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Chef Ben Robinson from Below Deck lit up the room during his blowtorch cooking demo at Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Robinson hosted a happy hour for a packed crowd to promote his next luxury fan encounter aboard Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady. This time, instead of pouring drinks, he took out his blowtorch and cooked a beautiful meal, while dishing out the one-liners.

“I’m into blowtorching,” Robinson explained during the demo. “Obviously it’s efficient and it’s fun. I wanted to appeal to our masculine crowd. Because there’s nothing more masculine than running around with one of these [he showed the crowd the blowtorch].” He joked, “You’re either a mass murderer or you’re a chef. Or a pyromaniac.”

Below Deck’s Chef Ben is working on a blowtorch cookbook

Before he greased the pan he joked, “What we like to do is, straight off, grease the salmon,” Robinson explained during his demo. “Are there any cops in here? You know about greasing right?”

Chef Ben Robinson from 'Below Deck' during his blowtorch demonstration
Chef Ben Robinson | Photo courtesy of Gabriella Schwager/Stars Marketing Group

Robinson prepared to use his blowtorch on the prepared salmon. “This I believe is heat proof,” he remarked gesturing to the pans on the demonstration table. “The problem is when you are dealing with blowtorches it’s about 1,800 degrees Celcius. So you will burn whatever is underneath it.”

He added that chefs need to be “clever about how not to ruin” their dish with the blowtorch. “If it is stainless steel you are safe,” Robinson said.

In an earlier interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet Robinson dished about his love of blowtorch cooking. “I’m really in love with blowtorches,” he laughed. “I do a lot of stuff with blowtorches. In fact, I’m going to do a blowtorch cookbook very soon. It’ll be digital, so I think it should be called ‘Blowtorch Cookbook.’ And there’s so many little tricks. It’s just really quick, effective cooking and I love that. So I can do very, very quick, effective food with a blowtorch.”

He was a Below Deck ‘yacht snob’ before hosting his first Virgin Cruise

Robinson also talked about the upcoming cruise and recounted how during the last cruise, he was “very much at everyone’s bloody service.” He admitted to being a “bit of a yacht snob” during the demo. And Robinson also told Showbiz Cheat Sheet that the Virgin cruise definitely took him by surprise.

Chef Ben Robinson holds a blowtorch in the air
Chef Ben Robinson | Photo courtesy of Gabriella Schwager/Stars Marketing Group

“I was very apprehensive of cruise ships, coming from a yachting, snobby sort of background,” he said. “But I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the entertainment and it was just such a big boat. Even though we had like 850 passengers on board, it seemed lonely. And that’s just a massive testament to how large the boat is. So there were very quiet lounges throughout and it just didn’t seem busy.”

“So I always thought it would just be like middle Americans running around with fanny packs,” he laughed, “Kind of like some kind of grotesque shopping mall. But it really wasn’t that at all. And it was very accommodating. I loved it. I got to drink all day, which was amazing. So I’m learning. And the trick to drinking all day is a good old Englishman should really just drink beer all day. And then maybe after 10 p.m., sneaking in a few glasses of wine and calm down, you know, if you go the distance, you’re going to be all right. You know, I’m still learning how to be a professional drinker [laughs].”

The summer ‘Below Deck’ event was packed, much to Chef Ben’s surprise

Gabriella Schwager from Stars Marketing Group attended the packed South Florida event and shared exclusive photos with Showbiz Cheat Sheet.

Gabriella Schwager and Chef Ben Robinson during the blowtorch event
Gabriella Schwager and Chef Ben Robinson | Photo courtesy of Gabriella Schwager/Stars Marketing Group
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Chef Ben Teases New Show, Cruises, and a Safari Beyond ‘Below Deck’ [Exclusive]

“We had such a fun time at the Marlin Bar promoting and hearing all about the next adventure Ben is going on!” she shared. “The crowd was lively and all so eager to meet Ben, and watch his blowtorch demo!  I think everyone, including me, was really impressed with the blowtorch cooking technique. He made a really yummy salmon. Even though Chef Ben made it look so easy, I will leave the cooking part to him, and I will stick to the tasting!”

She added, “I was able to chat with some fans sitting near me and they could not stop smiling and sharing how excited they were to meet Ben and get a selfie with him.”

Robinson’s next cruise sets sail February 17 -21, 2023.

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