What Do Real New Zealand Chefs Think Of The Bear Season Three?

Thursday, 4 July 2024, 1:40 pm
Article: RNZ

Jogai Bhatt

Chicago's most dysfunctional kitchen has returned to screens - and upped the stakes.

In season three of The Bear, Carmy is hell-bent on transforming the Berzatto family sandwich shop into a fine dining restaurant worthy of Michelin stars. But his obsessive focus on quality and achievement quickly turns self-destructive, and his staff can't keep up with his increasingly neurotic demands. Cuts, spills, burns, and breakages are a-plenty as Carmy spirals down a path to perfection.

The show's stars, Jeremy Allen-White and Ayo Edebiri, trained with professional chefs in preparation for their roles - but how accurate is the chaos of The Bear? We ask three local hospitality experts to weigh in.

'I know people who have had their hands pushed into fryers' - Plabita Florence, chef and owner of Forest in Auckland

Florence has worked in hospitality for around 15 years, but unofficially since she was five or six helping her mum in the cafe she worked at. She says The Bear is "pretty accurate" in many ways.

"There's that one sequence of quick flashes of horrible things; bleeding and cuts and burns and spills and breakages, that was pretty hard to watch, I had to do some big blinks during that. And the other side is this luxurious, lovely thing you see as a guest; from the kitchen you don't get to experience that whatsoever, it feels like the complete opposite.

"I've worked with a few male egos; I don't know what it is about people wanting to tear you down like that, just being spoken to really disrespectfully. I'm quite lucky, I haven't had too many brutal ones.

"I know people who have had their hands pushed into fryers or had a pan held over a fire and stuck on their arm, I haven't had anything like that. More sort of emotional bullying, anytime you get something wrong - someone saying, 'you f....ing stupid or what?' over and over again, all day to the point where you get home and wonder why you feel like crying. You're like, nothing actually happened today, but actually all day you've been kicked while you were trying to learn.

"That scene with Mikey talking about how shit it is, and how it can just be the worst thing ever most days, and then every now and then there's a day and it's the most fun you've ever had, that kind of stuff rings true for me."

'Asshole chefs' - Chris Scott, executive chef at Sherwood restaurant in Queenstown

Scott has seen a bit of chaos over nearly 30 years in hospitality. He says The Bear's portrayal of "asshole" chefs and Carmy's quest for perfection ring true.

"The intensity and the focus and the meticulousness of everything Carmy does is believable, especially when you're getting to... three Michelin star level, that definitely makes sense.

"I can still remember what certain chefs have said to me when you've balled something up... You do carry that forward, when someone says 'you're a c**t' or whatever, but that was a sign of the times. There's still a few of them hanging on but overall, the culture's had to change and has changed."

'I've heard there are still chefs who spit' - Johnon MacDonald, chef and restaurateur of Wellington's Koji and Rosella Wine Bar

MacDonald has worked in the industry for nearly 23 years. He says Carmy's "relentless quest for perfectionism and excellence" mirrors the drive of many young chefs.

"It also highlights the industry's gap in training, in overlooking what the day-to-day operations of running a hospitality business means - the cost side of it, the importance of numbers working and that whole side of things. What I say to my team is if we've got happy staff, happy customers, and the financials are working, then that's success.

"The reality of what they're showcasing in The Bear is they're at an elite level, they've done their research into the industry to showcase the high points of what restaurants are about and upped the ante. I've heard there are still chefs who spit and spat and lose it like Carmy does, that anger and frustration you see is still around and is true, you see that every now and then, but the consistently high level you see throughout the show is unrealistic."

Daily menu changes - 'That's f...ing insane'

In season three, Carmy demands a near-impossible ask; that The Bear serves a new menu every single day.

"That's f***ing insane," Scott says. "That is just another level of torture but he really loves it, he loves torture, that man."

MacDonald says he knows restaurants that have done weekly menus, "and I thought that was super impressive and next level. There's a chef in Sydney that my friend worked with who did that, I went and ate there and the food was amazing, they pulled it off, and I know that kitchen was insane like in The Bear. It's mentally insane to put your team through that and the pressure to perform at the high level he's trying to."

Florence says her restaurant used to change the menu weekly up until a year ago.

"For me, one of my biggest learnings was not to do that, because it's never your best work when you've just changed it."

Burnout and high pressure - 'I know chefs that have committed suicide'

Chefs work long hours and live busy schedules. Is there such a thing as work/life balance?

"I was working probably 80 hours a week as an apprentice, I saw chefs burn out all around," MacDonald says.

"I know chefs that have committed suicide because of the pressures of the industry. Our teams work a four-day work week, they get three days off, they work hard, they'll work four double shifts, we can't take that away but we can definitely manage and support that work/life balance and I think we're achieving that in some regards."

Scott says it's the pressure to work at a high level that triggers the imbalance.

"Hundred percent, I've experienced it, but not anymore, shit no."

For Florence, owning her own restaurant means you never stop thinking about it: "I obsess over it heavily, it's a really personal concept so I definitely just am obsessed, probably to an unhealthy level, but I try and take time away so I don't knock off the deep end."

The verdict: 'Weirdly inspiring', 'a little bit painful'

"Fairly often I feel like I'm the most neurotic person I know, so seeing somebody way worse makes me feel better," Florence says.

"The Bear is kind of weirdly inspiring. I can understand why Carmy's that way, when you see the patterns of being like that, you kind of feel like you need to stay like that to get the best results, but he's on another level so it makes me feel quite sane."

MacDonald sees some aspects of realism in The Bear, but says some parts are hugely exaggerated and over the top.

"In a world of hospitality, chaos and entertainment collide creating a raw and unfiltered reality; it does showcase points that are true, then it's bringing the entertainment side to create something that's appealing to the general public, like Gordon Ramsey does to make a good show."

Scott says The Bear is "a little bit painful" to watch. "The kitchen end of it is fun but the drama part gets a little bit hectic."

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