Email to Stella      

Recipe Categories: Stella's HOME PAGEAPPETIZERS BAKING_SITES BBQ BEAUTY BEEF BEVERAGES BIOGRAPHY BREAD BREAKFAST BROWNIESandBARS BUTTERS_SPREADS CAKES CANDY CANNING_PRESERVING CASSEROLES CELEBRITY CHEESECAKES CHOCOHOLICS_ANONYMOUS COMFORT_FOOD COOKIES COOKING_FOR_2 COPYCAT CRAFT_RECIPES CROCKPOT DESSERTS DIABETIC DIETS ENTERTAINING ETHNIC FISHandSEAFOOD FONDUE FREEZER_FRIENDLY FROSTINGandFILLING FRUIT FUDGE GIFT_BASKET GIFT_JARS GLUTEN_FREE GRILL HINTSandTIPS HOLIDAYS HOMEMADE_PRODUCTS ICE_CREAM JAMSandJELLIES KIDDIE_MENU LOWFAT LOW_CARB MARINADES_RUBS MINUTE_MEALS MUFFINS OAMC PASTA PASTRIES PET_FOOD pHBalance PICNICandCAMPING PIES PIZZA POLITICIAN_FAVORITES PORK POULTRY PRESSURECOOKER QUANTITY_COOKING SALADandDRESSING SANDWICHES SAUCES SEWING_CRAFTS SIDE_DISHES SNACKS SOUPS_STEWS_CHOWDER_CHILI SOUTH_BEACH_DIET STATE_RECIPES TOP_TEN VEGETABLES VEGETARIAN

Rocco DiSpirito




Source of Recipe


FoodNetwork


Recipe Introduction


ROCCO'S a restaurant owned by Rocco DiSpirito in NYC was recently featured on a television show called " The Restaurant."


Recipe Link: http://www.hgtv.com

Foodies across the country are embracing chef Rocco DiSpirito as one of the brightest stars of his generation, and his hard work and dedication have earned him a reputation as a highly talented chef who delights the public and restaurant critics alike.

Named Food & Wine's Best New Chef 1999, nominated for a 1999 James Beard Foundation Award, and recipient of a three-star review from The New York Times, Melting Pot's Rocco has galvanized the gastronomic world with innovative culinary creations at his restaurant, Union Pacific. Confident that cooking was his true passion at a very early age, Rocco entered the Culinary Institute of America at age 16. After graduating in 1986, he continued studying classical technique at the prestigious Jardin de Cygne in Paris, where he secured a coveted stagiere with Dominique Cecillon. Rocco immersed himself in French regional food and wine, wandering local markets and touring vineyards for nearly two years.

Rocco returned to New York in 1988 to work under Jean-Michel Diot and Jacques Chibois at Adrienne at Hotel Maxim's de Paris (now the Peninsula Hotel). Eager to increase his knowledge of the business end of the restaurant industry, he received a BA in business from Boston University in 1990. While working in chef Mark Baker's kitchen at Aujour d'Hui in Boston, Rocco first saw the deft combination of French technique and Asian ingredients, now a hallmark of his own style. To explore the emerging cross-cultural cuisine further, he returned to Manhattan, embarking on a series of stagieres with the city's leading chefs: David Bouley, Charles Palmer, Gilbert Le Coze and Gray Kunz. Kunz, intrigued by the young chef, added Rocco to Lespinasse's opening team.

In September 1995, Rocco opened Dava Restaurant in midtown Manhattan. His cooking attracted a proliferation of favorable reviews and features in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Crain's New York Business, The New York Observer and Food Arts.

At Union Pacific, Rocco continues to dazzle diners with his compelling creativity and signature penchant for developing surprising combinations of ingredients. "I work to create visual and gustatory complexity and depth in my dishes," he says. "It's important to me that a dish is a balanced interplay of interesting textures and bright flavors."

Rocco lives in Manhattan, and enjoys playing the guitar, mountain biking, and collecting wine and cookbooks.