Rocco DiSpirito is back with his first Big Apple restaurant in six years — and it’s about time.
Bar Rocco (32 W. 48th St.) is a proudly old-school Italian American restaurant on the Kimpton Era Hotel’s second floor. It’s plain wonderful, thanks to DiSpirito’s skills, which first wowed the city at French-American Union Pacific in the late 1990s. It also makes use of better ingredients than ordinary red-sauce places.
DiSpirito’s last gig in the city was at the Standard Grill. He was there for barely two years before Covid-19 struck in 2020. He’s been all over the map since then with more books (bringing the total to fifteen) and TV appearances (too many even for AI to keep track of). But, except for his summer Pop-Up by Rocco in Southampton, his hands-on magic has been sorely missing.
There’s a big difference between a “celebrity chef” and an actual chef. Despite being charming and telegenic — and having a season of “Dancing with the Stars” on his resume — DiSpirito is the very much the latter. He’s in the kitchen every day at the new spot, and it shows.
“New York is where I started and it’s where I learned how people actually want to eat,” he told The Post. “Bar Rocco is designed to feel personal, but also a place you can come back to any time and trust.
The restaurant, which boasts a 108-seat dining room, is one of a quartet of venues in the new hotel operated by restaurant group Apicii. Hotel developer Extell “spent a lot of money,” DiSpirito marveled, on the mosaic floor, wood-paneled walls, comfortable leather banquettes and chairs and an eye-popping, scarlet-tone ceramic bar. Tall windows face Rockefeller Center but views of an office building and the Nintendo store are less than panoramic.
The crowd changes to the whims of weather and hotel occupancy — a mix of gourmands, devotedDiSpirito followers and tourists. All discover a home-style Italian American menu that proudly stands up for itself amidst Midtown’s more esoteric offerings.
Forget any memories you might have of DiSpirito’s early aughts televised Italian fiasco, “The Restaurant.” I called the 22nd Street spot a “burlesque” of the real thing.
Here, “Mama’s Meatballs” ($20) based on DiSpirito’s late mom’s recipe are sinfully good. Beef, pork and veal are blended in a blender with olive oil, chicken stock, parsley, onions and garlic. The result, DiSpirito said, is “a liquid slurry that makes them very tender.” Peperoncino-sparked tomato sauce lends a fiery counterpoint. In a metropolis full of preening meatballs, they might be the best I’ve had.
Attention to detail is evident in the simplest dishes. Umami-rich Caesar salad ($19) uses crisp leaves of red and green little gem lettuce, more fun on the tongue than standard romaine. They’re ideal platforms for 18-month aged Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and whole anchovies.
Sauteed salmon in chicory agro dolce ($35), ordered medium-rare, emerged a perfect shade of pink under crisp skin. But the menu’s strongest suit is DiSpirito’s lovingly crafted pasta.
Wide-tube-shaped paccheri ($29) made with Italian semolina and basil pesto ascended to heaven with a half-dozen Argentine red shrimp — plump, sweet and without a trace of iodine. The chef attributed their buttery quality to the “high fat content” they need to survive the icy waters off the south Argentine coast, “basically the Arctic,” he said.
“Sunday gravy” lasagna ($32) is hearty and satisfying with fresh pasta layers, three types of cheese and both both broken meatballs and Italian sausage bet.
Burgers are often afterthoughts in Italian restaurants, so the happiest surprise was the “Rocco’s Big Italian” ($28) — a juice-oozing, aged-Wagyu beef blend from Pat LaFrieda topped with provolone and Dijon vinaigrette on a hearty brioche bun. Its multi-layered flavors measure up to the multiply-textured mouth feel.
Tiramisu and a multi-layered sundae are among the highlights of the crowd-pleasing desserts — if you have room after everything else.
The big question is: how long will Bar Rocco truly be Rocco DiSpirito’s, given his past wandering ways?
“I’ve been here for every service since we opened,” he told me. Let’s hope he’s there for many more.
