The Ridiculous Food Request That Made Chef Rachel Hargrove Quit Below Deck
While a mega yacht tends to cater to well-pampered guests, Rachel Hargrove of Bravo's Below Deck hit her breaking point with a particularly ridiculous food request. During Below Deck Season 8 Episode 7, one outrageous food preference sheet left the yacht chef hanging up her chef's coat and hurling a barrage of expletives that would make Gordon Ramsay blush. Even though Below Deck guests can seem to have it all, this particular food request was a bit too over the top.
As Bravo reports, Captain Lee Rosbach commented about the offending charter's preference sheet, saying "When somebody sits there and tells me they want their quail eggs at 160 degrees, that's over the line." One Twitter user posted a screenshot of the long preference sheet, which included wild boar, lobster, and caviar. Although the litany of food requests seemed like reading through War and Peace, Hargrove wasn't willing to finish that culinary story. (Vulture noted that this particular preference sheet was beyond bougie, even by the admittedly bougie standards of mega yachts.) Although guests can make extreme demands, a small galley and limited provisions can push that request too far. Calmer heads prevailed in the end and chef Rachel returned to the galley, but that guest preference sheet still might not be the most unusual Below Deck food request.
How extreme are Below Deck food requests?
While viewers watch Bravo's Below Deck and fantasize about a luxury vacation on a mega yacht, the crew, especially the chef, can often face a daunting preference sheet. Although there have been a few chef fails over the seasons, like chef Kevin's infamous anatomical cake, the guests' requests can make cooking in a galley kitchen even more daunting (via Bravo). The list of foods each guest refuses to eat can make the show's chefs want to walk the plank.
From one guest who only ate berries to guests that did not want their food cooked in a Teflon pan, the entitlement from some guests was served on a silver platter. While Captain Sandy Yawn admitted to Bravo that "every preference sheet is hard," the Below Deck crew still aims to provide the best service it can, given the circumstances. Even though wild boar, lobster, 160-degree quail eggs, and more were too much for chef Rachel Hargrove, the food requests on Below Deck might always need white-glove service. It seems that champagne wishes and caviar dreams are part of the Below Deck experience.