Rocco working on new Bravo cooking show

NEW YORK, June 1 (UPI) -- Celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito is developing a weekly cooking competition series called "Rocco's Dinner Party," the U.S. cable network Bravo announced.

The network said DiSpirito will size up "some of the country's most promising aspiring chefs to see if they have the chops to impress at a private dinner party attended by his discriminating guests."

"We love this concept because it continues Bravo's goal of providing additional forums for creative industries like the culinary arts, with a dramatic personality like Rocco DiSpirito at the head of the table," Cori Abraham, Bravo's vice president of development, said in a statement.

"Each episode will feature four different chefs who will be tasked to create their favorite dish for DiSpirito, and DiSpirito will eliminate one chef following the task. Next, DiSpirito will announce the week's dinner party theme, and the three remaining chefs will create an appetizer and also present their proposed menu for the theme, with one more being eliminated after this task. The two remaining chefs are given the opportunity to create a complete menu and decor incorporating the week's assigned theme."

The chefs will hail from all walks of life from restaurateurs to caterers to self-taught foodies, and the winner of each episode will be awarded a cash prize, Bravo said. The amount has not yet been announced.

"There is no greater gift or gesture than to cook for another human being," DiSpirito said. "My favorite moments are when I am entertaining for friends and loved ones. This partnership with Bravo brings to bear all I love about the craft and artistry of cooking in a setting where I am most comfortable -- the dinner table.''