When Anthony Bourdain said Rocco DiSpirito was painful to watch, that becomes even more meaningful after the man who used to be a chef became a pitchman. Chef Bourdain went on to say, "We see him now as having wasted that talent. ...Rocco doesn't want to be a chef. He wants to be an entertainer. ... I don't see him as a chef anymore, so I don't feel like beating up on him.
Rocco DiSpirito a celebrity chef better known these days as more celebrity than chef. Lately, he received less than stellar reviews, found himself in legal troubles and lost his restaurants. But on the bright side, he has become a cookbook author and has a new television show, “Rocco Gets Real,” on the A&E cable network.
Rocco also has landed yet another roll, pitchman for frozen food.
Rocco DiSpirito stood before food bloggers and people who spend a lot of time with recipes, cooking, and he's there trying to sell them on frozen food. Yes, he was the pitchman Bertolli's new line of frozen foods.
Rocco faced a crowd of people dedicated solely to food bloggers. About 300 people were in attendance for the sold-out Sept. 26 event at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco.
The fresh salad that Rocco made with canned tuna and salad in a bag was just for starters.
The review for Bertolli's Lemon Herb Shrimp & Penne, was compared by one blogger as "vaguely airplane food." The second course, Meat Lasagna Rustica and Tri-Color Ravioli -- the meal was regarded by many as inedible.
Those in attendence were "offended" that these Bertolli meals were served at a food blogging conference, and the sentiment was "It's not that hard to make lasagna or make your own pasta."
But these were by no means the opinions of everyone in the room.
With Rocco's reputaion on the line (that's was a joke), he told the audience that he was a "reformed gourmet" who'd seen the light when he realized that many of the highfalutin dishes he cooked were simply out of reach for working men and women who could not come home after the end of a long day and spend hours at the stove.
He said it was time to change the conversation and raise awareness about the food that we eat on a busy Tuesday night. "We can't pretend, or be afraid to admit that that's an issue for everyone."
Sorry Rocco but we are already aware about the food we eat. As far as the rest of your sentence, what are you talking about?
The crowd may have loved the entertaining, and engaging Rocco, who working the crowd like a seasoned pro, engaging in small-talk, food talk and photographs, but his food was something else altogether.
While we are playing tabloid and kicking Rocco around, has anyone else noticed that Rocco Dispirito suddenly looks different?
We're not sure what happened, but he looks nothing like the Rocco we remember.
The event was sponsored in part by Pillsbury, Bertolli, Cuisinart and Scharffen Berger chocolate.
