Rosengarten attended Colgate University where he earned a B.A. in 1971, holds a doctorate in dramatic literature from Cornell University (1980), and was an assistant professor of theater at Skidmore College.

Rosengarten was a contributing editor for Gourmet magazine from 1995 to 1999, and was that magazine's New York restaurant critic. He published articles in several US newspapers including the New York Times, the New York Daily News, the New York Observer, and was the weekly wine columnist of Newsday.

For several years he published an e-mail newsletter entitled "David Rosengarten's Tastings" which had lengthy accounts of his food experiences as well as offering monthly subscription sales of various foodstuffs such as freshly pressed olive oil. On December 3, 2008, subscribers received an e-mail stating,

"I must report to you that our beloved editor, David Rosengarten, will be moving on to other ventures ...Luckily for us, he will still be an occasional Guest Author of Tastings, giving you his inimitable (some would say infallible!) take on the best food, wine, and vacation ideas from his travels across America and around the world."

As of February, 2009 he is publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Rosengarten Report, a subscription-only newsletter that won the 2003 James Beard Award as America's best Food and Wine newsletter, although as of February 8, 2009 no additional subscriptions were being accepted. It is little different from the now defunct Tastings, offering subscription sales of high quality foodstuffs in addition to his travelogues on food.

Books

• David Rosengarten Entertains: Fabulous Parties for Food Lovers (with Joshua Wesson) (2004) Wiley ISBN 0471-46198-9
• The Dean & DeLuca Cookbook (1996), Random House ISBN 0-679-77003-8
• It's All American Food: The Best Recipes for More Than 400 New American Classics (2003) Little, Brown and Company ISBN 0-316-05315-5.
• Red Wine with Fish: The New Art of Matching Wine with Food (1989), Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-671-66208-2

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• Taste: One Palate's Journey through the World's Greatest Dishes (1998), Television Food Network, Random House ISBN 0-375-75265-X

The book is divided into five chapters:

Chapter one: My favorite light appetizers.

:oysters, caviar, bruschetta, cold Chinese appetizers, gazpacho, guacamole, vegetables à la grecque, Thai salads, ceviche

Chapter two: My favorite in-between dishes.

:dried pasta dishes, orecchiette, risotto, French onion soup, Catalan lobster and chicken soup, Thai chicken soup with coconut milk, gumbo, quesadillas, quiche, oeufs en meurette, jambon persillé, bisteeya, Vietnames summe rolls

Chapter three: My favorite main courses.

:soft-shell crabs, Szechuan shrimp with chili and garlic sauce, crab cakes, Dover sole, Singapore chili crab, paella, moussaka, choucroute garnie, boeuf bourguignon, jerked chicken, "alla francese" dishes, barbecued ribs

Chapter four: My favorite desserts.

:fruit salads, fruit soups, fruit tarts, tarte Tatin, apple pie, iced fruit desserts: granitas, sorbets, and sherbets, chocolate chip cookies, molten chocolate cake, tiramisù, crème brûlée, pecan pie, pumpkin pie

Chapter five: Wine ... and other good things to drink.

:matching wine with food, twelve wines I always rely on, a few other wines, beer, brandy, other spirits, coffee, tea, bottle

Afterword: How to Get the Most out of Your Gastronomic Travel

In the foreword to this book, onetime president and chief executive officer of the Food Network, Erica Gruen wrote,

"Taste was the very first in-house production of Food Network and is now our most popular show. For Food Network, it all started with Taste. We are proud to have produced David's show from the start and to share with the world his insights, humor, and joie de vivre."

Rosengarten's first hosting opportunity on the US channel Food Network was Food News & Views then created the program Taste, starting in February 1994, that aired for eight years, and co-hosted In Food Today with Donna Hanover, ex-wife of Rudolph Giuliani . He has also appeared frequently on NBC's Today show.

Entertainment Weekly had the following to say about Taste,

"Call it culinary voiyeurism, but Taste is a cooking show even take-out addicts will find enthralling. David Rosengarten's orgasmic ruminations on 'lobster synergy' and the textural differences between Lebanese and Portugues pine nuts will give 'bring to a boil' a whole new meaning."

Since October 2006, Rosengarten has been organizing and hosting food tours in regions as varied as the Mediterranean, India and Iceland.