The Bear it is without a doubt one of the most popular series of the last year. This dramedy Hulu and available in Italy on Disney+ debuted in June last year and literally catapulted us right from the first moment world of cooking and catering. The main character is Carmyplayed brilliantly by Jeremy Allen Whitea promising young chef who, following the suicide of his older brother, abandons the world of haute cuisine and returns to Chicago to manage the dilapidated family sandwich shop.
During his two seasons, The Bear showed us the difficult path of Carmy and her young and ambitious partner Sidney (Ayo Edited) in an attempt to turn the sandwich shop into a starred restaurant. And one of the peculiarities of the series is precisely that of show the world of catering without any mystification, in a chaotic, crude and, often, downright cruel way. This was appreciated by the public and critics, but, apparently, not by some insiders…
New York chef Mark Strausman defined The Bear a “melodramatic fiction”
Mark Strausmanand Award-winning New York chef who worked for more than twenty years as executive chef at freds of the Barneys of New York and then opened his own restaurant, Mark’s Off Madisonstated that in his opinion the one offered by The Bear it is not a true representation of what happens in restaurant kitchens. Questioned by Insider on the Hulu series, the chef stated that “not have at all“ watched the seriesbut to have seen and heard enough to get the idea that it is an example of “fiction melodrammatica“. “Did you hear what Prince Harry said about The Crown?“, Strausman said for explain your point of view better. For those who don’t remember, in 2021 Prince Harry declared that the series on the events of the English royal family was a “fantasy product“, “partially based on reality“, but not strictly accurately.
“I mean, listen, Hollywood has to make money. Hollywood needs to write stories that people want to watch“, explained Mark Strausman about The Bear. “These are not historical events, but that’s not the restaurant business. Certainly not my restaurant“. In particular, the chef’s criticisms seem to target the way he is portrayed the relationship between the various staff members at Carmy’s restaurantthat often they argue furiously. “We treat people with respect in the kitchen. We have human resources. So it’s all fictional television dramaand we like good fiction“.
In short, although in the past there have been chefs who have instead claimed to have recognized his own experiences in the events told by the serieswe must not forget that ultimately The Bear it is first and foremost a television product.