Chef Robert Irvin puts service at the center of everything he does. Beyond his restaurant and liquor brands, he uses the Robert Irvine Foundation to support active-duty military and veterans with an emphasis on physical and mental health. Fresh Nothing represents his passion more than his kitchen. Fresh Kitchen is a series of restaurants that meet the needs of efficient and affordable meals while providing healthy meals for military personnel.
The first location, a sit-down restaurant inside the Pentagon, opened as part of Irvine's efforts to work with the H2F (Holistic Health and Fitness) system to help modernize the food offerings of the military. He also opened Victory Fresh, a grab-and-go restaurant in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, that offers a healthy alternative to fast food. But Chef Irvin doesn't stop there. “I help modernize military food delivery across the joint force,” Irvine said.
next? Next Generation Fresh Kitchen in Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. There are plans to expand across the United States and around the world. In an exclusive interview with Mashed, Chef Irvin gave us the scoop on what to expect next. He explains: “The first thing to be introduced at Joint Base Andrews is very unique as it is all sous vide.” Irvine said he believes the system will change the way restaurants operate in the future. Joint Base Andrews, along with Fort Jackson, the Department of Defense, and many other things coming soon, are the beginning of change.'' Well, I'm really excited. ”
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Revolutionizing restaurants with sous vide cooking
What makes Joint Base Andrews' Fresh Kitchen unique is the sous vide concept. Robert Irvine said: “This is the first time that you can run a restaurant and serve as many meals as you want to as many people as you want, which means you can prepare healthy meals quickly and at little cost.'' That's what it means,” he explains.
Taking advantage of the efficiency of military commissary kitchens, food is pre-cleaned, pre-cut, and pre-seasoned in the central kitchen, with production overseen by chefs to ensure exceptional quality and flavor. On-site, our staff uses sous vide methods inspired by world-class restaurants to ensure perfect consistency. Portions are packaged in vacuum-sealed bags, and an immersion circulator uses precisely heated water to cook food to the perfect temperature every time.
In the future, this will allow Irvine to provide restaurant-quality meals at military installations around the world, maximizing taste and quality while working with a small but talented staff. Staff at each store assembles meals to order, but restaurants don't need a kitchen team of line cooks manning the stoves to make that happen. “This is the restaurant of the future,” Irvine says. “There's nothing like it in the world, I say.”
Serve those who serve us
In Chef Robert Irvin's mind, food is second to service. Through his work in the military, Irvine realized the need to provide better nutrition to those making sacrifices every day, and developed Fresh His Kitchen as an opportunity to give back to them at a fraction of the cost.
Mr. Irvine believes that military personnel, medical professionals, teachers, and others deserve access to high-quality, healthy food. “So what I'm excited about is giving our country's men and women in uniform, our first responders, healthier food, because we want them to be athletes. We can buy you all the tanks, planes, and trains you want.'' Unfortunately, it cannot function without us humans. ”
Fresh Kitchen is an opportunity to provide front-line workers with the highest quality food so they can do what they do best: serve others. Irvine says, “Food is an essential part of life. Food is hope. … When you put a plate of food in front of someone, that person opens up. That's what I do in this job.” That’s what I love about it. I’m passionate about changing lives through food.”
Fresh Kitchen at Joint Base Andrews is scheduled to open in spring 2024.
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