Chef Ben Robinson has decades of culinary experience under his belt, and he was quick to point out a major misconception about the yacht galley on Below Deck Down Under Season 4: It’s not a restaurant.
“I do think that people come onto the boat and think that there’s 15 chefs in the galley,” he explained on the Below Deck Down Under After Show, while describing the “limitations” he faces as a solo chef. “It’s not a free-for-all.”
Chief stew Daisy Kelliher agreed with his assessment, emphasizing, “I do think sometimes we get charter guests that come on and think it’s a hotel, with a full running galley.”
Daisy equated staying on a yacht with visiting someone’s home. “You don’t invite me for dinner, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna have my steak, and can I just get a cheese board there? Oh, I’ll also take a fruit platter.’ You treat it as if you’re a guest in somebody’s house,” she explained. “Even though I know that’s a weird concept, because you’re paying.”
During the After Show, Ben highlighted excessive demands — like those seen in Below Deck Down Under Episode 6 — only make the food experience worse on a yacht.
“They haven’t really equated that maybe lunch is in half an hour, so if I’m ordering more of that hors d’oeuvres that I liked, it may hold that situation back, or lunch service back,” he explained. “I don’t think they really do the math on it.”
Ben Robinson explains how snack requests delay meal prep
From the moment the Charter 3 guests boarded M/Y Katina, the galley was struggling with food, and Daisy approached Ben about the issue.
“[A guest] came up to me and said, ‘What about lunch? What time?’” Daisy reported. “And I said, ‘Does a 2 o’clock lunch work?’ And she said, ‘Mmm, that’s too late. We’re really hungry.’”
Ben pointed out he’d prepared shrimp spring rolls, and Daisy served them to the group 45 minutes ahead of lunch. But just 15 minutes later, the guests asked for more snacks.
“A canapé is designed to whet the appetite and take a little heat off the kitchen. You can’t ask for more canapés because that’s gonna delay lunch,” Ben explained to producers during the March 9 episode. “Kinda defeats the purpose, darlings.”
Still, Ben and Daisy delivered on the request. Then, with 20 minutes to go until lunch, the guests again asked for more spring rolls, and Daisy tried to push back.
“No, we don’t have any more left,” she explained, and tried to drop a hint to the guests. “See, he’s just getting lunch ready now.” Still, a guest replied, “Daisy can make anything happen, so we’re just gonna ask, and you’re gonna deliver.”
As Ben put together smoked salmon, capers and mascarpone, he told Daisy this request “really, really hurt” the galley’s timing.
“I just can’t win here. That’s an eight or ten minute delay,” he explained to producers. “And then I’m going to be late for lunch, and I’m gonna get in trouble. I got enough on my plate. C’mon, babes!”
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On the After Show, Ben recalled feeling like Daisy didn’t have his back with the guests. “I felt like Daisy was against me. And I felt like it was Daisy and the charter guests against me,” he shared. “She was way too respectful for their timing.”
However, Daisy recalled it differently. “I felt for Ben with that, and I was on his side,” she said on the After Show.
Chef assistant Elena “Ellie” Dubaich agreed that the snack situation was unsustainable for the galley. “We were delivering snacks on a conveyer belt. We were all about snacks, snacks, snacks, snacks. Just non-stop snacks,” she explained during the After Show. “At one point, the guests had just had lunch. 15 minutes later—15 minutes after lunch—Daisy came to the gallery and said, ‘The guests are starving.’”
Ben Robinson reflects on a tough start to the charter season
In case you need a refresher, Ben was already under pressure at the start of Charter 3 due to previous guest complaints about his lack of speed and urgency in the galley.
“The service was way too long. Ben’s gotta get his systems right there, because I’m really aiming for a hell of a lot more,” Captain Jason Chambers said during the March 2 episode’s tip meeting. “We can do better.”
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With this in mind, Ben sat down to talk to the Charter 3 guests about their preferred dinner menu—but his nerves still got the better of him.
“This charter is a solid 9 on the tricky scale. Last charter, I was just dropping the ball in every which way,” he confessed during the March 9 episode. “I’ve spoken to the charter guests. Did it make it any better? No. Am I worried about it? Yes. Do I think I’ll get through it? Probably not.”
ICYMI, after calling off his wedding to his fiancée, Ben recently shared a new relationship update.
