David Rocco

David Rocco was born on July 27, 1970, in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, to Italian immigrants from Naples, Italy. His parents were both hairdressers, and he is the youngest of three children. Rocco later moved with his family to Woodbridge, Ontario as a teenager.

In 1995, he married his high school sweetheart, Nina. The couple later moved to Rosedale, Toronto, and have twin daughters and a son.

Rocco was a model as a teenager, and worked for agencies including Elite and Armstrong Men. He and Nina took acting classes together and both also studied at York University. The couple ran a restaurant, La Madonnina, in Woodbridge, but gave it up a year later to pursue acting. In 1997, without success in the feature film world, Rocco figured a food show would be better. He and his wife, on holiday in Italy, shot a video showcasing different foods, and later showed it to a Toronto production company. This led to a 26-episode TV series featuring food and travel called Avventura: Journey in Italian Cuisine.

In 2005, Rocco's self-produced TV series David Rocco's Dolce Vita premiered on Food Network Canada. It ended in 2010 after five seasons, and reached an international audience, including in the U.S. on the Cooking Channel.

Several spin-offs of the show followed including, David Rocco's Dolce Napoli (2011–17), David Rocco's Amalfi Getaway (2012), David Rocco's Dolce India (2013–14), David Rocco's Dolce Africa (2018), David Rocco's Dolce Italia (2020), David Rocco's Dolce Southeast Asia (2020), and David Rocco's Dolce HomeMade (2022).

In 2018, Rocco and Hong Kong singer Nicholas Tse co-hosted FOX Life's Celebrity Chef: East vs West.