No doubt man. I used to serve at an applebees in Carson City and LOVED it. The comradery was great, and during snow days and Christmas it would be so awesome to go into work and serve people coming in from the cold. I have actually looked into becoming a chef and then moving to New York to gain that experience like "The Restaurant" had. I was a cook during the day and server or expo at night. I actually almost got on to Kitchen Nightmares. I made it past the preliminary open casting call in Las Vegas, but I couldn't continue because of a personal matter.
1:17:20 - It is incredible how removed from reality DiSpirito is regarding this restaurant. Chodorow put over 4 million dollars in the business. DiSpirito brought his name, and that 'brand' value was overstated. The proper title for the show should have been The Restaurant: How to Kill Your Business in Less Than Two Years.
I've watched this show several times here on RU-vid, always trying to figure out how it went wrong. And I finally figured it out. At 1:11:41, Chodorow hits the nail on the head. Rocco was never in it to make money. He was in it to become a star.
Jeffrey is a better boss than Rocco; he recognizes Tony's talent and wants to give him a raise; Rocco's ego got the worst of him and decides to fire him; BIG mistake!! Rocco also said what Jeffrey supposedly said and that's a lie!
What a stupid statement. Tony was the only one who was actually taking initiative in the kitchen and making sure the customers actually got food to eat while Rocco was whoring himself out to the public. Rocco was just the name him saying he owned 50% of that company was like me saying I play for Yankees@@brockhershey414
This show was never about the “Restaurant.” It was about Roco trying to become a real celebrity. I remember when this was on TV it was kind of a big hit at first and Roco was all over TV in various ways. But it eventually fizzled out.
Rocco is a great example of a spoiled, narcissistic, good for nothing, Italian mamma's boy - in the worst extreme. I mean, as a child he refused to allow his parent's to speak their native language. How absolutely shameful! His mother sure did a terrible job raising him. To this day she spoils and panders to his piss poor behavior. Having actually eaten his food, as well, I can also say that his food is fabulously subpar. He's a joke in the NY restaurant scene.
Heather Houston I thought it was awful that he didn’t allow his parents to speak their native language. However, on the show Rocco and mama are in the kitchen and he is speaking to her in Italian. So I am gonna say that his parents not speaking Italian at home is a lie. If they did not speak it at home he would not have learned to speak it so well.
I love the moments in the series in which DiSpirito re-awakened and marched into the kitchen - HIS WORLD. Forget the celebrity, forget the attention - THIS IS WHERE HE BELONGS. Twenty minutes later, he is chasing tail in the dining room.
Every episode is here on my channel Episodes are combined with edited out commercials They are in different parts like part 1 season 1 or part 2 season 1 etc. Only 2 seasons aired These aren't available anywhere
39:04 he doesnt trust anyone but he leaves the kitchen in the middle of service to slack off in the restaurant . the staff should have walked out after he fired tony.
If Rocco didn’t have such a big ego, he could have learned something from his partner. Rocco says he is tired and that the restaurant wasn’t what he envisioned? He was definitely part of the design team and had full control of the menu. What else was he looking for? He was never at the restaurant, so how could he say he was tired? He alone let the place go down due to his negligence and lack of experience. He may have been a good cook but he definitely wasn’t a good business man. His mother worked more than he did! He thought he would be the hero and swoop in to save the day. However, the day was already over. Chodorow saw the issues and immediately had to take control of the situation and bring in a professional task team to get the restaurant back on track. Rocco’s leadership was like a bunch of Sesame Street characters working in Lala land.
I love how Rocco always says to Jeffrey how he really wants the restaurant to work, that's all he's ever wanted and he'll do anything to make it work...yet doesn't do everything to make it work or want to do anything Jeffrey wants to do lol. Is this all just for dramatic effect for the show?
Girl to friend "U dont have a job, u dont know when you'll get another job or how much money you will be making". I wonder how long she's been into Motivational work lol
She SKINS her KNEE and calls him away from the restaurant? "He's in Rocco world...." It's called being at his JOB. They're such creeps. Those two deserved each other.
