‘Below Deck Med’: Someone Please Give Chef Kiko The Hug He Deserves

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve wanted to reach through the screen while watching Below Deck Mediterranean to give one of the crew members a hug. But with the latest episode, I repeatedly wanted to give a big old comforting hug to Chef Kiko, a chef unlike any other that has been a part of this show.

Sure, he’s similar to past chefs in his distaste when it comes to cooking for vegans, saying out loud to himself, “No dairy, no meat,” as he works his way around the galley, and wondering out loud, “Why people are vegan?” a question we may never get a proper answer for. But it’s his chill vibe that makes him stand out from the pack, even as he sweetly tells a live lobster, “You are going to die!” and lets out an “Mmm mmm mmm!” relaying his enjoyment of the very food he cooked himself.

But the moment where Kiko truly separated himself was when he proved to be a real ally to chief stew Hannah, a quality so rare on this show it was hard to believe it at first. She requests that he has her back during her smoke break on the dock, and guess what? He does! And right at the moment second stew Bugsy realizes that Hannah didn’t replenish lemons for the boat with her latest order of provisions. “Open your eyes,” he tells Hannah when they are alone in the galley. “Because of the lemons.” He also told her Bugsy said, “You’re not responsible for the lemons, Hannah is,” and even though Hannah confirms she’s got an eye on the situation, he says, “I feel things.”

This is precisely why Kiko is a treasure. There’s a harmlessness and innocence to him that we’ve never seen in the galley before. Most of the previous chefs, across all Below Deck franchises, have been loud and aggressive and angry and harsh. When Kiko is under pressure he takes it out on himself — and unjustly, at that.

Sure, he’s got his relaxed, Brazillian, surfer vibe going on, but he is likely the friendliest chef this show has ever seen. He simply isn’t a dick, ever. Especially not to other people. That has to count for something, and it matters more than making the guests wait for 20 minutes. Hello, the stews are always talking about how they make a fancy drink or pour another glass of wine to appease guests in nearly any situation. Do that! Throw some bread on the table. They can wait while Kiko composes himself before serving up what appears to be a damn good dinner.

One can’t help but notice it feels as though Kiko is paying for the mistakes of last season. He’s clearly not incompetent the way Mila was, and though the pressure grew to be too much for Anastasia, though she certainly rose to the occasion when she stepped into the position, Kiko is able to be a good chef if you just let him. The nitpicking and peering over his shoulder is what makes him anxious. And for what? He’s already proven that he makes dope food — and 72 plates of it during the last charter. Yeah, we’ve all heard the word moqueca more than ever in our lives, but he’s bringing his own flavor, literally, to the show, and isn’t that what’s desired?

Kiko, so far, really hasn’t messed up. It’s heartbreaking to watch him believe he has and say he was experiencing the worst day of his life. Why, because some rich douche needed his piece of fish to cook for a few minutes longer? Because this group couldn’t just savor the experience of being on a fancy boat for a few extra minutes before the food arrived? Come on. Don’t they eat dinner really late in Spain anyway, it’s part of the culture! So far Kiko has seemed to put a lot of thought and planning into his work, made it look gorgeous and taste delicious, and if guests have a short wait, that feels awfully forgivable compared to some of the previous performances we’ve seen on this show.

The way that Kiko takes his frustrations out only internally and never externally, getting softer the more he stresses, might be an indicator that he is too good and pure for this world of yachting. It’s almost as though an actually nice chef can’t be trusted because it’s not the norm. But anyone who can tolerate cooking one million mushy mushrooms deserves a big hug.

Below Deck Mediterranean airs Monday at 9pm ET/PT on Bravo. 

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