Best Food Afloat: Celebrity Chef Visits Sub Base

Celebrity chefs and nuclear submarines are not normally associated with one another. However, on a rainy morning in January, they seemed as natural together as peas and carrots when the Food Network star, celebrity Chef Robert Irvine, was in town and accepted an invitation to visit the  Naval Submarine Base, Groton.

 

Irvine, who began his career in food as a cook in the British Royal Navy, has built a reputation as a celebrity chef by accepting a variety of culinary challenges on the Food Network’spopular series,  Dinner: Impossible, and by rescuing failing restaurants on its sister series, Restaurant: Impossible.

Irvine visited the Cross Hall Galley during a lunch shift at the Base, where many of the Navy culinary specialists were visibly excited by the chance to meet him. “This is a treat for the guys that do one of the hardest jobs on a submarine or in the Navy,” explained Mass Communications Specialist Chief James O’Donnell. “This guy is like a rock star in the culinary world.”To fill out Chef Irvine’s star credentials, Cdr. Michael Pennington and Lt. Anthony Martinez presented the chef with an official galley coat and a Navy ball cap.  They also accepted a challenge from Irvine, who vowed to return to serve a meal to over 1,000 people in three hours with just a staff of two, far fewer than the usual ten culinary specialists that work a typical lunch shift.  The officers also took the opportunity to show Irvine around the Virginia Class Galley Mockup, which is currently under construction, and will serve as a training facility for culinary specialists heading for submarine duty.

The visit to  Cross Hall Galley was followed up by an appearance on board the USS Hartford (SSN 768),  a Los Angeles-class attack submarine.   Cdr. Steve Wilkinson, Hartford’s commanding officer, welcomed Irvine on board to tour the submarine’s galley, flipped some sliders on the grill, and ate lunch with the crew.

Irvine, who was in town for the Mohegan Sun WineFest, promised to wear his new Navy chef’s jacket at the festival that evening as a gesture of his “respect for you guys and for what you do.”