(This is from the NY Post. I love The Restaurant, but what will
happen to the show now??--Mark Ferrante)

ROCCO ROASTED

By DAREH GREGORIAN and BRADEN KEIL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

July 28, 2004 -- Ciao, Rocco.
A Manhattan judge yesterday cooked TV chef Rocco DiSpirito's goose,
giving his arch enemy, Jeffrey Chodorow, the go-ahead to sell Rocco's
22nd St., the site of the hit NBC reality show "The Restaurant."

"I don't think you're obligated to keep open a restaurant that's
losing money," State Supreme Court Justice Ira Gammerman told lawyers
for Chodorow and his partners in China Grill Management, which
financed the eatery.

DiSpirito, 37, left the courthouse at the end of the hearing without
commenting. His spokesman, Tom Chiodo, said he was "obviously
disappointed" by the ruling. Chodorow said the ruling means only the
name of Rocco's 22nd St. will be eighty-sixed — the eatery's
approximately 100 employees won't lose their jobs.

"Anybody who's performed well will keep their job," he said — a
message he delivered to the employees in person after the hearing.

Chodorow, who testified his company lost $4.7 million in the eatery,
said he's considering using the space for a completely different
restaurant. "I'm trying to figure out a plan to change it into
something better," he said, adding it will remain open in its current
setup until at least the end of August.

The first season of "The Restaurant" featured DiSpirito and Chodorow
scrambling to open the eatery in five weeks in June 2003. The second
season featured the personality clashes between the prickly pair —
arguments that ended with Chodorow locking DiSpirito out of his
namesake dining spot.



Their food fight spilled into court earlier this year, with Chodorow's
CGM seeking to be declared the restaurant's sole owner, and DiSpirito
saying he should be declared a 50 percent owner.

Gammerman didn't seem overly impressed with the celebrity chef.

At one point, Chodorow lawyer Laurence Kaiser was grilling DiSpirito
in a heated cross-examination that was interrupted by Kaiser's ringing
cell phone.

"Go ahead and answer your phone, Mr. Kaiser," DiSpirito said.

The judge snapped at the cook that the crack "didn't help you very
much, I want you to know that. Being a wise guy doesn't help."

The ruling doesn't end the food feud — both sides are due back in
court next month to hash out money matters.

That whole setup was a pig-****.

$4 million to open *that* dump?

Someone's been padding the expenses.

And why aren't the big network and the big credit-card company
being involved in the lawsuits? 90% of the restaurant's problems
were cooked up to create "good TV" moments and demonstrate
the card co's ability to "help small business".

--Blair
"A farce is a farce of course of course..."
-ya had to be there in Queens

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 12:54:04 -0400, Ferrante
> wrote:

> (This is from the NY Post. I love The Restaurant, but what will
>happen to the show now??--Mark Ferrante)

I think the last episode showed already.

For anyone who's curious: the food was fine but very overpriced.


>ROCCO ROASTED
>
>By DAREH GREGORIAN and BRADEN KEIL
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>July 28, 2004 -- Ciao, Rocco.
>A Manhattan judge yesterday cooked TV chef Rocco DiSpirito's goose,
>giving his arch enemy, Jeffrey Chodorow, the go-ahead to sell Rocco's
>22nd St., the site of the hit NBC reality show "The Restaurant."

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 12:54:04 -0400, Ferrante
> wrote:

> (This is from the NY Post. I love The Restaurant, but what will
>happen to the show now??--Mark Ferrante)

I think the last episode showed already.

For anyone who's curious: the food was fine but very overpriced.


>ROCCO ROASTED
>
>By DAREH GREGORIAN and BRADEN KEIL
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>July 28, 2004 -- Ciao, Rocco.
>A Manhattan judge yesterday cooked TV chef Rocco DiSpirito's goose,
>giving his arch enemy, Jeffrey Chodorow, the go-ahead to sell Rocco's
>22nd St., the site of the hit NBC reality show "The Restaurant."

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!