Rob Rossi announces he’s leaving Mercatto for “new and exciting ventures”

50 thoughts on “Rob Rossi announces he’s leaving Mercatto for “new and exciting ventures””

1. Who…..cares?

2. I’m willing to guess that a considerable amount of Toronto Life’s readers ‘care’ about this article, or are at least interested. Restaurants have always been a focus of Toronto Life – both in print and online (take a look at the navagation bar; it’s the first section next to the logo). And the articles devoted to Top Chef Canada receive some of the most comments online. Mattagascar, your personal lack of interest doesn’t make this entry unimportant; it may, however, make it a great entry for you to decline commenting on.

3. Get a life John…seriously.

4. ummmmm….. I care. And I agree with John 100%.

5. Well, I’m sure he’ll be cooking up some sloppy joes or grilled cheese sandwiches somewhere soon. His 15 minutes are already up.

6. Where is the Love?

7. I agree who cares!
   MERCATTO sucks, it craps italian food. 4 restaurants and there all shitty..

8. I know who will care:

   All his fans (he has tons)
   All the people who love Mercatto (they have 4 restaurants for a reason)
   All his friends & family
   And all the people who like great food (not just anyone can make it this far into a culinary competition without talent)

   Stop being so negative towards someone you don’t even know… Or do u know him? It sounds to me like someone has a chip on their shoulder!

9. I know who will care:

   All his fans (he has tons)
   All the people who love Mercatto (they have 4 restaurants for a reason)
   All his friends & family
   And all the people who like great food (not just anyone can make it this far into a culinary competition without talent)

   Stop being so negative towards someone you don’t even know… Or do u know him? It sounds to me like someone has a chip on their shoulder!

10. Well…they must be awesome if they have 4 locations. Nice logic. McDonalds has thousands of locations. I guess they must be top notch. Also, if his friends and family have to log on to Toronto Life to see what he’s up to that’s just sad. I don’t know him personally, but from what I’ve seen on TV and judging from his menus he’s nothing more than a foul mouthed, no talent ponce.

11. Wow. Shocked to see the rude posts above. Would love to try the cuisine of Fred and mattagascar. Apparently they are awesome.

12. I care!!! So excited, I’m getting the feeling rob won top chef canada!!! Woohooo!! He deserves it, such a talented youngchef with a great personality!!! Routing for him all the way to the finish!!!! Go rob go!!!

13. I log onto Toronto Life to read about local restaurants and what’s going on because I love eating and supporting Toronto restaurants, which makes this article extremely relevant to me.

    I love eating at Mercatto mostly because I found the menu a fresh new twist on Italian traditions. I found Rob’s contribution to the restaurant a great improvement and am eager to see where he ends up next because I’ll be sure to follow with friends.

14. WOW,…a totaly mediocre chef quitting his job~!thats top new now~!~TORONTO LIFE HAS RAN OUT OF STORIES TO WRITE SO NOW TORONTO LIFE IS TRYING TO FEED US THIS BULLS*** AS TOP NEWS~!ROSSI IS IRRELEVANT AND MERCATTO IS A SORRY EXCUSE FOR ITALIAN FOOD,..SHAME ON YOU TORONTO LIFE FOR PUTTING THIS CLOWN ON HERE,,….NOBODY CARES,….ROSSI IS A DISHWASHER PROMOTED TO A COOK WHO STEALS ALL FOOD CONCEPTS FROM THE INTERNET~!BY THE WAY THE DUDE DOES NOT EVEN SPEAK ITALIAN~!GO FIGURE, OR EVER BEEN TO EUROPE FOR THAT MATTER ,..

15. hello….you are all feeding the

16. @ Rob Rossi Can’t Cook … U seem to presume you know a lot about Rossi??? I’m assuming you worked for him and he probably fired you? Right??? I think so…. Must drive u crazy to see how well he is doing!!!

17. Mercattos my not be a five star restaurant, but it defiantly has a good quality , a great quaility i should say (and is a major lunch spot downtown),good service and great owners who are all passionate people.
    So to have been a chef of the sort must mean he has good qualities himself. It my not be big news that he is quitting to you but a lot of people follow the restaurant culture in t.dot and to have recollection like this (a.k.a top chef) means that we want to find out where he is going next so that i can eat there as well.

18. Mercatto does not have the best food. If this dude wants to go and open up a place then so be it. Maybe Mercatto will hire someone you will put in more effort to the food.
    I don’t like the food there, and I personally don’t like Rob. I worked with him for a short time to realize that he is so nice to your face, but a lying asshole behind your back. He made it clear that he didn’t want to create or train his staff properly. Karma is a bitch and works wonders.

    BEst of luck jerk

19. @thomas

    But how is karma a bitch for him? Things seem to be going really well….

