Hey-la hey-la Rocco’s back

So is the Fifties reference too ancient? Hmm. Probably the reference to the television show The Restaurant is considered too old also? Or do folks recall that television show from all the way back in 2003? If not, the show that launched Rocco Dispirito to the masses can be summed up this way, as done by About.com:

In 2003, Rocco opened Rocco’s 22nd Street, the subject of the reality television series, The Restaurant. The show, although somewhat unfair in its portrayal of Rocco, correctly depicts the power struggle between Rocco (part-owner) and financier Jeffrey Chodorow. Although extremely popular, the restaurant apparently was a financial failure.

All of a sudden Rocco is everywhere, he was on last night’s season opener of Top Chef. He’s in Bertolli Foods commericals. Jimmy Kimmel, Today Show and even Biggest Loser. In short from an absense that was occasionally punctuated by brief glimpses and no lingering in the last five years to, of late, as said, everywhere.

So what’s the haps? Looks like a new food show from Dispirito on A&E this June called Rocco to the Rescue. According to the NY Daily News:

The project has been in the works for a couple of years, he said.

“We’ve been trying to expand the breadth of a cooking show to include human interest and real-life stories,” he said. “Striking that perfect balance has been hard to pinpoint.

“It was also important for me to pick something that felt really good to me, that was about what I do, but was a little more intereresting than just a cooking show,” he added. “It wasn’t my goal to do the classic dump and stir cooking show.”

{13 Mar 2008}