Rocco DiSpirito is an American chef in New York City, who was born in Jamaica, Queens on November 19, 1966. A 1986 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and Boston University, Rocco is known for his Italian-American cuisine and his innovative fusion cooking. He is also a prominent cookbook author.

Rocco is primarily known as a celebrity chef, famous for his involvement in Union Pacific, a restaurant he opened in 1997 in the Gramercy Park section of Manhattan to good reviews. He left Union Pacific in 2004. In 2003 and 2004, DiSpirito was the subject of the reality television show The Restaurant, which followed Rocco and restaurant co-owner and financier, Jeffrey Chodorow, during the opening of their restuarant, Rocco's 22nd Street. Due to disagreements between Rocco and Chodorow, Chodorow closed the restaurant and reopened it as "Caviar and Banana".

His mother, Nicolina, is known for her famous, delicious Italian meatballs, and continues to help around the kitchen for her son when necessary, as was seen in the TV show, The Restaurant.

Credit: en.wikipedia.org