At the age of sixteen celebrated chef Rocco DiSpirito entered
the Culinary Institute of America, and at eighteen began working
for legendary chefs worldwide. After graduating from Boston
University with a degree in business, he began working for such
renowned New York chefs as Gray Kunz. In 1995 Rocco opened Dava and
quickly earned two stars from Ruth Reichl at The New York Times. At
thirty-one, Rocco opened Union Pacific in New York City and
received three stars from The New York Times.
Hailed as one of Food and Wine magazine’s Best New Chefs, DiSpirito
is the first chef to grace the cover of Gourmet magazine as
“America’s Most Exciting Young Chef,” and was voted their “Leading
Chef of his Generation.” Referred to as America’s original
“Rockstar Chef,” Rocco has been featured in Harper’s Bazaar,
Cosmopolitan, W, The New York Times, Details, House Beautiful, Us,
OK! and People, including the Sexiest Man Alive issue.
DiSpirito received the James Beard Award for his first cookbook,
Flavor. He went on to author Rocco’s Italian-American (2004),
Rocco’s Five Minute Flavor (2005), Rocco’s Real-Life Recipes
(2007), and Rocco Gets Real (2009).
DiSpirito also starred in the Food Network series Melting Pot, the
NBC hit reality series The Restaurant, and the A&E series Rocco
Gets Real. He is a content partner on Rachael Ray, and a frequent
guest on Good Morning America and Top Chef. He has appeared on The
Oprah Winfrey Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Chelsea Lately, The
Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,
Jimmy Kimmel Live, and NBC’s The Biggest Loser, and was the first
chef to compete on the ABC megahit Dancing with the Stars.
In 2006 DiSpirito began his quest toward a more active and healthy
life, competing in triathlons, including an Ironman 70.3. In
November 2009 he was the spokesperson for and completed the Ironman
in Clearwater, Florida, setting a personal-best time. Rocco lives
in New York City and appreciates all that cooking has brought to
him.
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