Rocco DiSpirito Quotes

I wouldn't call being a chef gratifying in a lot of ways. It's an act of love.

Cooks are an undervalued, awesome profession.

Cooking is in an honest profession where you cannot hide and let others do the work for you. You have to show up, work hard and prove you can do it faster and better. And find a mentor who will recognize your talent and push you in the right direction.

The cooking profession, while it's a noble craft and a noble calling, 'cause you're doing something useful - you're feeding people, you're nurturing them, you're providing sustenance - it was never pure.

The art of the cuisine, when fully mastered, is the one human capability of which only good things can be said.

Being a chef would be too much hard work.

I think I could be a cook. Everybody always says I'm good, though I think it's quite gruelling as a profession.

I respect anybody that cooks. I know how hard it is.

You don't go into being a chef for the money.

Having realised that in cooking there was a vast field of study and development, I said to myself, 'Although I had not originally intended to enter this profession, since I am in it, I will work in such a fashion that I will rise above the ordinary, and I will do my best to raise again the prestige of the chef de cuisine.'

Being a chef is the best job in the world.

I've always been fascinated by chefs and the worlds of chefs - what they do is incredibly cinematic.

I will pursue my passion of cooking every day until my hands fall off and I lose all sense of smell and taste.

The food business is very tough, but there's also a lot of love and very giving.

In a day and age when there are so many culinary competitions - ranging from contests of taste to those of technique - The World Food Championships will be the ultimate food competition.

I cook, I create, I'm incredibly excited by what I do, I've still got a lot to achieve.

You know, from age 17 on, my paycheck was coming from cooking and working in kitchens.

I have met a lot of top chefs around the world during my travels. Each one of them has said 'Ratatouille' is their favorite movie and the only movie that truly captures what they do.

My mum and dad are pretty amazing chefs and they spent most of my childhood cooking really extravagant things for my sister and me.

Growing up, my dad owned a restaurant in Washington, DC, and food was something I was passionate about. But when I finally got into it, I felt like it was so late in the game; that's why I worked seven days a week at Craft and Mercer Kitchen. I wanted to see how far I could take it.

Being a cook doesn't necessarily mean you are a competitor.

I used to help my grandfather on the farm, driving tractors, raising crops and animals. I used to feed some of the baby cows and pigs, and I had to be no older than 7 or 8. Then at about 9 or 10 I started driving tractors. It showed me at an early age what hard work was all about and how dedicated you have to be, no matter what you do.

Ever since I read 'Kitchen Confidential,' I saw a little light bulb go off. Being a chef is like being on a pirate ship; it's not like 'Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?' or whatever my impression was as I was growing up.

You don't become a chef to become famous.

Many excellent cooks are spoilt by going into the arts.