A longtime superyacht chef gave an insight into what goes into stocking a ship for one season: with $100,000 worth of food on board and some highly organized storage spaces.
Dean Harrison currently works aboard the $75 million Motor Yacht Loon, which is 221 feet long and can accommodate 12 guests.
It costs $580,000 per week to charter, so no expense is spared when it comes to its culinary offerings.
In a YouTube video, chef dean – who has worked in the superyacht industry for more than 13 years – explains how the provisions are shipped to the port before the tedious job of unloading begins.
While Motor Yacht Loon is in Marseille, a truck with goods from the Netherlands arrives a day before the charter guests arrive.
Dean Harrison currently works aboard the luxury Motor Yacht Loon, which measures 221 feet and can accommodate 12 guests
Motor Yacht Loon is 221ft in size and has a capacity for 12 guests. It costs $580,000 per week to charter, so no expense is spared when it comes to the culinary offering
Dean explains that the order includes provisions for the upcoming 17-day voyage, as well as supplies for the entire six-month season.
One of the most important tasks when delivering supplies, Dean reveals, is making sure each item ends up in its appropriate box.
He explains: ‘[This] ensures that in the heat of the moment of chartering, items can be found and used as quickly as possible, which is super important.’
As they unload the truck, items captured on camera include packages of smoked salmon, pieces of steak and fresh fruit and vegetables.
It takes several hours to transport all the supplies from the dock to the ship’s kitchen and it is a task that involves the entire crew.
He describes the loading process as follows: ‘The sorted boxes were passed from crew member to crew member until they arrived at the crew door.
‘They are then taken down two flights of stairs through the crew room (stay) and to the cold room where [sous chef] Sean is waiting.
‘[He is] ‘sort every box that comes in and store it in its final location.’
While Motor Yacht Loon is moored in Marseille, a truckload of goods arrives from the Netherlands, a day before the charter guests arrive
Dean says one of the most important tasks when delivering supplies is making sure each item goes into the correct box.
While the amount of food may seem excessive, Dean says it is necessary ‘because we have guests on board who can ask anything at any time.’
He adds: “We must be fully prepared for whatever comes our way. The idea is to have everything on board, or as much as you can.
The point is that you [guest] preferences, but those preferences don’t tell you much, so you have to have everything on board for the late evenings.’
Dean says the current “A-list” guests aboard the Loon were making requests all night long, with Sous Chef Dean working until 3 a.m. “preparing burgers, pizza, chicken nuggets and all sorts of things you wouldn’t even expect.”
Once everything is unloaded, Dean offers viewers a tour of the kitchen and refrigerated pantry.
He reveals that there are refrigerators in the kitchen, but these are for ingredients that guests request “regularly” so they can have “nice, quick access.”
In addition to the $100,000 worth of food supplies, Dean says the ship will pick up provisions every few days during the voyages as guests “always asking for new things and we get a lot of American customers asking for things that don’t actually exist in Europe.’
Once everything is unloaded, Dean offers viewers a tour of the kitchen and refrigerated pantry
While the amount of food may seem excessive, Dean says it’s necessary “because we have guests on board who can request anything at any time.”
He reveals that there are refrigerators in the kitchen, but these are for ingredients that guests request “regularly” so they can have “nice, quick access.”
When asked about his strangest requests, Dean says he was once asked by a group of women to take off his top because Loon had been hired for a bachelor party.
But when it comes to food, he says, guests generally don’t ask for anything crazy.
He explains, “You know, they’re not that wild [when it comes to meal requests].
“You expect them to have crazy requests, but actually they’re simple requests, like hamburgers and hot dogs and things like that.”
When it comes to his working hours, Dean says he and his sous chef are basically on call 24/7 and they take turns working shifts.
He sums up life as a chef aboard a superyacht this way: ‘I just want to say that this is the ultimate vacation and these guests are paying over half a million dollars a week to stay on board.
“So it’s up to us to give them exactly what they want, when they want it, 24 hours a day. That’s the service we have to provide here.”
