In its third season, “The Bear,” a TV show known for its committed surrealism, did not disappoint fans looking for real-life culinary references. As Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and their team of ex-sandwich professionals rush to earn a Michelin star or two at their newly opened restaurant, Easter eggs are scattered throughout the show. We’ve compiled a shortlist, with the help of restaurant industry professionals, of the truest nods and hidden surprises:
In certain corners of Reddit, the entire show is rumored to be loosely based on the life of chef Curtis Duffy, owner of the Ever restaurant in Chicago. But while the creators have dined at his restaurant, “If they were studying me, I didn’t know it,” he said.
Photos of restaurant reviews posted on Bear’s desk are of real people, including the New Yorker writer Naomi Fry“How Long Gone” podcaster Chris Black and Sue Chan, who runs culinary events and marketing agency Care of Chan.
In the show, Marcus, the pastry chef played by Lionel Boyce, makes a “caviar sundae”. ONE similar dish It is served at the famous, now-closed restaurant 108 in Copenhagen, a culinary hotbed to which ‘The Bear’ has been mentioned many times.
In flashbacks to Carmy’s time at the French Laundry, Thomas Keller’s restaurant in Napa Valley, a sign under the clock reads, “Sense of Urgency.” “That sign is under every clock in every restaurant that Thomas Keller owns,” said Nick Fitch, co-owner of Alston Hospitality Group who spent 12 years working the dining room at the French Laundry and Per Se.
The Pilot G2 Gel Roller Penwith a 0.7mm tip that Carmy uses to carve furiously throughout the season (and to write the ‘non-negotiable’ list) caught the eye of co-owner Greg Ryan Bell’s in Los Alamos, Calif. who worked in the dining rooms of Per Se and the French Laundry for more than five years. “When I was an accelerator, those were the only pens you had,” he said. “They work well on proof paper, don’t smudge, have a nice edge and write super smooth.”
Much has been made of Mr. Keller’s chicken demonstration — “If you ask him his favorite dish, he’ll say roast chicken,” Mr. Fitch said — but a photo of his hand cast in concrete also appears in the season’s first episode. According to Mr Fitch, the handprint was originally in the French Laundry kitchen, but was removed during an extensive renovation and moved outside, along with prints from Corey Lee, a former French Laundry chef, and Claire Clark , former pastry shop. chef in the restaurant.
Joel McHale, who plays Chef David, he said on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” who “portrayed” Mr. Keller. “I don’t think he’s as sinister as I am, but he whispers to his employees,” Mr. McHale said. Others have speculated that the character is based on Daniel Humm, the chef at Eleven Madison Park. Will Guidara, a producer on “The Bear,” was Mr. Humm’s business partner until the two had a bitterly public split. said Mr McHale an interview with GQ this week that “David is apparently based on Thomas Keller and Daniel Humm” and added, “There was no material. I have never met them.”
In Episode 2, Carmy calls a sea bass dish with potato chips ‘Boulud’, as in Daniel Boulud, the celebrity chef who created crispy papiettes with sea bass in Barolo sauce. This dish uses thinly sliced potatoes as a crust for a skinless filet, and Mr. Boulud in turn has credited a mullet dish made by Paul Bocuse as his inspiration.
The conversation among the Bear staff touches on a theme that is playing out across the country. Many restaurateurs, most famously Danny Meyer, have tried to create a better system, with mixed results. In California, a recently passed law appeared to make restaurant service charges illegal (as part of an effort to reduce hidden fees), but then a second bill passedallowing restaurants to retain these charges if clearly presented.
