[The point of this story is the bear pp. Season two, three “sundaes” of episodes, contains some full-season spoilers. ]
halfway second season , Bear brings viewers a slew of high-profile actors: Jamie Lee Curtis, Bob Odenkirk and John Mulaney (John Mulaney) to name just three. While the spooky holiday episode (titled “Fish,” as in “A Feast for Seven”) deserves more attention, it’s certainly not the first episode of the season to feature a familiar face.
Just look at the previous three episodes in this regard: “The Sundae”, Bear Season Two is a veritable love letter to the Chicago food scene, from director Joanna Callow , whose He is also co-showrunner and executive producer. Of course, each episode of The Bears is a love letter to the Chicago food scene. But “sundaes” are… well, you know.
Much of the episode focuses on Sydney Adamu of Ayo Edebiri, She’s the head chef at the growing restaurant The Bear, and she finds inspiration in a variety of the Windy City’s best restaurants. During the trip, Syd eats at several real Chicago restaurants—some institutional, some up-and-comers, and one that was made up for the show.
“It’s a really cool project to figure out ‘Who represents Chicago?'” Calo told The Hollywood Reporter, speaking as the director of this episode. “Obviously, there are a lot of places we haven’t been, but we’ve tried to cover all the bases of what to eat and to be inspired in Chicago.”
In making this episode, Calo and his The company tapped real restaurant locations and real restaurateurs to play speaking characters (such as One Off Hospitality’s Donnie Madia) not only to build on the Hulu show’s hard-won authentic depiction of life as a professional, but also to Hats off to the city that was part of The Bear actor Sid Kammy ( Jerry M. Allen White ), Rich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and the rest of . Below, THR talks to Calo about the episode’s director and how Sydney’s “Sundae” came together.
How the world knowsbears Affects work done in season 2?
From the very beginning, when we got to know how people felt about the first season, I was like, “Well, no People are going to love season two because once you know what you want for season two, we can’t please everyone, so let’s just do what we want because we’re going to fail anyway.” Will Our own release from the fear or trying to guess might be what ultimately helped it feel, albeit very different from the first season, in that it had an energy all its own.
part of the energy leaves the kitchen , and learn more about everyone’s lives, in episode three: Sydney’s Chicago Food Tour. Please tell me Ayo Edebiri doesn’t have to eat all these foods in one day.
Not a day but she ate a lot and I’m so proud of her ( lol.) It’s not easy, but she’s always down. This was shot over [approximately] three days. We did have to cancel exterior work due to scheduling, so she had a lot of really good food. Luckily, it’s really delicious! But the food is too much.
How did you choose which restaurants to feature in this episode? Do you start with the idea, or with the actual situation that allows the shoot?
We are very lucky that we can go most of the places we want to go. People open up their kitchens to us. So it really becomes less about the ideas and more about what are these iconic Chicago places and what are the up-and-comers in Chicago? This ended up being a very special collaboration with Donnie Madia, who is such an amazing figure in Chicago and the culinary world in general. People were inspired by [his restaurant] Avec , and Avec’s design and menu. So starting with Downey, that also connects us to [restaurant] Publican. The writers for the episode went to Chicago before we got there, talked to [Public Chef Rob Levitt] and heard some of his stories, and we put them into the script. Then we go to the real Rob to tell us the story, which is a strange kind of ouroboros. We knew that if we could go in and let him talk, we could capture something special. We want viewers to have the same experience as us. Then Kasama is always at the top of our list as we were often at the eat there. Kasama’s food is unique and part of a new wave of Chicago food. The apartment I lived in during the first season just happened to be around the corner, so we ate there every day. We realize this is one of the best restaurants in America.
Ayo Edebiri as Sydney and Jeremy Allen White (Jeremy Allen White) as Carmy in the second season episode “Sundae.”
How these restaurant choices map to Sydney as a character she is What are you looking for to realize your ambitions?
Once we realized we were going to be able to go to all these locations, we started thinking about the menu at The Bear [restaurant]. Chefs are always inspired, but it doesn’t end up on the menu. But if we’re trying to tell this specific story about creativity and how it ties into the projects she’s working on, we really want to draw a through line from her chop dish last season to some of the dishes she’s going to be pitching. Bear’s menu. That’s why we started thinking around the idea of ravioli. We know we get our beef from Publican, and Avec has great ribs and hummus [dish]. old friend is so good to have all these dumplings . Then we had Verdana, a fake French restaurant, where we actually filmed Giant, they have this amazing crepes. We were trying to tell a story about the creative inspiration for an idea and how it came from all these places and Sydney wanted to eat all these different foods and combine them.
[Culinary Producer Courtney Storer] said, “That’s what she would do.” It was like a day off for her, and we turned that into an appreciation for the creative juice demand. But it was largely originally conceived as a “day trip from Sydney”. You go to the market, savor the space, shop, eat. We’re funny, which is common for chefs.
What was filmed at the actual location?
Jason Sterman and Brian McGinn [from Netflix’s Chef’s Table] Come craft with me. Brian also took some B-unit shots of the kitchen. So we can shoot some scenes first, and then he sets up for the delicious food and nice kitchen moves. I would say that we happened to be filming in the very friendly kitchen. That doesn’t mean they couldn’t be extra friendly just because we were there, but I think Donnie really makes a living out of hospitality and taking care of the family in the restaurant. That’s part of the reason we wanted to talk to Rob; although I think Publican has a similar ethos, he also has some really good horror stories, and stories about bad partners, bad behavior, and failures that are true to him Stories that we were able to get him to tell on camera and then use them to fuel Sydney’s fears of failing himself and of working with Kami.
How about turning these restaurateurs into actors? ?
This is so fascinating. Again, Brian and Jason were with me, which is what they do, so they gave me some great advice. But the truth is, you just have to do your best to make people feel comfortable. But it’s hard. Some people can do it naturally. Claire is one of Avec’s General Managers and she’s a star. She can fully express herself in front of the camera. There are also some people whose situation is a bit difficult for them and we just try to give them as much time as possible. The actors in “The Bear ” are fantastic and charismatic, and we wanted to make sure we brought out the best in these real people. What I’m trying to do is give as much time as possible to people who aren’t very comfortable and surprise them with prompts, or say, “I liked that part, please say it again.”
When the pencil is put down, can you tell the difference between bear now? 1235525441 Writers on strike , jobs ok Season 3 no longer going on?
I really do, and so does [creator Chris Stoller]. Rest isn’t the worst thing in the world. I hope we can work things out, especially after all the writers have done a great job. It would be nice to end this all in a strong way. Authors do deserve to feel like a powerful force to be reckoned with.
Interview edited for length and clarity ).
Bear Season 2 is now available on Hulu.
