I met with Chef Robert Irvine from ‘Restaurant: Impossible’ on Thursday, November 14th at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center downtown. I wasn’t familiar with Irvine on the Food Network, but I knew what his work consisted of on the show. He turns around restaurants across America that are failing in less than two days, in hopes to re-vamp and pull the owners out of debt. First, this reminded me of Chef Gordon Ramsay from ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ on FOX 29 and ‘Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares’ on BBC. I believe the English accents and “tough love” methods of improvement can be difficult to distinguish. Therefore, I was ecstatic knowing I had an opportunity to meet the re-known chef, Robert Irvine.
When I arrived for the video shoot with the co-host of Winging it! Buffalo Style on the CW 23, I noticed that Irvine wasn’t surrounded by an entourage of people. There were only his personal assistant and three representatives from the Delaware North Food and Beverage Summit. Irvine arrived in Buffalo to speak to the food and beverage company at the convention center. Lauren Hall sat down to do a one-on-one interview with Irvine while videographer Johnny filmed. Because Irvine is a veteran of the British military, Lauren thought it would be nice to hear a military message from him in honor of Veteran’s Day.
I found it rewarding how positive of a person Irvine was in person. He talked with Lauren and mentioned how important it is to go after what you want in life. The trickiest part of changing the mood, decor, food, and more importantly, the budget of a failing restaurant is his time constraint. Therefore, he thinks on his toes much of the time and tends to come off as unpleasant. I believe this is beneficial in the workplace or in any communication setting. If there is a goal that needs to be achieved in a certain period of time, having a plan ready while communicating effectively will ultimately bring forward that desired outcome.
Not only does he gives tips about maintaining a successful restaurant, he tells us how he stays in great physical shape. Even in Irvine’s hectic work schedule he finds time to exercise every day for about an hour. He mentions that his Canadian professional wrestler wife, Gail Kim being another reason why he stays so fit. After the sit down interview, the videographer Johnny filmed the meeting room where the interview took place. I noticed his careful camera angles and zooming in and out to capture shots that can be used in the video package. He will also be editing the footage, and knows exactly what b-roll to display during the interview.
The interview and shots of b-roll only took about an forty minutes. We left the convention center with more knowledge of Irvine’s work, family, and how he manages to balance his busy life.
Buffalo Niagara Convention Center
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