Suicide Watch: Rocco DiSpirito’s Career Falls Apart

The Restaurant

By B-Side | Wednesday, September 29, 2004 | 10:02 am | 4 Comments

120903rocco2.jpg

“Ladies and gentlemen: I suck.”

If there’s anything narcisists don’t like, it’s failure – because then people stop paying attention to them. So I can only imagine the asshole Rocco DiSpirito has become to his thankless staff now that both of his restaurants are shutting down. Yes, hapless tourists. You heard correctly. Both Rocco’s 21 and Union Pacific will be no more by the end of the year. Actually, Rocco’s 21 (the subject of The Restaurant) has already thrown out its new barstools, pushed the yenta waitress to the curb, and closed down shop – so if you’re flying in from Wisconsin to eat Mama’s meatballs and get a kiss from Rocco, you might want to go see Cats instead. Oh, actually, that’s closed too. Well, there’s always Hard Rock.

In the case of Union Pacific, Rocco’s more prestigious effort, apparently the stink of DiSpirito brought that establishment to a halt also. This means that by the end of December, celebrity chef Rocco will have no restaurants to cook in. Does this mean he’ll just flitter away into oblivion (or the next Surreal Life season), or is he going to attack the talk show circuit with the annoying tenacity of Steven Cojocuru? Let’s hope he just goes away.

For more information, check out the article in New York Times Online. Registration required. Thanks to TVgasm reader Jash for giving us the heads up.

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4 Comments

  1. 1
    jash
    Posted September 29, 2004 at 11:08 am

    seriously.

    this guy blows.

    i love how he tried to hard to make roccos 22 work, as evidenced on the TGI Fridays version of the apprentice, yet in focusing attention on that piece of crap faux-talian food, his crown jewel union pacific lost a star last winter!

    d’oh!

  2. 2
    Lady J
    Posted September 30, 2004 at 1:21 pm

    That’s Rocco’c 22 (for it’s 22nd Street location). I look down on it from my office. A lot of restaurants have failed at that address in the last several years.

  3. 3
    mick
    Posted October 3, 2004 at 2:51 pm

    b-side…you are the joint.
    i don’t know if i have ever used the word comeuppance, but it pops into my head. I can still hear that idiot lady state, “A trip to the “city” is not complete without coming to Rocco’s.” Good, I hope she never comes back. This Narcissistic asshole with hairplugs,(yes!)
    will re-emerge with a sex scandal, ala McGreevy. I just borrowed Stacie from the Apprentice’s Magic 8 ball for that one.
    My spelling sucks-Mick

  4. 4
    Juliette Rossant
    Posted October 22, 2004 at 7:04 pm

    See superchefblog articles:

    Video Killed the Radio Star: Can Radio Resurrect Rocco DiSpirito?
    Rocco DiSpirito: Be Warned by Me!
    Claude Troisgros: Riding de Rocco DiSpirito Star
    Rocco: Trapped in Reality TV’s Twilight Zone?
    Rocco Barred from Reality TV Restaurant

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