Below Deck Down Under season 2 fans couldn’t believe Co-Primary Charter Guests Andrew and Melissa Hagstrom as well as their fellow Californian friends made Chef Tzarina Mace-Ralph do Japanese teppanyaki performance cooking for the first time in front of them. They expected her to make onion volcanoes and throw food around a on a grill next to them on superyacht Northern Sun. Chef Tzarina, understandably upset, needed Captain Jason Chambers to encourage her to do it regardless of her inexperience. However, fans are dragging the charter guests Japanese cooking request as rude and obnoxious.
Chef Tzarina was dreading the request because she’s never been trained in Japanese teppanyaki cooking. She watched YouTube videos and did her best to prepare. However, the sneak peak made it clear she was struggling. All while the charter guests squirm with anxiety as a fish out of water. The sneak peek for episode 18 showed how tough it was for Chef Tzarina.
“We’re not cruising in Japan, were at the Great Barrier Reef. And coming onto a charter boat and expecting a random chef to have training in this is just a bit ignorant for me really,” Chef Tzarina said in a confessional interview on the BDDU season 2 finale.
BDDU S2: Fans Drag Charter Guests Japanese Cooking Request For Chef Tzarina
Chef Tzarina nervously preparing to cook teppanyaki style for the first time (Bravo).
Fans on Reddit, YouTube, and Twitter/X weren’t amused by the charter guests extravagant request for the charter yacht chef.
“It was wrong to expect the chef to do something that’s a specialized skill. Either hire a trained hibachi chef or send them to shore where one has a restaurant. Totally wrong to subject a yacht chef to demands she’s not comfortable making,” one fan on YouTube pointed out.
Another fan pointed out how dangerous it was for Tzarina to attempt teppanyaki without training and that a fire could’ve started. “Her lighting the ‘volcano’ made me flinch , the alcohol container is SO CLOSE and she’s pouring while the lighter is lit.. WOW!”
Other viewers couldn’t stand the husband’s patronizing comments to Chef Tzarina as she nervously cooked their food. At one point he said she was doing great for it being her first time cooking teppanyaki style. He also asked her how was her toss was and told her to “fake it ’til you make it”.
Chef Tzarina pretending she was fine with the co-primary charter guests’ outlandish request (Bravo).
“I’m gonna speak as a chef here. I don’t want to put out ANYTHING that’s not 100 percent perfect. Asking the chef (who, like most of us, seems to be a bit of a perfectionist) to stand in front of guests — outside of the galley where we’re ‘safe’ — and prepare a meal she’s not comfortable with, knowing that the guests have the expectation that they’re about to get fried rice tossed into their mouths while the chef juggles a knife behind her back is VERY stressful,” a BDDU fan and fellow chef added.
Capt. Jason was wrong for insisting that Tzarina perform a culinary task that takes years to learn. He should have respected her comfort level and her boundary, and told the guests it was unreasonable/brought in a teppanyaki chef. #BelowDeckDownUnder
— Allison Is Not Impressed (@zenminivan) September 12, 2023
Despite the charter guests‘ ridiculous request, Chef Tzarina handled it with grace.
