The Mean Chef in ‘The Bear’ Is Actually Based on a Real Person (2024)

The Bear sure is an overall stressful show, but there is one moment that certainly stands out. In Season 1, Episode 2, "Hands," a flashback shows Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) working at a fine dining restaurant in New York. The whole atmosphere is tense, and it gets worse when his boss, David Fields played by Joel McHale, walks into the kitchen and verbally abuses Carmy, going so far as whispering that he "should be dead." Season 2 of the FX series greatly explains that the kitchen environment in this sort of restaurant is indeed extreme, but what McHale's character does is simply out of line. Turns out, though, he's also based on a real person.

The Bear

Comedy

Drama

Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto, a young chef from the fine dining world, returns to Chicago to run his family's sandwich shop after a tragedy. As he navigates the chaotic environment of the small kitchen, Carmy must manage the struggles of turning around the failing business while dealing with his own grief and personal demons. The series dives deep into the intense world of culinary arts, highlighting the challenges of running a restaurant, the bonds formed among staff, and the relentless pursuit of perfection.

Release Date

June 23, 2022

Creator

Cast

Jeremy Allen White , Ebon Moss-Bachrach , Ayo Edebiri , Lionel Boyce , Liza Colón-Zayas , Abby Elliott , Oliver Platt

Main Genre

Drama

Rating

See Also

The Laundromat movie review & film summary (2019) | Roger EbertThe Laundromat | Rotten Tomatoes“The Laundromat,” Reviewed: Steven Soderbergh’s Flawed, Thrilling Tale of Financial GreedNetflix’s The Laundromat Cast & Character Guide

Seasons

3

Joel McHale’s Character in ‘The Bear’ Is Based on One of the Best Chefs in the World

Ever since that flashback scene with Joel McHale came out in The Bear Season 1, fans have been trying to guess who his terrible character was based on. Luckily, McHale himself gave us the answer while on Late Night with Seth Meyers a few months ago, shortly before Season 3 was released. "I was portraying Chef Thomas Keller," the actor confesses right away, but is quick to explain: "And I don't think he is as awful as I was, but he does whisper at his employees." Keller is known for having changed fine dining with his work and, of course, for his extremely stressful kitchen environments.

In that flashback scene, Carmy is working at one of the best restaurants in New York, and now that the cat is out of the bag, it can even be speculated that it was at one of Thomas Keller's renowned restaurants, the Per Se. While Keller himself isn't known for being a toxic person, the whole kitchen environment doesn't allow much room for anything other than his famous philosophy of "Sense of Urgency," so the lingering impression is one of stress, bad tempers, and impoliteness. The kind of toxicity displayed by Joel McHale's character isn't necessarily the rule, although there are accounts of how things may escalate sometimes.

Keller was, in fact, even the subject of a 2012 TV documentary short by Christopher Storer himself, the creator of The Bear. The piece, called — you guessed it — Sense of Urgency, depicts Keller's kitchens in his restaurants, The French Laundry and Bouchon Bistro, exploring the borderline fanaticism with which everything is done and the highest-possible-stakes environment.

Besides That Terrible Chef, Thomas Keller Is a Huge Influence on ‘The Bear’

One of the things that makes The Bear such an incredible show is how it actually leans on multiple influences to build its own world. Season 2 sees a great shift in how characters behave as they have to confront the reality that they have to be willing to grow as people for their business to grow, too. Most of what bases this change comes from the culinary world itself, especially Thomas Keller's philosophy. He may have inspired Joel McHale's cruel character, but, at the end of the day, he is a hugely successful chef, and Christopher Storer drew heavily on that to build the foundations of the season.

One of the most acclaimed episodes of the second season, "Forks" is inspiring in itself, having Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) confront the reality that he has to respect his work if he is to be any good at it. Carmy sends him to stage at the Ever, Chef Terry's (Olivia Colman) restaurant, where he learns that working in fine dining restaurants is not about satisfying himself but others. Most of what he learns from Garrett (Andrew Lopez), Jessica (Sarah Ramos), and Chef Terry herself comes from Keller. Eventually, Richie grows into a specialist in acts of service, but it's quotes like Garrett's "Every day here is the freaking Super Bowl" that really inspire him to be better in the first place. They come from Keller's ideals, which hang on the walls of his kitchens, like finesse in performance and execution at every step, which is why forks can't have streaks on them. Another classic is Jessica's "Every night you make somebody's day," which comes from Keller's idea of purpose in cooking: "Make People Happy. That is what cooking is all about."

Another iconic moment in Season 2 happens in Copenhagen, when Marcus (Lionel Boyce) is staging with Luca (Will Poulter). "At a certain stage, it becomes less about the skill, and it's more about being open," the chef tells Marcus, speaking of how important it is to seek inspiration outside the kitchen. This also comes from Thomas Keller's idea of inspiration, who often talks about the importance of "being aware of the world around you."

The ‘Every Second Counts’ Philosophy Also Comes From Thomas Keller

Another of Thomas Keller's influences on The Bear Season 2 is perhaps the biggest one. The "every second counts" sign and its history are among the season's most touching moments, being tied to Richie's arc, Marcus losing his mother while apprenticing with Luca, Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and her growing into a leadership position... Just seeing the clock on the Ever's and The Bear's kitchen walls and that sign under it is enough to both make us cry and motivate us, and something nearly identical hangs on the walls of the kitchens in Thomas Keller's restaurants.

By now, it's clear that the expression "sense of urgency" is extremely meaningful to Keller and his work philosophy. It's even the name of Christopher Storer's documentary about him, and this notion was transported to The Bear, too. In Season 1, Carmy writes it on a piece of tape, and he also has a tattoo with its initials, "S.O.U." This idea comes primarily from the fact that working in a kitchen demands full use of every second, otherwise the work can be in vain. A sauce may break, the meat may go cold, something may burn, etc. Also, a kitchen at a fine dining restaurant works as a single body, and lagging at one station may cause a chain reaction that sets back an entire day's work. Maintaining a sense of urgency helps the team to remain focused and on their toes.

Of course, Storer adapts the notion of a sense of urgency in The Bear into something more positive. "Every second counts" works as its double in the sense that the team in a kitchen must be aware that skipping a second may damage food, for example. In "Forks," one of the chefs at the Ever scolds the whole team because of a smudge that sets the whole workflow back two seconds, and every second counts. But this notion is also applied on a personal level. Richie complains to Garrett about being 45 years old and having to polish forks, and by the end of the episode, he learns that it's never too late to start over. Marcus tells Luca he has been a pastry chef for a little more than a year because he needed a job and learns the same lesson. In this sense, "every second counts" is an elevation of the idea of "sense of urgency." So, while Thomas Keller may be the inspiration behind Joel McHale's awful chef, there's a lot more that Keller influenced in The Bear than just that horrible character.

Season 3 of The Bear comes out June 27. Previous seasons are available to stream on Hulu.