# Rocco — The Grand Babylon Hotel character guide

> Rocco in The Grand Babylon Hotel by Arnold Bennett.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Rocco, M. Rocco, the great Rocco

**First appearance:** 0011-xii-rocco-and-room-no-111

## Snapshot

The Grand Babylon's two-thousand-a-year chef, whose carving is legendary and whose night-time errands in the State bedroom are anything but culinary.

## Who they are

Rocco is the hotel's supreme artist of gastronomy, a lean, graceful celebrity whom rival hotels have failed to poach and who never deigns to appear in his own kitchens. Yet Racksole, hidden behind woodwork, watches him photograph a corpse by aluminium flash-light — the body of Reginald Dimmock — in a suite reserved for Royalty. His fame and his secrecy pull in opposite directions, making him the novel's most unsettling early mystery.

## Relationships

### [Theodore Racksole](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/characters/theodore_racksole)

_professional_

Rocco is the hotel's chef, and Theodore Racksole is his employer, with a professional dynamic centered on hotel operations.

### [Theodore Racksole](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/characters/theodore_racksole)

_professional_

Rocco is the hotel's chef, and Theodore Racksole is his employer, with a professional dynamic centered on hotel operations.

### [Theodore Racksole](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/characters/theodore_racksole)

_professional_

Rocco is the hotel's chef, and Theodore Racksole is his employer, with a professional dynamic centered on hotel operations.

## In the story

### [I: The Millionaire and the Waiter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/chapters/i-the-millionaire-and-the-waiter)

The renowned chef of the Grand Babylon, earning two thousand a year, mentioned as one of the three gods of the hotel.

### [How Mr. Racksole Obtained His Dinner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/chapters/ii-how-mr-racksole-obtained-his-dinner)

The hotel's celebrated chef, retained by Racksole with an increased salary of three thousand a year.

### [Nella and the Prince](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/chapters/vii-nella-and-the-prince)

Contributes to the success of Nella's lunch with the Prince.

### [Arrival and Departure of the Baroness](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/chapters/viii-arrival-and-departure-of-the-baroness)

Nella suspects Rocco is involved in the mysterious affair.

### [Two Women and the Revolver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/chapters/ix-two-women-and-the-revolver)

Mentioned by Miss Spencer in connection with Jules's scheme, though details are cut off.

### [Rocco and Room No. 111](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/chapters/xii-rocco-and-room-no-111)

Demonstrates his culinary skill in the kitchen, reacts indifferently to news of Jules' arrest, and is later seen in the State bedroom.

### [In the State Bedroom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/chapters/xiii-in-the-state-bedroom)

Performs mysterious embalming-like work on a corpse in the State Bedroom, photographs it, and is confronted by Racksole.

### [XIV: Rocco Answers Some Questions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/chapters/xiv-rocco-answers-some-questions)

Reveals his true identity as an American, admits to embalming Dimmock's corpse, and escapes by trapping Racksole in a lift.

### [XIX: Royalty at the Grand Babylon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/chapters/xix-royalty-at-the-grand-babylon)

Mentioned as still at large, along with Jules and Miss Spencer.

### [The Return of Félix Babylon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/chapters/xxi-the-return-of-f-lix-babylon)

Mentioned as having left the hotel after Racksole found him embalming a corpse; his departure was widely reported.

### [The Confession of Mr. Tom Jackson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/chapters/xxvii-the-confession-of-mr-tom-jackson)

Revealed by Jules as an accomplice in the plot.

### [XXX: Conclusion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/chapters/xxx-conclusion)

Later heard of in Buenos Aires, making a fortune as a chef; Racksole decides not to pursue legal action against him.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/characters/rocco
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_grand_babylon_hotel_se/characters