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Kyle Viljoen Weighs In on the Wine Pairing Drama: “The Thought Process Was Absent”
The Below Deck Mediterranean stew has strong feelings about Natasha Webb’s choice to do a wine pairing with Dave White’s buffet-style dinner.
On the August 29 episode of Below Deck Mediterranean, there was a bit of miscommunication between Natasha Webb and Dave White regarding the guests’ dinner. While discussing his “buffet-style” around-the-world-themed meal, the chef explained, “I want to put it all on the table at the same time.” However, Natasha told Dave she planned to do a wine pairing, which would require the dishes to be served in individual courses.
As they attempted to pull off the wine pairing, there were more than a few bumps along the way. “The wine pairing has slowed down the service so much my food is drying out,” Dave shared in an episode interview. Kyle Viljoen, who was on service with Natasha that evening, appeared to be equally annoyed. “This is ridiculous… This is crazy,” he said, later adding on the show’s September 5 episode, “The wine pairing: nice idea, s--t ass planning.”
On the September 20 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Kyle opened up more about his frustration with the last-minute wine pairing. “What would you do if you realized your service idea was making it more complicated and time consuming for the chef and the stews?” Andy asks Kyle in the video above. “Like the wine pairing with courses.”
“You cannot do buffet with a wine service,” Kyle declares. “You don’t know where you’re starting and where you’re ending. I think the heart was there but the thought process was absent.” (Watch the clip to hear his full response.)
In retrospect, as Natasha explained on the September 5 episode of Below Deck Med, she may have done things a bit differently. “I feel like it was maybe slightly the wrong decision to do wine pairing because the service was so hectic,” she said. “But the guests are having the best time. That’s all that matters.”
Press play on the video above to see Kyle’s reaction to the wine pairing and hear him weigh in on more of Natasha’s choices this season.
Watch Below Deck Med on Bravo Mondays at 8/7c and on the Bravo app. Catch new episodes one week early on Peacock.
