Rocco DiSpirito
Rocco DiSpirito is an acclaimed chef who knows his way around this kitchen. This fall, he will appear on “Dancing with the Stars” with his partner Karina Smirnoff.
Rocco was born on November 19, 1966 in the Jamaica neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City, New York. At age 16, he entered the Culinary Institute of America, located in Hyde Park, NY, in 1986. However, his real culinary training had begun five years earlier in his mother’s kitchen. After graduation, he studied at the Jardin de Cygne in France under Dominique Cecillon and Gray Kunz. Rocco then attended Boston University, where he graduated in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in business.
Rocco’s main style of cooking is Italian-American (his mother is known for her Italian meatballs), but he is also a fan of fusion cooking, which fuses together many elements from different types of cuisine but doesn’t fit in one traditional category. He worked under Jean-Michel Diot and Jacques Chibois at Adrienne in New York before serving as the Chef de Partie at Aujourd’hui in Boston. He joined Lespinasse as part of the opening team before opening his own restaurant, Union Pacific, in New York City. He was named the Food & Wine Best New Chef in 1999 and in 2000, he was dubbed “America’s Most Exciting Young Chef” by Gourmet magazine.
In 2003, Rocco was the star of his own reality show titled “The Restaurant.” NBC covered the opening and daily operations of the restaurant Rocco’s 22nd Street. Rocoo has made guest appearances on both “Top Chef” and “The Biggest Loser.” He was also featured in a Lincoln MKX commercial.
He is also the author of five books: Rocco’s Real-Life Recipes, Rocco’s Italian-American, Rocco Gets Real: Cook at Home Every Day, Flavor, and Rocco Gets Real (which will be released in September 2008). He won a James Beard Award for Flavor. Rocco also hosted a radio talk show for WOR from 2004 to 2005.
People Magazine named Rocco the Sexiest Chef Alive. He has recently been romantically linked to Edmonds Entertainment Group, Inc. CEO Tracey Edmonds. Rocco lives in Manhattan and in his spare time, he enjoys mountain biking, playing the guitar, and collecting wine and cookbooks.
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