Restaurant Revisited — Military: Impossible at Green Beret Club
Jon Longstaff
"This is very special," Robert Irvine said not long after arriving at Fort Bragg, N.C., for a mission near and dear to his heart. A former member of the British Royal Navy, Robert was honored to be asked to transform the decades-old Green Beret Club, an on-base eatery for service men and women of the United States Army. While the structure of the Green Beret Club was clean and boasted a fine floor, its food could be improved, especially if they swapped in fresh ingredients in place of frozen alternatives. With only two days to work and a budget of just $10,000, Robert and his Restaurant: Impossible team reworked the menu at Green Beret Club to make sure it fit the needs of the soldiers. They changed the decor inside as well, to pay tribute to the building's history. Read on below to hear from Mikki Morris, the manager of the restaurant, and Michelle Hagwood, who is the Family and MWR Business Operations Officer, to find out how the newly renamed Smoke Bomb Grille is doing today.
By July, Smoke Bomb Grille boasted a more than 48 percent increase in business, according to Mikki and Michelle, and "about 10 percent" of diners are new customers.
About the food being served at Smoke Bomb Grille, Mikki and Michelle say that the customers "love it," and that "preparing food has become a routine now" for staff members.
