Thanks to Bertillo frozen food for providing me the opportunity to meet Rocco DiSprito. This all expense paid trip (covering transportation, hotel and meals) was a much needed get-a-way for me. Oh my opinions are independent of the paid or sponsored relationship however, the handsome man in the photo below made the 2500+ mile long trip worth it! Meet Chef Rocco DiSpirito.

Chef Rocco has been seen on, Top Chef, NBC’s The Biggest Loser: Couples and Families and was a contestant on season seven of Dancing With The Stars. His latest adventures include Into the Heart of Italy where Rocco, Marisa Tomei and Dan Cortese got a taste of Italy in beautiful Tuscany.

So, when Bertolli invited me to attend “Into the Heart of L.A” where I would be exploring culinary treasures in Los Angeles and ending with a meet-and-greet with Rocco DiSpirito, my bags packed within 15 minutes!

Here’s the ride for the day, truly Hollywood style

So where did we go?  We started the day with breakfast at the Griddle Cafe. I ordered the raspberry lemon curd pancakes and shared it with Jenny of Picky-Palate who ordered the Chicken Cobb omelet.

OK, no I didn’t clean my plate! But my goodness the pancakes were about 10 inches round and I don’t know how many eggs were used in the omelet.

So, after a huge breakfast we were off to the Original Farmers Market! I saw all kinds of produce and wonderful fresh baked treats (that I avoided, more or less ran from)!

Star Muscat fruit

Dragon fruit

Red Velvet slices of heaven!

I’m so glad we had breakfast before going to the Farmers Market, there’s truly no end to the wonderful foods that are baked, cooked and served there everyday. Off to lunch…

We are in a stretched Limo, driving around L.A. chasing food trucks… LMAO, at the thought. Basically, we were tracking the locations of the food trucks on twitter . We were  lucky we found a prime location where 5 food trucks were parked and ready to serve us!

Right after breakfast we stop at a drug store a few of the girls picked up Tums and Rolaids for relief, poor babies! I just kept telling myself small bites, small bites. Here’s peek into some of the things I ate.  After about the third bite of the Bunny Chow I was in a food coma.

Hi, Ladies!!!!!

Fried Mac and Cheese balls with Black Truffles

Bunny Chow

Duck Confit Taco (loved, loved, loved)

Spicy Shrimp (I think they skipped the spicy, but it was probably just me, I like things hot!)

There were so many different foods and yes, I will admit I tried them ALL (small bites )

I was so stuffed at this point but, we still had three stops to make, ice cream, cheese and Rocco. Oh my, what’s a girl to do? Before arriving at Scoops I told myself  no, no, no, no, ice cream. That dream quickly ended! The picture is my friend Jenny. I didn’t take a picture of my own because I was too busy stuffing my face with delicious ice creams, gelato’s and sorbets with names like Brown Bread (my favorite), Salted Caramel, Vanilla Coffee Mascarpone Cheese Gelato, there were so many wonderful and delicious flavor combination’s. I couldn’t decide which scoop to have, so I had 7 different ones, yes that’s correct 7!

After denying my self those divine treats at the Farmers Market, this is what I gave into! It was TOTALLY worth the wait!

Off to the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, as a group we had to figure out the kind of milk used to make the cheese we were eating. Let’s just say I know my cheese!

Now here’s what I’ve been waiting on all day ROCCO! It was time the meet the man himself. All the hair brushes and make up kits came flying out, tooooo funnny. Then the Bertillo group tweeted something like “are you ready for Rocco” and the question/warning should have been “Rocco are you ready for these 10 very fun and excited Bloggers”?

Rocco, walks in the room at the beautiful Culina Restaurant and sits next to ME (Ok, there was only one seat open), but it was next to me! So cool!

We all talked, asked many food related questions and some that were not. Rocco told me that “Soul Food” originated in Tuscany, yeah I am still looking that up! But here’s what was on the menu:

Involitini Di Manzo Kobe A-5. Delta Aspargus Enoki Mushrooms. Parmigiano Reggiano (Aspargus, mushrooms, parmigiano wrapped in Kobe beef) served with glass of (Red wine) Nebbiolo d’Alba giacosa freatelli. 2007 piedmont

Next, Caponata Di Carciofl Baby Artichokes, Castelvetrano Green Olives San Marzono Tomato with a Pinot Bianco (white wine), haberle, alto adige 2007.

Then, Suppli Al Telefono Saffron Risotto Croquette Mozzerella Di Bugala Tomato Sugo with (Red wine) Mamertinp. cru timpanara. vasari. sicily 2006

Then the book signing and photos with Rocco. Here’s mine, yes, thank you, I know we look so happy! I had a ball! Thanks again Bertillo and my friend Jaden of SK!