Even though he’ll be taking over a local restaurant, chef Rocco DiSpirito is looking forward to being a guest.

The celebrity chef who often pops into Food Network’s “Chopped” and “Beat Bobby Flay” takes over Seven Ponies at Choctaw Casino & Resort Feb. 7-8. He’ll dish up favorites from his recent Southhampton, N.Y. pop-up and his latest cookbook, “Everyday Delicious 30 Minute(ish) Home-Cooked Meals Made Simple.”

Since he’s not running the operations of the restaurant, he’s free to to talk with his fellow “guests” one of his favorite parts of a takeover.

“There’s always gonna be something emotional from a person that I meet that has to do with something they learned from me or my mom or saw on TV,” he said. “Many times though, a very lovely person will bring me something that’s local and delicious, and that makes me very, very happy. Whether it’s fresh food they’ve cooked or something jarred or canned or preserved, that’s always super fun because you’ll never be able to make that. I’ll never be able to make something super local that someone lovingly crafted for me.”

DiSpirito released his 15th cookbook last spring. In the forward reveals he learned many of the recipes from hardworking moms who didn’t have all day and in a busy restaurant where the food was “needed five minutes ago.”

“I gave myself these parameters of 10 ingredients, 30 minutes,” said DiSpirito.” Almost every recipe is less than that.”

The book was a four-year project by the professional chef who entered the Culinary Institute of America at age 16 and was working for some of the top chefs in the world by 18. He opened his first restaurant, Dava, in 1995 and later opened the famed Union Pacific restaurant. In 2003, he starred in the NBC reality show, “The Restaurant” and later in A&E’s “Rocco Gets Real.” He has also been featured in publications like Food and Wine, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, W, The New York Times and others including People’s 2002 Sexiest Man Alive issue. He even danced on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and worked with contestants on “The Biggest Loser” to help contestants learn to cook healthier meals.

While several of his cookbooks promise meals under 150 calories or keto comfort food, his latest book is a collection of his favorites with an emphasis on entrees and finding joy in the kitchen.

“I like entrees,” DiSpirito said. “I think people use cookbooks to solve their entree problem.”

A first-generation Italian-American chef, one of his favorites in his latest book is a simple fettuccine Alfredo made from just four ingredients. He said he wrote the majority of the book during covid lockdown, while people were reaching out to him for crowd pleasing recipes that wouldn’t have them in the kitchen for too long, with a few exceptions.

For the first time in one of his cookbooks, he’s added a section on crudos, raw fish or seafood dressed with a combination of citrus and/or vinegar with olive oil and seasonings.

He also shares recipes for special occasions and Sunday dinners “that are a little more extravagant,” he said like Butterscotch-Glazed Short Ribs of Beef with Taro and Truffle Mash or Classic Lasagna Bolognese, which are probably something people will make once a year or twice a year. He said they are worth the time.

“For those dishes, I recommend you make a lot, buy a lot of product and make a big batch that lasts forever. Put it in the freezer. It’s worth the work, but you want to get a big result.”

He said every time you cook, you learn something new.

Our craft is always changing,” he said. “You can chase food your whole life, but it’s just never the same which is unfortunate because it drives us crazy, but it’s also what makes it exciting and fun. It’s a little bit of art and craft mixed together.”