DeRosa fell in love with cooking as a child, making paella with his grandmother. This laid the groundwork for a passion that would take him to Johnson & Wales University in Miami. While attending J&W;, he found a home with James Beard award-winning chef Allen Susser. In 2002, he joined the Wolfgang Puck restaurant empire, taking the reins of Puck’s Orlando restaurant and going on to open operations in Toronto, Las Vegas and South Florida. Following his stint with Puck, DeRosa joined up with Mark Peel, at Campanile and later moved to the Michelin Star-rated, Patina restaurant as executive chef under Master Chef Joachim Splichal. Seeking a change of scenery, he traveled oversees for a three month apprenticeship at The Fat Duck and an executive chef position at Domus in Beijing, China. Returning to the states in 2009, DeRosa opened Taste Gastropub alongside Susser which led to his most recent role as executive chef of Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian’s Tudor House. There he earned rave reviews for his playful take on contemporary American cuisine.