Robert Irvine

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Robert Irvine

Chef Robert Irvine
Born	1965 (age 43–44) Salisbury, England
Television show(s) Dinner: Impossible (2007-2008), 41 episodes

Robert Irvine MCFA (C.G.) (born Robert P. Irvine^[1] in 1965 and raised in Wiltshire, England^[2]) is a celebrity chef who has appeared on numerous Food Network programs, including hosting Dinner: Impossible.

Contents 1 Career 2 Controversy 2.1 St. Petersburg Times Article 2.2 Responses to the article 3 After the controversy 4 Personal 5 Professional honors 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Career

Irvine began his cooking career upon enlisting in the Royal Navy at the age of fifteen. Having completed culinary training, Robert served aboard Her Majesty's Royal Yacht Britannia.^{[citation needed]} He has also been of service to the Naval Mess in the West Wing of the White House.^[3] Upon completion of his 10-year tour of duty, Irvine performed consultant work in Bali, Jakarta, and Ho Chi Minh City before becoming Executive Chef aboard numerous cruise ships, culminating with the five-star MS Crystal Harmony.^{[citation needed]}

Irvine has been Executive Chef for Donald Trump’s Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort and Caesars Atlantic City.^{[citation needed]} He has also been involved with the Children Uniting Nations charity that was founded by southern California socialite Daphna Ziman. He was one of a team of celebrity chefs who participated in their fundraising dinner for the 77th Academy Awards in 2005^[4] in addition to serving as Head Chef at their 78th Academy Awards dinner in 2006.^[5]

Irvine is currently president and founder of Irvine Thyme, LLC., and has introduced an Irvine-branded line of spices, oils and vinegars. ^[6] His first cookbook, Mission: Cook!, written with Brian O'Reilly, was published by HarperCollins Publishers in September 2007. ^[7] Irvine also appeared in a December 2007 episode of Iron Chef America with Tyler Florence in a dessert battle (theme ingredient: sugar) against Paula Deen and Cat Cora in which the men lost. He is a member of the Council of Chefs, Cora's charity dedicated to helping hungry children.^[8]

Irvine was selected as one of the "25 Fittest Guys in America" by Men's Fitness magazine in 2007.^[9] He typically works in a black T-shirt or chef's jacket bearing the Irvine clan badge with the motto: "sub sole, sub umbra, virens" (flourishing in both sunshine and shade). ^[10]

[edit] Controversy

In 2006, Irvine arrived in St. Petersburg, Florida and announced his intention to turn the city into "the next Monaco" with the opening of two restaurants - the casual cafe Ooze and the upscale Schmooze - on the ground level of a condominium tower overlooking Vinoy Basin. Locals were impressed by the fact the chef was about to launch Dinner: Impossible and was in the midst of writing a cookbook. They were further impressed by his other claims: he was a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order; he had a degree in food and nutrition from the University of Leeds; he worked on the wedding cake for Prince Charles and Princess Diana; he had worked as a White House chef. These supposed credentials attracted the attention of socialite Wendy LaTorre (who said she was owed more than $100,000 for her contributions to the project), interior decorator Susan Nice, and website designer Monica Taylor.

[edit] St. Petersburg Times Article

In an article dated February 17, 2008, the St. Petersburg Times quoted sources who disputed most of Irvine's assertions. Nice filed suit against him, claiming he breached a contract when he decided to use interior designer Paul Guillaume instead of her. Guillaume himself abandoned the project when he learned Taylor and her partner were supposedly owed $10,000 for their work on the website.

Three months after the project's scheduled opening, the 7,000-square-foot (650 m²) space remained vacant. Irvine's business partner, J. Randall Williams, stated at the time that "Everybody ... involved in the restaurant is paid up to date ... Robert is not interested in avoiding any obligations at all. What I'm trying to do is gather all of these claims and figure out what's real and what's not real, and it's difficult because everyone is claiming to have agreements with Robert."

