NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Reality TV chef Rocco DiSpirito, who stared in NBC's "The Restaurant," is slated to do a New York City-based radio show on WOR-AM.
DiSpirito, who has been guest hosting WOR's "Food Talk" hour after Arthur Schwartz resigned in August, will now take over the show.
"I love, love, love the talk show format, because I can talk to people unfiltered and unedited," DiSpirito told the New York Post. "We're going to mix a lot of elements -- calls every day, guests twice a week, restaurant reviews on Fridays, 'What's in your fridge?' And it won't all be about food talk -- sometimes we'll discuss personal things."
DiSpirito's 79-year-old mother, Nicolina, who used to make meatballs at Rocco's 22nd Street restaurant -- the Manhattan restaurant chronicled in the TV reality show "The Restaurant" -- will be a regular on the radio show, WOR officials said.
DiSpirito and his partners recently said Union Pacific, the Manhattan restaurant where DiSpirito first gained attention 1997, will close at the end of the year. The restaurant featured on the TV show closed after a legal battle between DiSpirito and other owners.