Rocco (like he said himself) is a narcissist. This series should be shown to people in churches and management everywhere so they can see just how narcissists destroy everything they touch, sabotage themselves and use other people mercilessly. Rocco, like narcissists do loved to be in the spotlight and be seen. Narcissists love shallow, quick conversations. They love touch and go living. Narcissistic pastors thrive on communication being ONE SIDED. Rocco promised his staff things in season one and then criticized them repeatedly when his vision proved to be the problem. As the season wore of we saw how his narcissism and need to be viewed as special and infallible made me slowly separate from the restaurant. Since shallow praise was coming less and less from his restaurant he started hanging out at other places that fed his ego. Book signings, speaking engagements, schools....Rocco got his narcissistic supply of mindless, unquestioning adoration from others. In the same way a needy spouse becomes unfaithful to his marriage partner. Jeffrey was the strong one. The patient one. The one who was slow to anger. Not emotional, not judgmental. His delay in correcting all that was wrong with Rocco's restaurant was his only mistake. And it is something that probably only happened because cameras were there. It was as though he gave Rocco an entire season to get things right. And just like a narcissist, Rocco, to the end blamed everyone else for his shortcomings and non existent management. He wanted the accolades, the praise, not the day to day stress. Narcissists do NOT like to earn their praise. They do not feel EQUAL with everyone else. I am certain that Rocco resented being asked to actually work when he was there. A narcissist is there to be a spectacle, a spokesman....not a team player. Narcissists will alienate their entire team to keep being king of the mountain. Firing Tony was a huge mistake, and one that revealed the toxicity of his narcissism. Narcissists have to blame others, and always. They simply cannot live in a world where they are accountable for their actions. Rocco lives in a world where praise is quick and automatic and it is his intentions and not his actions that are judged. I lost count of the times that he quickly judged others and mismanaged the place. I lost count of the times he tested the staff with his irrational, sudden decisions. A narcissist indeed. Glad the place failed. It deserved to. A narcissist secretly feels like a failure and ends up often setting themselves up to be caught. The entire second season was like watching a guillotine fall in slow motion. Chop!
Yes, he never answered questions or had any accountability.... Jeffery gave him the benefit of the doubt and gave him control in the beginning.... It was like he didnt care that he wasnt making money... Its like he just wanted to continue doing what he was doing even if it wasnt working.... It never made any sense that he wouldnt want someone that specializes in financing and resturants to give their tips and opinions..... why not? I also new that when they did start making money he wouldnt be happy still.... and he wasnt of course.... Even when his mom was sick and tired... he takes her home to her apartment tells her to get some rest and then trys to get her come down to shmooz with some important people for him.....uhg I told my husband that we are watching a true sociopath...... How he got rid of Tony the one that ran his business and took care of his mother better then he did..... what he did and the things he said about that guy were some of the snakiest things I watched that guy do.... Lets face it we could go on and on with story after story , it was never ending...... How any of those woman saw him attractive I will never know...... He was a little creep.... It said it all when he admitted that he didnt want his parents to talk italian in front of his friends when he was young because he was embarrassed by it..... but its ok now that cooking italian and living on the east coast is all the rage now because of the populatity of the sopranos..... Now lets open up an italian resturant and have your mom making meatballs and going from table to table smoozing for you while you go from event to event in the city kissing woman and getting your picture taken...... lol He had alread lost his employees respect but when he fired tony and then tried to convince them all that he was taking his place in the kitchen, the looks on their faces was priceless..... they looked worried and they knew it wasnt going to happen..... and then twords the end of the series we find out its actually HIS idea to keep putting wood in the gas oven that keeps catching on fire putting everyone in the resturaunt at risk....... Its all about HIM, HIM, Him..... sorry so long... but watching that guy puts me in a frenzy.....lol
Thankfully, Rocco’s grown up a lot since then. He is currently in a successful cooking business that encourages people to eat more healthy so they can live happy and longer. As a side note, some 15 years after The Restaurant, Rocco admitted to learning from his mistakes during his time on the Restaurant.
I was just telling my husband recently that I’m glad Rocco is hanging out with the Guy’s Grocery Games crowd because they’re so fun and friendly and hopefully teach him how to laugh at himself.
There are some comments calling Rocco a Coke head. After watching different episodes you do notice sometimes rocco is flying so fast when he talks so fast you can barely understand him and he can barely stand still. other times he talks slow and normal and moves normally. Why the light switch difference.
we get to see how corporations work. sneaking behind others back and manipulating people and firing people unfairly. Treating that kid with arm in a sling like a piece of garbage and the other kid being punished as a dishwasher. these people deserved to be out of business. notice none of Chodorows people pulled BS moves like that on the employees.