Irvine claimed he was pressured into opening the two restaurants by LaTorre, rather than a much smaller restaurant he could have financed without backers.^[11]

[edit] Responses to the article

Claims that Irvine had made elsewhere were called into question based on the article. In Mission: Cook!, Irvine states he was at the Royal School of Cookery while the wedding cake was under construction, and was often consigned to "painstakingly inspecting, culling and cleaning billions of individual bits of dried fruit for inclusion (in the cake). This was 'KP' of the highest order for Queen and country." According to Dave Avery, the chef responsible for creating it, "Robert Irvine may have been a trainee student at the Royal Naval Cookery School whilst I was making the royal wedding cake. He most certainly was not involved with me in making or baking the cake."^[12]

In response to the Times article, the Food Network pulled Irvine's biography and celebrity chef status from its website. Network spokesperson Lisa De Colle said they were "taking the necessary steps to ensure the accuracy of all representations of Robert." Beginning with the episode that aired February 20, 2008, the claims that Irvine had worked for three U.S. presidents and the Royal Family were removed from the opening sequence of Dinner: Impossible,^[13] though former White House executive chef Walter Scheib confirmed in the article that Irvine had worked in the Navy Mess facility in the West Wing of the White House.^[3]

Fallout from the controversy continued. The Home Shopping Network removed eight Irvine products from its website. Tom Briglia, who took the photographs for Mission: Cook!, claimed he was not paid for his work, although he had no written contract. Irvine, who was scheduled to perform two cooking demonstrations at the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival the weekend of February 23-24, 2008, withdrew from the event. He also removed the biography from his own website, ChefRobertIrvine.com.^[14]

On February 29, 2008, the Food Network announced it would honor its contract with Irvine for a fourth season of thirteen episodes of Dinner: Impossible but was also looking for a replacement host for the series.^[15]

On March 7, 2008, posters proclaiming the forthcoming opening of Ooze and Schmooze were removed from the windows of the space the restaurants were supposed to occupy. The landlord said he was not responsible and that his lease with Irvine was still in effect. Irvine's representatives declined to comment about the incident.^[16]

On March 10, 2008, the landlord and Irvine's business partner issued a joint statement announcing the chef had abandoned his plan to open the restaurants. The reasons cited were "the timing is not exactly right" and Irvine "cannot commit to spending at least four days a week" at the restaurant as he had planned.^[17]

On April 21, 2008, Food Network executives released a statement announcing they were expanding the Dinner: Impossible series to a one-hour format and replacing Irvine with recent Iron Chef America addition Michael Symon.^[18] The first Symon episode aired on July 20, 2008, and ran at thirty minutes instead of the promised one-hour format.^[19]

[edit] After the controversy

Food Network restored Irvine's biography to their website later in the spring of 2008. It reflected his service in the British Royal Navy, service on the Royal Yacht Britannia, and service in the Naval Mess in the West Wing of the White House.^[20] He also appeared in an episode of The Next Food Network Star on June 8, 2008.^[21].

On July 16, 2008, Chef Irvine launched a blog and posted information about his service in the Royal Navy, with the British Royal Family, and with the White House Guest Chef program as an attempt to "set the record straight."^[22]

On November 20, 2008, Food Network announced that they had rehired Irvine to host six episodes of Dinner: Impossible with a scheduled air date in March 2009.^[23] The first episode of Irvine's new season aired on April 8, 2009.^[24]

[edit] Personal

Irvine has lived with his wife Karen in Absecon, New Jersey, since at least 1998.^[2]

[edit] Professional honors

This biographical section of a needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2009) (Find sources: Robert Irvine – news, books, scholar)

• Ambassador of the Culinary Institute of America (awarded at commencement, December 2007)^[25]
• Chef Professional from La Toque Blanche International
• Chef’s Five-Star Diamond Award from American Academy of Hospitality Sciences 1998-2003 (recipients pay for the honor)
• 2001 Culinary Excellence Award granted at Carnegie Hall by the Culinary Institute of America and the American Tasting Institute
• Trustee of the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences' Five-Star Diamond Award
• Member of the Cookery and Food Association (MCFA) and Chef's Guild (CG)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Official Chef Robert Irvine Blog
• Irvine Thyme LLC.