Captain Sandy Shares the "Incredible" Reason Dave White “Is Like No Other Chef”

The charter season has just begun on Season 7 of Below Deck Mediterranean, but on the show’s July 25 episode, Captain Sandy Yawn had already come to a major conclusion about chef Dave White.

“Some of the chefs I’ve had were incredible, but Dave is like no other chef I’ve ever had on the planet,” Sandy said in an episode interview. “He is the true artist. It’s incredible to witness this guy at work.”

On the show’s July 11 season premiere, Dave explained that when cooking for guests, “I will follow a preference sheet, but I don’t follow recipes.” However, he took a very different approach on the July 25 episode, when he made octopus for dinner despite some of the guests stating on their preference sheet that they don’t like seafood. “I don’t follow preferences,” Dave said in an interview. “It’s always a bit of a gamble.”

A gamble, indeed. When the primary guest saw the dish, she declared, “I do not like octopus.” However, she was willing to try it, which was more or less a win for Dave. “I mean, I wouldn’t order it again,” she concluded, “but it’s good.” Another guest added, “The way he prepared it was really fabulous.” 

Of course, if the guests weren’t pleased, Dave would have made sure they had an alternative dish. As he explained on the July 11 episode, “I don’t want to fail, so if you don’t like it, I’m gonna keep going until you do like it.” 

Watch Below Deck Mediterranean on Bravo Mondays at 8/7c and next day on Peacock and the Bravo app.