Irvine returns to 'Dinner: Impossible'

Chef Robert Irvine

Irvine was the original subject of the Food Network show "Dinner: Impossible," but was let go in 2008 after questions surfaced about whether he had padded his resume and claimed achievements that were not accurate. He was replaced by Michael Symon, one of Food Network's "Iron Chefs," but viewers just didn't like Symon as well as Irvine, and now Irvine and Food Network have put their differences behind them and Irvine is back on the show.

Good thing, too, because Irvine's version of "Dinner: Impossible" is great television.

There's no dispute about the fact that Irvine, a British native who once cooked in the kitchen of the royal yacht, is an experienced chef and caterer. "Dinner: Impossible" puts his skills to the test by placing him in various challenging situations. The situations are contrived, for sure, but that's part of the fun.

My favorite episode of the show came very early in its run, when Irvine was challenged to cater a meal for invited guests in a VIP skybox at a Philidelphia Eagles football game. The guests were there to support the pet charity of the head coach's wife, and were expecting a gourmet meal. Irvine's challenge was to create that meal from scratch -- using only what he could beg, buy or borrow from the tailgaters in the stadium parking lot. He was given a few hundred dollars and two Eagles jackets with which he could barter. He not only had to get his food from the tailgaters but a way to cook it as well.

The show didn't allow the viewer to keep track of how much Irvine was spending, so it was a surprise when, at the end of the episode, he not only impressed the VIP diners with his food but handed his leftover funds to the coach's wife as a donation to her charity.

Other challenges Irvine has had to face have included cooking on a remote island, an hour and a half boat ride from the nearest grocery; cooking "extreme cuisine" for the X Games; cooking at a festival where all of the nearby structures are built of out ice; and so on. One week, he and two past contestants from the TV show "Survivor" had to catch their own seafood for a catering challenge.

Irvine is usually given a strict time limit -- the dinner must be ready by the time the guests arrive, let's say, six hours from now -- and sometimes is given less-than-experienced kitchen help. He gets frustrated with the help, and sometimes snaps at them, but at the end of the process he's always grateful and encouraging. In any case, he's never as foul-mouthed or livid as Gordon Ramsay on "Hell's Kitchen." He's passionate about serving the best food possible under the circumstances.

The 2008 dispute over Irvine's resume -- some of his past achievements were mentioned in the show's original opening credits -- seems to have been a tempest in a teapot. There seem to have been some inaccuracies, more in terms of overstatement or terminology than fabrication, but the issues have now been clarified, and the show's opening now just makes a generic statement about Irvine having faced incredible culinary challenges.

It's Irvine's personality that makes the show work, and it's good to have him back.

-- John I. Carney is city editor of the Times-Gazette and covers county government. He is also the author of the self-published novel "Soapstone." His personal web site is lakeneuron.com.

On the air

"Dinner: Impossible" airs 9 p.m. Wednesdays on Food Network.