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Chef Robert Irvine gets behind the bar at the second annual Summer Cookout to kick off Las Vegas Restaurant Week.
Sunday, June 17, 2018 | midnight
Chef, restaurateur and TV personality Robert Irvine connected with local food back Three Square from the moment he touched down in Las Vegas, even before he opened Robert Irvine’s Public House at the Tropicana last summer. The former serviceman in the U.K. Royal Navy is known for his dedication to charitable causes and his fellow veterans and active military, and when he learned about Three Square’s remarkable work fighting hunger in Southern Nevada, he was hooked.
That’s why Irvine was excited to launch Las Vegas Restaurant Week for the second straight year with the Summer Cookout event at his Strip restaurant on Thursday, which raised more than $18,000 for Three Square.
“I’m excited to kick it off but I’m more excited that we have a group of people that have the same idea of what philanthropy is,” Irvine said. “It doesn’t stop you from having a good time but you know it’s going somewhere good and that’s the most important part of this. Last year we had 300 people who had an amazing time and talked about it for six months, but more importantly it raised a great amount of money for Three Square. I love it.”
Now in its 12th year, Restaurant Week runs from June 18 through June 29 and partners with more than 150 local restaurants to offer special discounted menus with portions of proceeds benefiting the food bank. Robert Irvine’s Public House, for example, will be serving a three-course dinner for $40 with dish options including pulled pork poutine, fish and chips, steak and Guinness pie and Banoffee pie.
To browse all the Las Vegas Restaurant Week menus and make reservations at participating restaurants on and off the Strip, visit helpoutdineoutlv.org.
Irvine’s assistance didn’t stop with the Summer Cookout. Earlier that day the celebrity chef made the rounds doing demonstrations and making appearances at local TV stations with Three Square executive chef John Hilton.
“We did his first cooking demos on TV and he was a little nervous,” Irvine said. “But if you’ve seen what they do at Three Square, 15,000 meals a day, I don’t know many chefs can do that. We do it in the military but not with very few staff and lots of great volunteers. It’s a big deal.”
