Rocco DiSpirito Wins TV Turkey Dinner

By JULIETTE ROSSANT What chef is making it onto the Media's Turkey lists for 2004? Why, Rocco DiSpirito, of course! O Mama, such a boy! When I met Rocco earlier this year at the LA Times bookfest (he for his book Flavor, me for Super Chef), he was still riding near the top of his game, with two restaurants, a TV show, pots and pans, and a hot cookbook. Then, it all went to hell (see prevous articles, cited below): now come the turkey awards for bad Reality TV. While Donald Trump flew to the top of the heap in a piece entitled "We Name Reality TV’s Turkeys of the Year," the chef still received one breath of notice from MSNBC's Andy Delnart: "Rocco DiSpirito's career crashed and burned on The Restaurant." The New Jersey Bergen Record's Bob Ivry praised Rocco thus: "This Turkey cooked his own goose. Celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito of the reality series The Restaurant started '04 on top of spaghetti. He ends the year all covered with cheese. The Restaurant was canceled, and Rocco was sued by his partner, who barred him from entering his own kitchen. What a meatball." Of course, Rocco is already recovering with a new radio show, not to mention a new cookbook, Rocco's Italian-American, with a cute picture of the boy wonder and his mama on the cover, available at a 34% discount on Amazon for $16.47, just in time for Christmas. Do you believe in miracles? -- Only for a boy who has been very, very good to his mama. Previous articles: Rocco DiSpirito: Pretty in Pink? Rocco DiSpirito: Ridiculed in the Rainbow Room More Reality TV Chefs (or Less)? Video Killed the Radio Star: Can Radio Resurrect Rocco DiSpirito? Real TV Cooking? Kitchen Confidential a la Sex and the City Rocco DiSpirito: Be Warned by Me! Iron Chef: America vs. USA Claude Troisgros: Riding de Rocco DiSpirito Star Rocco Barred from Reality TV Restaurant Rocco: Trapped in Reality TV's Twilight Zone?