20. sounds to me like madagascar might be a little envious, anyone who puts so much passion in knocking someone else,s success must be. but hey maybe he is stuck working at mc,donalds.Rob deserves all his sucess and I hope he wins and all his dreams come true.

21. @kiwi, I think you should re-watch past episodes of Top Chef Canada, all Rob Rossi does during his side interviews is slam his competitors. He even made fun of his “sous chef ” during the George Brown episode… the comments he made about the gentleman’s age were truly unkind. He seems to be one dude ” who puts so much passion into knocking someone else’s success”. The caliber of cooking on the show is very low, so if he wins I don’t think it really will mean that much.

22. Hey Rob Rossi girlfriend Lindsey..can’t your pretty boy defend himself.
    Do you always come to the rescue.

    Rob Rossi, suck plan and simple.

23. Mercatto may not have the best Italian food in town, but it is quite serviceable, especially for lunch. As an example of crappy Italian, think Olive Garden – there is a reason while they failed here. However their Trattoria at the Eaton Centre is absolute hell due to the extreme noise levels. Last time we walked out before placing our order, and that was a first.

24. First of all I think Rob Rossi is a great chef. To the douche bag who said that Rob can’t even speak Italian… WHO THE HELL CARES!! Obviously he knows how to cook or else he would not have made it thus far.
    Secondly, I believe it was the same as*hole who says that he doesn’t know Rob personally and that he’s never been to Europe, actually he has. He mentioned that he has been to Spain! Have you ever been to his resto and experienced his cooking?? NO i’m sure you haven’t you dolt.

    To the next comment on how you used to know him personally and how he is a back-stabber and that karma is a bitch, your just a plain fool. Obviously you have nothing going for yourself and that would explain your childish remarks. He probably fired you in the past because your simply useless.

    All the success Rob on the show and in the future! All of your fans are excited for you! And by the way we all love your SENSE OF HUMOUR on the show!!!

25. Wow! Did I juest read a spoiler? So now I don’t need to watch the Top Chefs that I’ve saved in my PVR?
    I thought I was reading a restaurant update, not a spoiler for the show.

    Gee, thanks!

26. Don’t let Mattagascar bait you. He’s always writing crap like this. If you can’t say something snarky, don’t say anything at all, eh Matta? I’d love to know what kitchen you’re gracing because you mentioned in one post that you’re a chef too.

27. I really don’t understand the negativity and personaly insults towards Rob Rossi. If you don’t like Mercatto, go elsewhere but I really don’t see what is wrong with working your way up in the kitchen from dishwasher to Chef. I think it is admirable and ambitious really. I also find it presumptuous (and wrong apparently) that you think Rossi hasn’t been to Europe since they were showing pictures of him in Spain the other week. At the end of the day, this is a reality TV show called Top Chef and the person who wins is the one that does best overall at the challenges – some of which I agree are just stupid. Clearly the casting directors and editors have done their job since they have obviously piqued people’s interest in the show both negative and positive to the extent that there will be a second season.

28. @Ken Lots of chefs that compete on these types of shows go on to open their own restos. Even if they don’t win, they’ve probably drawn enough focus to themselves to get some backing money. Keep watching, who knows what’ll happen!

29. Wow. Who knew Rob Rossi had such a posse of douchetards. Michele, I don’t have to prove anything to anybody. Your idol decided to grace us with his presence on TV. That gives me the right to call him out. Sorry you can’t handle my opinion.

    And Rob, stop posting comments under a pseudonym. It’s childish.

30. Regardless of Rob’s cockiness, the bottom line is he is a great chef and he has proven that on the show! People don’t go to a restaraunt bc of the chef’s radiant personality, they go there for the food! Who cares what kind of restaurant he runs, whether the food is shit or not! I wouldn’t care if a complete asshole made me a great meal, as long as the food was good. That’s what I am paying for. Rob was a great enough chef to get on the show, and now has made it to the finale! That stands for something. So clearly he can cook. Rob is not on Top Chef to make friends, he is there to win. It’s every man for himself. Let’s not forget everything is also edited for ratings. It throws a little flare in the show as well, so what the guy is funny. So what if he is poking fun at someone else, each and every one of you on here can’t sit there and tell me you have never done this. Everyone has their panties in a twist and bottom line whats done is done, this was all taped last summer so your heated arguments aren’t going to change anything. It actually gets to be a little humorous. Let the judges decide who will be the Top Chef, that’s their job and they’re all more qualified than any of you to make that decision. People on here are bitter bc their favorite contestant got kicked off or isn’t doing well. It’s a reality show people!!!

