Below Deck Med: Chef Tom Checketts Is Off To A Rocky Start

Chef Tom Checketts of Below Deck Mediterranean seems to be hitting the raw culinary waters with the same charter guests as they complain about being served undercooked chicken.

Tom has already handled a similar complaint from the guests the night before. They insisted he serve them raw lobster. But when head stew Christine “Bugsy” Drake returned the plates, he told her that he had poached the lobster and cooked it for two hours. Now he seems to have Groundhog Day, but this time with the chicken.

Only two guests receive the chicken and the majority of guests are served misglazed salmon with broccoli, black rice with squid ink.

Drake delivers the dishes to the guests while she is making a stew. The salmon arrives first and the guests dig themselves in. “Oh that salmon is good,” a guest notes in a preview clip. Another guest hears that the salmon is really good.

Unfortunately, the two guests who received the chicken don’t agree on their dish. “That’s f**king raw chicken,” calls a guest to the plate with a gesture. The other guest who received the chicken tries to judge whether the chicken is raw or not. “If it’s chewy then maybe not,” another guest tells her. But the guest continues to question the chicken when it is cooked.

She thinks the texture looks off. The other guest doesn’t hold back. “It’s pink as a motherf**ker,” he says. He repeats his statement to the guests who show them his plate. Drake is at the scene at this point.

Below Deck Med: Chef Tom Checketts Is Off To A Rocky Start

Tom Checketts was unexpectedly thrown into the chef’s position. He came to Spain to visit bosun Malia White, who is his girlfriend. But when chef Hindrigo “Kiko” Lorran left the boat, the crew ran out of chef. Captain Sandy Yawn was impressed with Tom’ super yacht chef qualifications and begged him to stay for the rest of the season. He agreed, but the demanding guests began to impress him.

He first had to open oysters without a shucker. As a result, oyster shells ended up in the food. Tom was also commissioned to make a last-minute birthday cake. He quietly agreed when Drake told him, but later complained to Malia White in their bed. “This is bullshit,” he told Malia White in their cabin. “Take a f**king birthday cake at the last minute. With only three hours to go. If you can cook exactly what you want to cook and they don’t change anything, the work is hard enough as it is”.

Tom starts cracking during dinner when the lobster is sent back. “Too raw?” he asked Drake. “It’s fully cooked, it’s poached.” As he melts, Malia White takes him aside to talk to him. “this is bullsh*t and suicide,” he said to White. “I’m good at what I do. I don’t have to prove it. I’ve made a big mistake. I have far too much self-respect to do this.”