Project 52 - 5 - Dinner with Chef Robert Irvine
Our date night this week took us to Hilton Head Island where my husband and I got away from the kids for a few hours and we had an unforgettable night out! We decided to celebrate our 10 year anniversary splurging on dinner at Eat! a restaurant owned by the chef on Food Networks Dinner Impossible. This is one of our favorite shows and we were so excited when we found out that Chef Robert had a restaurant on Hilton Head Island! We walked in and were seated in the bar area. There was the actual bar and then a room full of neat little tables with ottomans and benches covered in throw pillows. The lighting was dark with accent lights all around. I did try to take some inconspicuous pics but it was too dark.
Let's just say that even the detail from the food to the dishes was unbelievable! We went on a Tuesday night so that we could order off the Tapa's menu at half price. With all our research we found that a lot of people go Tuesday nights and order drinks and Tapa's and no entree. That is what we decided to do! We wanted to get a little taste of everything since we had previously seen him make these dishes on the show. We sat at one the the neat little tables surrounded by 2 small square ottomans and the end of an L shaped couch. We sat close at the L and began what was a nice long conversation. We started off with drinks. My husband ordered a glass of wine and I ordered the black dragonberry drink (a combo of lime, mint, blackberries, crushed ice, and sprite if you want the non-alcoholic version). We then ordered several Tapa's that they brought out individually. Up first were the Carolina Shrimp (pecan crusted huge shrimp with an orange creole sauce) followed by the Paneed Blue Crab Cakes (accompanied by roasted corn relish and sizzled chard), Beef Short Ribs (with a Hoisen demi glaze and sweet goat cheese butter), and Prime Beef Sliders (with brie, pickles and blue cheese tossed romaine). We had to order one more menu item that we have wanted to try since we saw it....Lobster Mac and Cheese! Once we finished everything we couldn't leave without desert. My hubby ordered the Chocolate Ridiculous Cake and I ordered the Creme Brulee. I had made Creme Brulee before but have never tried it as it is supposed to be made! The cake was 10 layers of chocolaty goodness, which was absolutely ridiculous! The Creme Brulee had a top crispy sugar layer that hid the delicious creamy under layer. Everything was exceptional. It was perfectly cooked. The shrimp...just right...actually better than just right with a marmalade that was perfect. The crab cakes....no filler there...succulent. Beef Sliders...I was not a fan of Brie and Blue Cheese until I took a bite of these! Lobster Mac...everything I dreamed of. When dinner was finished we sat and sipped our drinks and I looked up and there was Chef Robert, himself. He came over and sat down and talked with us. We talked about his show. How he flew in the night before and was leaving the following day for tapings. We talked about our kids and his kids. He pulled out a Sharpie and signed my menu.
He even signed a Food Network Promo card!
I then asked if we could get our picture with him!
A Food Network Junkies Dream! What a night to remember!
Bonus we got out of there for $30 and some change per person...not too bad for drinks, dinner and desert at a high end eatery! I am sold on Eat!
Check out Project 52 here and sign up yourself!
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