We Love To Hate -- Rocco DiSpirito

I used to like Rocco.
Cute and endearing on the surface. Recently, I caught an episode of The Restaurant2 (don't ask) and turned my opinion 180 degrees. In the episode I saw, he fired the head chef of his restaurant for (what sounded like) legitimate reasons... being a yes-man during meetings, then going back to the kitchen and continuing to run things the way he always had, which just happen to have resulted in success. Rocco called the chef's actions insubordination. The more I watched, the more it sounded more like a power play by Rocco.

After firing the head chef, Rocco volunteers to chef until they can hire a replacement. Rocco steps in, much to the dismay of the rest of the kitchen staff, makes a few meals, then sneaks up to make an appearance in the dining room. Busy looking cute and making new friends, Rocco forgets all about the poor chefs still in the kitchen, causing restaurant patrons to not only have to wait more than an hour to be served appetizers, but some are never served at all. Bad business, Rocco.

With the failure of the restaurant, Rocco is putting his name on lots of new stuff like wine clubs, items at QVC (yeah, Rocco is really using that FoodSaver, I'll bet), and of course tons of cookbooks. For only double the price, you can have Rocco write a personal message in your signed copy. For my $75, Rocco better give me more than a little ink.

You can read the transcripts of Rocco's radio appearances here. I'll summarize what you'll find there: lots of lame jokes by Rocco who is only interested in accessing your dollars. If you are a freshly implanted 20-year-old, Rocco might be willing to share his 5-minute flavor.