| Rocco DiSpirito | |
|---|---|
| File:Pier+1+Imports+Epicurean+Launch+Rocco+DiSpirito+CXTM9eKpIrrl.jpg | |
| Born | November 19, 1966 Jamaica, Queens, New York City |
Rocco DiSpirito (born November 19, 1966) is an Italian American chef based in New York City.
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Life and career
DiSpirito was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York. He is a 1986 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and a 1990 graduate of Boston University with a bachelor's degree in business. DiSpirito is known for his Italian-American cuisine and his innovative fusion cooking; his mother, Nicolina, is known for her Italian meatballs.
DiSpirito is best known as a celebrity chef and a cookbook author. He is known for his involvement in Union Pacific, a restaurant he opened in 1997 in the Gramercy Park section of Manhattan. A year later, New York Times reviewer Ruth Reichl, in an ecstatic three-star review, reported that a woman at the next table was moaning in uncontrollable ecstacy as she ate, but it was impossible to determine what dish had provoked that reaction, since just about every entree was worthy of such moans.[1] He left Union Pacific in 2004. In 2003 and 2004, DiSpirito was the subject of the NBC reality television show The Restaurant, which followed DiSpirito and his mother during the opening of their restaurant, Rocco's 22nd Street.
DiSpirito hosted his own radio talk show for WOR from October 2004 through December 2005, and currently hosts a TV show called "Rocco gets Real" on A&E.[2][3]
He was also featured in a Lincoln MKX commercial, the ABC sitcom The Knights of Prosperity, and as a guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef. He returned in the season-three finale of Top Chef — in which three celebrity chefs were brought to work as sous chefs to the contestants, with DiSpirito assisting Hung Huynh — and was a guest judge on the March 14, 2008 season-four premiere. He appeared on NBC's The Biggest Loser: Couples (season 5) in an episode that aired on February 5, 2008 (episode 506), in which contestants were challenged to prepare three healthy courses based on DiSpirito's recipes; DiSpirito judged the food and determined the winning team. The following season he appeared on The Biggest Loser: Families on the second episode (airing September 23, 2008), taking the "worst" cook of each pair shopping and teaching them to prepare healthy recipes.
DiSpirito was a contestant on season seven of Dancing With The Stars, premiering September 22, 2008, paired with Karina Smirnoff. He was eliminated on the October 14, 2008 broadcast of the show, placing ninth overall.
DiSpirito has also performed a public service announcement for Do Something to promote food drives for schools.[4]
Awards
- James Beard Award[5] for his book Flavor
- America's Best New Chef[5] by Food and Wine Magazine
- Most Exciting Young Chef[5] by Gourmet Magazine
- Sexiest Chef Alive[5] by People Magazine
Cookbooks
- Rocco's Real-Life Recipes (2007)
- Flavor
- Rocco's Italian American
- Rocco's Five Minute Flavor
Dancing with the Stars Performances
| Week # | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | ||
| Inaba | Goodman | Tonioli | |||
| 1A | Foxtrot/ "Stray Cat Strut" | 5 | 4 | 5 | Safe |
| 1B | Mambo/ "La Comay" | 7 | 7 | 7 | Safe |
| 2 | Rumba/ "You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" | 5 | 6 | 5 | Safe |
| 3 | Viennese Waltz/ "What’s New Pussycat?" | 7 | 7 | 6 | Would have been eliminated had Misty May-Treanor not been injured |
| 4 | Samba/ "I Go To Rio" | 6 | 6 | 6 | Eliminated |
References
- ^ "New York Times review of Union Pacific". http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/05/dining/restaurants-a-short-trip-from-promising-to-polished.html.
- ^ Gordinier, Jeff (December 17, 2008), "Taking Heat for Not Cooking", The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/dining/17rocc.html
- ^ A&E's Rocco Gets Real website. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
- ^ "Rocco DiSpirito Promotes Food Drives". Do Something. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQMhJNsQn4E&feature=channel_page. Retrieved 2006-11-21.
- ^ a b c d Chikiamco, Norma (January), "Everybody Loves Rocco", Food: The Philippines’ Largest Selling Culinary Magazine (Philippines): 62, December 2006
External links
- Official website
- New York Magazine feature story about fallout from the reality TV show
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