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Always up for a challenge
if you go
What: 6th annual Fabulous Food Show
When: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: I-X Center, One I-X Center Drive, Cleveland
Tickets: $25 (one-day ticket), $45 (two-day ticket) and $65 (three-day ticket)
More information: call 216-265-2665 or visit www.fabulousfoodshow.com
By John Benson
Always up for a challenge, Food Network host and celebrity chef Robert Irvine is looking forward to his debut appearance at the 6th annual Fabulous Food Show Friday through Sunday at the I-X Center in Cleveland.
“Events like this are always good because you get a chance to talk to your fans,” said Irvine, calling from Tampa, Fla. “It’s good to touch base with people, with fans that I don’t normally get a chance to do so.”
Actually that’s not altogether true for Irvine in the Buckeye State.
He’s been filming around Northeast Ohio a lot lately for his “Restaurant: Impossible” show, where he attempts to turn desperate restaurants from impending failure into successful operations in just two days and with a budget of only $10,000.
While a recently aired episode involved The Mad Cactus in Strongsville, the 46-year-old English native also toured Canton South High School’s culinary school for the show’s next season.
With more than 25 years in the culinary profession, Irvine has cooked his way through Europe, the Far East, the Caribbean and the Americas.
He can currently be seen as a contestant on “The Next Iron Chef,” simply because he’s, again, up for the challenge, as well as on Food Network shows “Worst Cooks in America” and “Dinner: Impossible.”
It’s the latter program that truly epitomizes Irvine’s improvisational talents.
In a nutshell he creates amazing dishes for both intimate gatherings and huge crowds without warning or preparation. It’s the reason why among his peers he’s known as James Bond. Or more succinctly, Michael Symon thinks he’s nuts and Bobby Flay calls him “MacGyver.”
This begs the question, why would a cook put himself under such pressure and against insurmountable odds?
“I’ve been doing it all my life,” Irvine laughed. “I was in the military, that’s what we do. Failure is not an option. And it was a natural progression into a TV show, where I’ve cooked in nice hotels, desert islands and the set of ‘Lost.’”
Suffice it to say, Irvine won’t be under such anxiety when he appears at the Fabulous Food Show offering various demonstrations, alongside the madness that is more than 225 exhibiting companies, the Grand Tasting Pavilion, Sweet Street and over 100 ongoing demonstrations on six different stages.
In talking to Irvine, you kind of get the sense this is the perfect event for someone who scoffs at his celebrity chef tag.
“You know what, I cook for a living and that’s the truth,” he said.
If Irvine seems as though he has a real man of the people approach to his craft, that’s because he does.
For proof look no further than his advice to those wannabe cooks attending the Fabulous Food Show who are too afraid of failure to succeed.
“If you can read, you can cook,” Irvine said.
“It’s as simple as following steps. There are some recipes that are more advanced and you shouldn’t try until you get the basics, but for the majority of recipes there’s no excuse why you can’t cook. Also, people take cooking too seriously. It’s supposed to be fun. If you mess up, it’s OK. Everybody messes up, including Michael Symon, Emeril and me. We also make mistakes at times too. We’re not perfect.”