Recipe For Success

In his quest to create a healthier planet, chef Robert Irvine built a massive global brand. Now 53 and still ripped, he tells us how he maintains his impressive physique while running a business empire.

- Bobbi Dempsey

It’s normal for Robert Irvine to be jolted awake in the middle of the night by an idea, eager to pitch it to his team the next morning. Sometimes it’s an idea for a new live event or an addition to his line of frozen foods. It’s a lot to deal with if you work for Team Irvine, but it’s that inherent and maniacal work ethic that has made the 53-year-old celebrity chef turned entrepreneur’s name into a globally recognized brand.

Chances are good that you’ve heard of Irvine from his popular Food Network shows Dinner: Impossible and Restaurant: Impossible, in which he dispensed tough love and whipped kitchens into shape at breakneck speed. More intense than Irvine’s onscreen demeanor was the interest viewers showed (and still do) in the hard-nosed chef with a heart of gold. Dinner: Impossible lasted for eight seasons and 80-plus episodes, and Restaurant: Impossible, which ran 13 seasons and 160 episodes, garnered a weekly viewership of 1.2 million. In total, 1 billion—yes, billion—people have seen Irvine on TV.

If that’s all you know about Robert Irvine, though, you’re just scratching the surface. He’s penned four books—Mission: Cook!, Impossible to Easy, Fit Fuel, and, most recently, Family Table—hosts a live show called Robert Irvine Live, and publishes a monthly namesake magazine available online. You may have fueled up on Irvine’s FitCrunch bars before a workout or picked up a Robert Irvine Foods meal—a line that includes crab cakes, scallops, and cheesecakes—from your local grocery store. He also has a restaurant, Fresh Kitchen by Robert Irvine, in the Pentagon (which is all we can tell you about that), and, as of July 2017, another in the Tropicana in Las Vegas. And then there’s his partnership with Boardroom Spirits and the Gold’s Gym he owns in Largo, FL.