This episode shows how clueless Rocco washe has no idea how to run a restaurant or even a kitchen. Rocco’s ego gets in the way. Instead of working he just wants to be a big shot you gives say champagne to the pretty female customers.
No kidding! That ONE morning he came in at 4:30 am to make a terrible sauce that he just threw away. His 78yr old mom starts working at 5:30 and he just says goodbye, doesn’t even help her open those huge cans of tomatoes, let alone put in a few hours of actual work!
Tony was so caring and nice to mama and over all a very gentle and loyal hardworking employee but Rocco messed it all up due to his silly inflated ego!!
Some of these moments are still so memorable. LIke when he gave a vespa to a female worker as well as a promotion when she threatend to leave. And when Topher (who was likely trying to play his hand) threatened to leave, Rocco was like "ok bye". Also the scene when the italian chef makes a pizza and tries to interrupt a heated meeting between rocco and jeff. Theres also a TONNE of over dubbing in these episodse, shows how much must have been scripted.
I've been reading the comments from all these restaurant videos and have yet to see the comment I'm about to make... Does anyone find Mama obnoxious? LOL...because I do!
All these years late, coming across this series on RU-vid, l couldn’t believe what a knob Rocco was through out the series .. it should have been called Mamas not Roccos! I found a fantastic insight on where he went wrong by Anthony Ruhlmen. ( writes for the New York Times) “He’s almost gotten to the point where the people in the food world feel sorry for him and want him back.” He’s this really brilliant guy food wise, who’s forsaken everything that he’s good at for something that he’s not good at.”
He still can't hold down a Chef's job to this day. His last gig was 2019. All he wants to really be is a Celebrity. From Wiki: "After a lengthy hiatus as a restaurateur, DiSpirito returned to the kitchen in 2019 as the chef at the Standard Grill in New York City's Meatpacking District.[16] In October 2019 it was announced that DiSpirito was no longer with the restaurant."
It was just a case of 2 people with differing opinions but not discussing them with each other with one eye on winning the power struggle in the restaurant. The footage that is shown points toward Jeffrey being right as Tony always looked to be doing a good job but I guess the editing doesn't tell the potential full story. Hope that helps 😀
I understand that this is scripted and it's intended, obviously, for entertainment, but the introduction of Rocco's mother was initially cute and all, but as this show went on I just started turning it off when she was featured during the episodes. Again, I GET it, especially with the Italian family focus and all, but with all the emphasis on her as it went on it got way overdone - I mean, HOW many shots of her kissing people with her hands on their cheeks do we really need to "get it"? It was old, played out and VERY redundant.
Rocco knew good food but knew nothing about money according to Jeffrey. From business cards being 1 dollar and 40 cents. How is it Laurent got the statements but didn't share them with Rocco.
Smh just because you have a culinary degree don't mean you can run a kitchen,management comes with experience and age,so in that being said don't think cause you have an 18 month culinary degree and you under 25 years old and someone is going to let you run a multimillion dollar operation cause of your ego,it's not going to happen young grads
@@alwaysbepimpin8867 I think a number of factors. One: Obviously Jeffery and Rocco could not partner in a business together. Two: The producers focused on Rocco looking like an imbecile when you can see there was a part of him warring between his genuine, sweetly passionate heart for food and people and the promise of celebrity and fame which inflated his ego ten-fold. Three: Rocco most likely put all of his focus and energy and most of his time into being a successful chef at Union Pacific.
I was there working at the kitchen with Tony is good chef and manager he training me good at the kitchen but he works at other restaurant and the owner is Jeffrey is lot drama with Rocco he never take it seriously and the back with us to say what we can do today nothing! Lol so this why the suspended the show cuz Rocco's quits and Jeffrey now is at charge
Product placement is ridiculous. Coors Light? Yeah, I'll drink one if you pay me. In the first episode he arrives to the hiring interviews in a Mitsubishi SUV {which got towed by the parking authority.) A guy in the line comments on it, like it's a Bentley or flash Lambo. In the previous episode it's a Mitsubishi sedan, and in this episode it's suddenly a black wagon. Three Mitsubishi's. I can't remember the last time I saw even one.
wow.... who knew!? Rocco you're cute.... but you really did fuck up...all these years I thought Jeffrey was the ass....smdh...however when you research them a bit you realize it was a doomed project from the beginning....they both had issues from the very start... and both could have handled things better
