Chef Michele Rocchi
From Senigallia, Le Marche, Italy
Good evening, and welcome to Clementina. My name is Michele Rocchi, and I am the chef here. I come from Italy, from the Marche region, more precisely from Senigallia — my hometown. I’ve been cooking since I was fourteen years old, and for my entire life, this is what I’ve done. Cooking is not just my profession, it’s my language.
At Clementina, I want to share with you a fresh, modern Italian cuisine, rooted in tradition but shaped by knowledge, experience, and respect for today’s way of eating. Some dishes are deeply traditional and found in many Italian restaurants, but here they are shaped by small, thoughtful details that make them truly mine.
Whenever possible, we work with organic, locally sourced ingredients, building direct relationships with the people who produce them here in New Jersey. Through their work and my cooking, I want to honor this land and tell the story of an Italian chef cooking in America.
For everything that is deeply Italian by nature, I rely on the finest Italian producers I know — guardians of authenticity, tradition, and true origin.
My hope — together with my kitchen and dining room team — is to give you a beautiful evening. For those who already know Italy, perhaps a small memory. For those who don’t, maybe the desire to visit it soon. Thank you sincerely for being here.
Michele Rocchi & Staff
Executive Chef & Co-Founder, Clementina
Cooking Since Fourteen.
Michele Rocchi was born in Senigallia, in the province of Ancona in Le Marche — a region of Italy known for its coastline, its craft, and its deep culinary tradition. He began cooking at fourteen and has never stopped.
His career has taken him through the kitchens of Italy and into the international dining world, building a command of technique and a philosophy of cooking grounded in simplicity and precision. At Clementina, he brings that entire journey to one room in New Jersey.
His pasta is produced using the Metodo Massi from his hometown of Senigallia — a patented system of cold extrusion presented exclusively in the United States at Clementina. His mains reflect the coast and countryside of Le Marche. His desserts are personal.
