Today's Entertainment

BY JOHN CROOK Robert Irvine may be best known to Food Network audiences as the guy dispensing tough love to struggling restaurants on the hit series "Restaurant: Impossible," but his new Sunday series, "Restaurant Express," finds the chef exploring the flip side of that: searching for the best candidate to help launch and run a new eatery in a Las Vegas resort. The series started out with nine aspiring restaurateurs who boarded Irvine's huge bus for a road trip across the West that tests not only their culinary skills but also their personal strengths and business acumen. "These people are mothers, military people and chefs, and not one of them has an advantage over the others," Irvine says. "There are so many different tests and competition pieces that you have to be good at everything to be that person at the end. It's not like 'Food Network Star' and 'Chopped' and other programs like that. These are real people in a real environment – my rules, my bus, and no one tells me what to say or how to say it." Each week a contestant is eliminated, but the candidate left standing at the end wins a dream gig. "The M Hotel Casino and Resort will open a brand-new dining space with this person designing the restaurant and the menu and working there as the executive chef," Irvine says. "I mean, that's a prize I would want myself. "I know you hear sometimes that the network picks someone because they like him. I can assure you, until the last person was standing, I never picked anyone who was not the best person for this job, because at the end of the day it's my reputation. I'm very proud of this show, and I'm very excited about it." What catches new restaurant owners off guard the most? "The hours spent at the job, the lack of time with family, the stress level of worry about whether the food is going to be good consistently and how to keep the service staff trained. And, of course, you have to look at how to get people to come in the door in the first place." onions and lemon vinaigrette." What's your favorite meal at home? "We eat very healthy. My own personal favorite meal is roast chicken and mashed potatoes. But when my wife, Gail, and I eat at home, it's usually a hard-seared salmon or other piece of fish with a chilled salad, maybe beets with tomatoes and onions or haricots verts with What are your favorite Thanksgiving foods? "I'm a big lover of roasted turkey with crispy skin and juicy flesh. I am not a big sweet potato guy, but I love mashed potatoes and roasted potatoes. I also love Brussels sprouts and cranberry sauce." Do you have a favorite spice? "Not so much a spice, but I use a lot of rice wine vinegar and an awful lot of fresh herbs and citrus. I use low-sodium soy sauce and a hot spice like Sriracha, which I really love." Best Whoopi Goldberg Movies "Ghost" "The Color Purple" 8 "Sister Act" "The Color Purple" (1985) Under Steven Spielberg's direction, Goldberg made a stunning acting debut as the oppressed heroine of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1986) In the first proof she could "open" a movie on her own, Goldberg plays a computer expert embroiled in espionage in director Penny Marshall's comedy-adventure. "Clara's Heart" (1988) A touching Goldberg plays a housekeeper who befriends a lonely youngster (Neil Patrick Harris). "The Long Walk Home" (1990) Goldberg and Sissy Spacek make a stunning acting duo in this civil rights drama. The Goshen News • TV Spotlight • November 18-24, 2013 "Ghost" (1990) In the enduringly popular drama that earned Goldberg an Oscar, she plays a medium who reconnects a slain man (Patrick Swayze) with his endangered love (Demi Moore). "Sister Act" (1992) Goldberg had one of her biggest hits with this comedy about a murder witness who hides out as a nun. "Corrina, Corrina" (1994) An appealing Goldberg plays a housekeeper who brightens the lives of a widower and his daughter. "Boys on the Side" (1995) Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker and Drew Barrymore form a memorable trio in this road trip comedy-drama. "Ghosts of Mississippi" (1996) Reaffirming her dramatic talent, an excellent Goldberg plays the widow of murdered civil rights icon Medgar Evers. "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" (1998) She isn't Stella – that's Angela Bassett – but Goldberg also is in a groove as her funny, supportive friend. "The Deep End of the Ocean" (1999) Getting back to serious business, Goldberg lends quiet power as a detective on the case of a kidnapped young man returned to his family years later. "Girl, Interrupted" (1999) Proving again how much she can do with a supporting role, Goldberg is great as a nurse in a mental facility.

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