Rocco DiSpirito

Besides being an Italian-American chef, Rocco DiSpirito is also an author of a cookbook and has made appearances in television and radio shows. He is known for the film The Ugly Truth Click to look into! >> Read More... , television series Castle, The Knights of Prosperity, and Days of Our Lives.

Born on November 19, 1966, in Queens, New York Click to look into! >> Read More... City, New York, DiSpirito is the son of celebrity chef Nicolina DiSpirito, a restaurant owner, and Raffaelle DiSpirito. He finished a course at the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, New York in 1986. Later he graduated with a bachelor of business from Boston University in 1990.

DiSpirito began to take interest in culinary skills at an early age when he was first instructed by his grandmother. When he was sixteen, he started to study at the Culinary Institute, but at the same time he also trained at Le Jardin des Cygne, France, where he was guided by Gray Kunz and Dominique Cecillon. Later, while pursuing his B.S. at Boston University, he re-trained under Gray Kunz at Lespinasse.

In 1995, DiSpirito launched his restaurant called Dava, which didn’t survive long. DiSpirito started another restaurant named Union Pacific in Grey Park of Manhattan in 1997, which proved to be a successful venture.

His success as a restaurateur led to him becaming well-known in the field, as a result of which he was offered to host an episode of the show Melting Pot in 2002. Later, in 2003, Rocco starred in the reality television series The Restaurant, which led to the launch of his other restaurant in Manhattan named Rocco. However, it had to be shut down later.

In 2004, DiSpirito replaced the host of Food Talk, which ran for an hour on WOR (AM), a New York Radio. Later, he anchored twelve episodes of the reality show Rocco Gets Real. His other television credits include the Lincoln MKX commercial and the comedy series The Knights of Prosperity, telecast on ABC, where he made a guest appearance.

The chef was roped in as a guest judge for the series Top Chef Top Chef is an American television series that fea >> Read More... , where he returned in the third season as a sous chef to the participants. He made appearances on The Bigger Loser: Couples, The Biggest Loser: Families, and in the episode Food To Die For of the television series Castle.

The acclaimed chef was featured as a contestant on the reality show Dancing With The Stars, where he paired up with Karina Smirnoff. He also has the credit of hosting the reality show Rocco’s Dinner Party, the show Now Eat This! With Rocco Dispirito, and the Food Network reality series Restaurant Divided.

The eminent chef also has several awards to his credit, including James Beard Award, Most Exciting Young Chef by Gourmet Magazine, and others in addition to those bestowed by Food and Wine Magazine and People Magazine.