito that has spent the majority of his adult life behind a stove in some of New York's best restaurants.

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he grew up?

Edited October 20, 2004 by chezcherie (log)

[Rachel Perlow]

Here we go again. It's "Wino Wednesday" but there's a different wine guy (Fred Prince), not Carol Burman.

[Rosie]

Yes, I miss Carol Berman and her "wine of the week" recommendation as well as Arthur.

[richw]

Caught a portion of Rocco's show today.  Rose from New Jersey asked him for a "dairy" luncheon main course for 15 people which she could make the day before and just bring out of the fridge and serve with side dishes. 

O.K. I forgive him asking if bacon was okay to use... (it wasn't) and if shellfish was okay (it wasn't)...because he was trying to narrow down parameters...He also said he is very knowledgeable about kosher cuisine because he used to work for a prestigious kosher caterer.  Wow, didn't know that. 

But what I didn't like was that he recommended she bake a bunch of halibut, covered with olive oil and herbs.  Just didn't seem like a good dish to cook, refrigerate and serve cold as a luncheon main course...but to each his/her own.

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I also read somewhere that he did a culinary externship early in his career in Israel. Not sure where, Caesaria comes to mind.

[Jen Keenan]

After reading this thread yesterday, I set my clock radio (which goes on at 11am) to WOR. This morning: David Rosengarten, with a side of Mamma and some nice listener from Chicago who was probably the most helpful person on the show.

What pissed me off is that Rocco doesn't listen to anyone. He also doesn't seem to believe that there is such a thing as the average home cook. I mean, some nice old guy calls up and wants to know what's wrong with his oregano and why his wife complained about OD'ing on oregano. Of course, that's not how they phrased it; they presented the question as "where do I get the bestest, freshest oregano?" Probably as a nod to Rosengarten, the king of ingredient shopping. It became evident during the conversation this guy doesn't know the difference between fresh and dried herbs and probably substituted one for one.

Did ANYONE pick up on this? No! They make shopping suggestions, David shilling for Food Emporium now, and Rocco makes vapid comments about how great oregano is. I almost called in to say something helpful – after all, Rocco kept saying "this show is all about you..." At that point, though, I was so irritated that I shut off the radio halfway through the show and got up.

So I'm going to keep listening. Even if it's out of irritation, anything that gets me out of bed is a good thing.

[howard88]

Damn. What a rough crowd.

I liked Arthur and listened as often as possible.

I would have preferred Rosengarten since I just like his style or

a melange of hosts to keep some energy in the show.

Rocco comes across as pleasant and personable.

He is food knowledgeable and is obviously trying to ingratiate himself

with the audience.

He acknowledged Arthur's role and impact on the radio and

is attracting and booking quality chefs and food personalities to

share the time.

Give the guy a break.

I think he's had a rough year.

[Toliver]

Give the guy a break.

I think he's had a rough year.

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It'd be quite a different story if Rocco hadn't been the one wielding the machete that chopped his own career to bits.

[howard88]

O.K. So Rocco may have shot himself in the foot a few times and, o.k. it may have been in front of a few million viewers.

To keep wanting him to pay for hoisting his own self up by his own petards doesn't really serve anyone.

To have talent and ability and decent communication skills and I might aid to take risks is to be admired. Not every risk pays off.

Who among us hasn't F'd up once in a while, especially in those younger days.

[jgm]

O.K. So Rocco may have shot himself in the foot a few times and, o.k. it may have been in front of a few million viewers.

To keep wanting him to pay for hoisting his own self up by his own petards doesn't really serve anyone.

To have talent and ability and decent communication skills and I might aid to take risks is to be admired.  Not every risk pays off.

Who among us hasn't F'd up once in a while, especially in those younger days.

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So many of us admire Bourdain, but wouldn't have, when he was in his younger days (according to his own description). Personally, I'm looking forward to Rocco's big comeback. An older and wiser Rocco might have some pretty interesting contributions. Some people don't become great artists until they've suffered enough.

[jhlurie]

O.K. So Rocco may have shot himself in the foot a few times and, o.k. it may have been in front of a few million viewers.

To keep wanting him to pay for hoisting his own self up by his own petards doesn't really serve anyone.

To have talent and ability and decent communication skills and I might aid to take risks is to be admired.  Not every risk pays off.

Who among us hasn't F'd up once in a while, especially in those younger days.

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The thing is... those communication skills are debateable. Actually, they seem pretty poor.

The ongoing "problem" with Rocco though may be a lack of self-awareness. Is he caught in some pattern where he's still mystified about why he's now a zero, or does he realize it was his own ego? Is he passing the blame and claiming that Mark Burnett or Jeffrey Chowdrow or the ignorant American public or even just "bad luck" did him in, or can he admit he did it to himself? If he could, then sure... it could be a folly of his relative youth.

He's got to reinvent himself, that's for sure.

[Phatlouie07]

i saw him on oprah one time..yeah he does talk too fast...he's hit rockbottom..anyone think he'll ever go back into a kitchen? he pretty much screwed up a promising career in the restaurant buisness. guess he spends more time primping his face for the camera than being behind the stove.

[Chris Amirault]

What pissed me off is that Rocco doesn't listen to anyone.

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It strikes me that -- in the admittedly dispiriting portrayal of the boy chef on The Restaurant, which I'm sure was tweaked for maximum annoyance -- one of Rocco's biggest problems, particularly when talking to Chodorow, was his inability to get what people was telling him, often quite bluntly. So it doesn't come as such a shock that he cannot listen to a call-in radio fan -- though it does beg the question about his choice of a new job.

Given his adorable mug, I'm surprised that he's on radio and not TV anyway.... As Emeril has demonstrated, one doesn't need to be able to listen at all when on Food TV.

[Pezchef]

Did I hear that Mamma DiSpirito had some sort of Heart operation? What happened? Can someone fill me in?

[Fay Jai]

WHOA!

He's on the cover of "Woman's World" Magazine, (available at a fine supermarket near you,) wearing the cheesiest grin I've ever seen and more makeup on a man since Tim Curry in the Rocky Horror Picture Show.