Irvine (via Food Network)

Washington is getting another spotlight from the Food Network according to an item on the D.C. Office of Motion Picture and Television’s production alerts page. Restaurant: Impossible features the British chef and sometimes fabulist Robert Irvine trying to fix up troubled dining spots around the United States, kind of like a less-obnoxious Gordon Ramsay.

But the upcoming D.C. episode of Restaurant: Impossible is taking a different tack. Instead of whipping a restaurant into shape, Irvine will be joining up with first lady Michelle Obama in “educating a local [charity’s] children and parents on healthy eating and keeping a garden,” the production alert says.

The production company behind Restaurant: Impossible was hesitant to say which charity the upcoming episode will feature. (Our inquiry also wasn’t helped by the fact that we were placed on hold with one producer, then mistakenly picked up by another staffer who then redirected our call to a third person who seemed to have no earthly clue what we were calling about.)

Still, what’s interesting about this upcoming shoot is that Irvine is not the most reliable food celebrity. A few years ago, he had another show on Food Network called Dinner: Impossible in which he was challenged to prepare an elaborate meal under various odd conditions. At the time, Irvine billed himself as a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order and claimed, among other accomplishments, that he had helped prepare the cake for the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer in 1981. He also said he had cooked meals for presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

But those achievements, and others, turned out to be little more than a crock pot of BS, The Guardian reported in 2008. He did have a stint in the White House, albeit in the mess kitchen that serves the staff, not the president’s private meals. Irvine was tossed from his hosting gig at Dinner: Impossible, but given his popularity with Food Network audiences he returned to the show in 2009. (Chef Michael Symon of New York’s Marea hosted in the interregnum.) Restaurant: Impossible launched last year.

So when he comes to D.C. next month, Irvine will be cooking with Michelle Obama’s stamp of approval. We’d best keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t start saying he catered a state dinner.