31. After last night I’ll bet he doesn’t have a lot of fans in Texas…

32. Probably not since the show does not air in the United States (Mattagascar)! Wow for someone who hates Rob so much your all over this blog like a fly on sh*t! Are you employed at all, or do you just have no life and wait to comment on his blog??? Wow your really pathetic Mattagascar LMFAO!!!!

    I’ve been to Mercatto 4 times at 2 different locations and each time the food was great and so was the staff. I’ll be watching to see what you will do next Rob, all the best!!

33. It’s you’re, not your.
    You would use “your” in a sentence like “Your grammar is as sloppy as Rob Rossi’s cooking”.

34. It could be because Rob won, or it could be because he lost. Finishing in the top 2-3 still brings him immense notoriety. The contestants are legally bound to not disclose results.

35. WOW Mattagascar YOUR even more pathetic than i had originally thought. This is a blog about Toronto Life not YOUR pathetic life or YOUR feelings about the show or about Rob…If you don’t like someone that’s fine but really grow up…then again i’m sure no one listens to you in YOUR everyday life so you feel as though your some “big shot” who can comment on other people.

    Obviously not everyone can be wrong ie., Chef Mark McEwan, Chef Rob Feenie etc… I think that says it all you loser (Mattagascar) lmao…you joke.Do us all a favor don’t watch the show and stop spending your time hating someone that you probably don’t even know.

    I agree Gscodras any of the top 3 contestants will get great reviews in their restaurants that they work in, actually even the top 5!

    Again, this is about TORONTO LIFE and this is not a person site to bash the contestants on Top Chef Canada!!!

36. What’s a “person site”? Now I’m confused. I guess I was mislead by the invitation by Toronto Life to “comment” on this post. In any case, I can no longer continue this discussion because I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed person.

37. pretty high-larious there mattagascar….nothing like getting under everyone’s skin till they’re writhing with anger and can’t even spell or use correct grammer….thanks for the laughs!

38. Good News or Bad News….its still makes news….I would go to any restaurant to try Robs food! Good Luck Rob!!!

39. Top Chef is a great show, Toronto Life was right to have written this piece: the article gives importance to both a well-produced show and a Chef which represent our city with class and talent. It’s amazing how people who don’t know the difference between ‘there’ and ‘their’ and ‘they’re’, for example, feel that they can comment on the quality of ANYTHING, much less a periodical article (or a top chef, for that matter) that has been in circulation for decades. Rob, YOU’RE amazing and the losers who can’t spell are likely jealous because they are confined to a life of bologna sandwiches on moldy bread (yes, uneducated, that’s how you spell bologna). Keep at it, TORONTO is rooting for you!!!

40. Being a Top Chef fan, Rob obviously had enough skill to impress the judges. Kudos to him for that. Unfortunately, he totally ruins it when he opens his mouth. He is a foul mouthed contestant who has harshly criticized his competitors – and that is not necessary. He’s too cocky and concieted for my liking, regardless of how he cooks.

41. Sounds to me like he’s already won TCC.

42. @Rob Rossi Fan!!!!!!
    -LMFAO!!!!!…you still don’t know the difference between “your” and “you’re”

    @Mattagascar
    -I hope you keep the comments coming for season 2!

43. To see a real chef in action check out Chris Cosentino’s rejected pilot.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/27/chef-unleashed-chris-cosentino-pilot_n_885215.html

    Too bad there isn’t a Chef Network yet….but maybe soon. That way people who are genuinely passionate about food and cooking could have a voice.

44. Maybe if Chris Cosentino lived in Toronto, then maybe we would give a shit about reading about his rejected pilot on “the dish”… But since “the dish” is based on Toronto buzz I want to read about Toronto chefs like Rob Rossi, not American ones. Therefore making this article relevant ;)

45. I think Rossi is doing Mercatto a favor, the food is no where near as good as it used to be and from what i had seen the last few times I was in there before i stopped going in, he just sits at the bar with a drink flirting with all the female staff. Your better off Mercatto, can’t wait to see the new food!

46. Well, at least now we know why Rob quit his job. Maybe a little less beer drinking and goofing around would have helped him win. I wonder where his family and friends were at the end….

47. “EXTRAORDINARY CHEF” were Mark McEwans words…. NUFF SAID!!

    You so should’ve won Rob. Love your cooking style, your sense of humour, and the fact that you weren’t up your own ass. Total respect in every way, shape and form!

48. Rob Rossi, you should have won. Hands down. I am looking forward to finding your next resto.
    And to everyone else, if we all just simply ignore mattagascar, maybe he will go away…we can only hope. Speaking of pseudonyms, haha. I think his real name must be Chris Cosentino!

49. Nope, still here Catherine.

50. Rob Rossi was interviewing staff for his new restaurant on College and Dovercourt Sounds like it will be opened aroind December 1st. The neighbourhood welcomes him!!

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