Rocco DiSpirito is a James Beard award-winning chef, best known for his restaurant, Union Pacific, in NYC and his many cookbooks. He is a healthy lifestyle crusader who is recognized for his inspiring weight loss journey. DiSpirito has dedicated his life to proving that healthy and delicious are not mutually exclusive.

A superstar chef of the late 1990s, Rocco opened his NYC restaurant, Union Pacific, in 1997. Met with great praise, it received 3 stars from the New York Times, with Ruth Reichl stating, "in less capable hands, mad delusions, in DiSpirito's hands, pure genius." Union Pacific was a New York City culinary landmark from 1997 to 2004.

After a failed attempt to open a second restaurant, Rocco's on 22nd, DiSpirito took a lengthy hiatus from the New York City food scene. During this time, DiSpirito expanded his celebrity through television. Beginning the NBC reality television show The Restaurant (2003 to 2004), DiSpirito also hosted the short-lived talk show on A&E, Rocco Gets Real, served as a guest judge for Top Chef and The Biggest Loser, and competed on season 7 of Dancing with the Stars (2008). In 2011, DiSpirito debuted as host of a weekly reality TV cooking competition, titled Rocco's Dinner Party, on Bravo TV and, in 2017, he competed in and won Guy Fieri's Guy's Grocery Games - Superstar Tournament.

After his long break from the restaurant game, DiSpirito returned as the head chef of the Standard Grill in 2019, located in the Meatpacking District of NYC.

Chef DiSpirito has worked under renowned chefs including Gray Kunz, David Bouley, and Charles Palmer, and his culinary expertise has recived praise from publications including Food and Wine, Gourmet, and The New York Magazine. DiSpirito has also been named one of Food and Wine magazine's "Best New Chefs", was the first chef to grace the cover of Gourmet magazine as "America's Most Exciting Young Chef", and was voted America's "Leading Chef of his Generation" by Gourmet magazine.

DiSpirito has also published more than 12 cookbooks, including five New York Times bestsellers: Rocco's Italian America (2004), Now Eat This! (2010), Now Eat This! Diet (2011), Now Eat This! Italian (2012), and The Negative Calorie Diet (2016).

Additionally, in 2019 DiSpirito launched his own line of organic superfood supplements and snacks entitled Rocco.

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