A new role debuted on Season 3 of Below Deck Down Under: the franchise’s first-ever sous chef. But when head chef Tzarina Mace-Ralph and her sous chef, Anthony Bird, couldn’t get along, Anthony quit for another job. Instead of staying on a few more charters, however, Captain Jason Chambers took drastic action: firing Anthony on the spot.
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“You can go today,” Jason told him in Episode 4. “Pack yourself up there. That’s just the way I operate … that’s just the line in the sand that I like to create.”
Anthony shared he was happy with his decision — and took more parting shots at Tzarina as he left.
“I’m feeling very confident about my decision to leave,” he said in his confessional. “As I look back on the season, the one regret I have is taking the job in the first place. I’m excited to be a head chef on my next boat. Cooking things my way and not being pushed into a box.”
While Jason reached out to try and hire another sous chef, Tzarina worried about how she would get all of the work done.
“Now that Anthony’s gone, I’ve got so much more to do,” she said. “Cleaning. Cooking. Everything. Crew food was Anthony’s role. Now I’m having to take it on. It’s just, you know, 12 extra people to cook for. The potential for burnout is very high, and I don’t know if I can handle it, but I’m going to die trying.”
Captain Jason criticizes the guest dinner
Tzarina got some added stress on her plate when the charter guests invited Captain Jason to eat with them for a Monte Carlo-themed dinner. The first course was a French onion soup with a truffle and parmesan toastie, which one guest remarked was “pretty heavy.” Another course was filet with carrot puree, red wine jus, and a parmesan crisp, which the guests applauded. But Jason felt there was room for improvement.
“A 10 out of 10 is flavor, presentation,” he said in his confessional. “Uniqueness and originality as well. It was a good 7 out of 10. We hit some points. Guests are happy. I know this is a tough time for Tzarina. But the food has still gotta be 100 percent.”
Jason brought his criticism to Tzarina in the galley.
“They’re very fitness orientated, so they’re not eating a lot of carbs,” he told her of the soup course. “The soup with big bread just sitting in it, it’s just a lot. Read the room. Read the preference sheets. The filet mignon — I probably would have had it seared.”
Tzarina agreed with the criticism, but it also made her defensive.
“I hate that Jason’s right. It’s not my best meal,” she said in her confessional. “After having Anthony constantly question my food, and now Jason coming in and doing the same, this is not how I wanted tonight to go at all.”
Captain Jason and Tzarina argue over crew lunch
Jason tried to ease the burden on Tzarina the next morning, by telling her instead of cooking a crew lunch after guests departed, to just put out the breakfast leftovers and serve a brunch.
“She’s just had a problem with her sous chef. Didn’t work out. So we can support ourselves with the food that’s there,” Jason said in his confessional. “There is enough food there. We’re not going to starve.”
But Tzarina didn’t agree with Jason’s plan and told chief stewardess Lara Rigby as much.
“Jason’s just pissing me off. Even though I’ve just done breakfast, now I have to add on to it. Because that stuff’s going to get cold. And now he wants me to make more stuff so that people can get brunch,” Tzarina told her. “And I was like, ‘But the whole reason we do [lunch] after the tip meeting is because we don’t eat on our nights out ‘til sometime’s nine o’clock at night. We’re drinking.' And I’m trying to prevent people from feeling like s--t and being starved.”
But Jason overheard their conversation.
“What’s the problem, Tzarina? It’ll save you cooking and preparation after tip meeting. I’m more than happy for you to cook after the tip meeting,” he told her.
He shared his frustrations with his head chef in his confessional.
“Don’t start picking a fight with me. I’m on your side. I’m here to support you, to make your job easier,” he said. “I’ve given you a solution and then you walk in and have a problem with what I’m giving? Is this the way it’s going to be all season? It’s not. Not going to put up with it.”
As Tzarina cried in the galley after Jason confronted her, she admitted she was overthinking things.
“I put so much pressure on myself that I just get into my head a lot,” she said. “I think after being bullied, and put down, and let down, that I kind of do it to myself now. I’m my biggest villain.”
How will Tzarina manage without a sous chef? Keep watching all-new episodes of Below Deck Down Under on Mondays at 8/7c on Bravo and the next day on Peacock.
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