Without a doubt, The Bear is the most real chef programme on television. It captures the behind-the-scenes realities of working in a restaurant as no other show has.
The sitcom is notable for presenting highly emotional scenes from the kitchen of a sandwich business in Chicago, The Beef, with the aid of disturbed head chef Carmy (played by Jeremy Allen White).
Fans are devouring more witty, hair-tearing action in season two, which premieres on Disney Plus on July 19.
It’s no fortunate accident, though, that the programme has developed a reputation as an effective reflection of the hotel sector, as the individuals behind it aren’t simply actors and movie-people.
In truth, The Beef is based on the real-life restaurant Mr Beef, which is owned by filmmaker Christopher Storer’s boyhood buddy Chris Zucchero.
Not only that, but Matty Matheson, who portrays Neil Fak, is a real-life chef and restaurateur from Canada.
Of course, not every character in the show is a qualified cook.
Indeed, Lionel Boyce – the face of gentle, dessert-mad Marcus – admitted to Metro.co.uk that before the show he ‘couldn’t cook to save [his] life.’
He wasn’t burning-beans-on-toast inept, but 32-year-old Lionel wasn’t exactly familiar with many ingredients beyond salmon and shrimp, he admits.
Luckily, culinary producer Courtney Storer – sister to director Chris and real life chef – was on hand to teach him all the skills and tricks to convince viewers at home he was a pudding proficient.
‘It was cool, because I would leave her house once a week with delicious desserts,’ Lionel recalled.
‘And she’s a professional and I’m just like there with my hands pretending like I know what I’m doing.’
So much work was done behind the scenes by Courtney, that Lionel now gets people from the hospitality industry letting him know how much The Bear resonated – and momentarily mistaking him for a real life fellow chef.
‘Yeah I do get that,’ Lionel admitted, when asked about whether people from the industry ever approach him about the show.
‘Lots of times if I got to a restaurant, if they’ve seen the show and they recognise me they’ll say something.
‘It’s cool to me to make something that means something to people.
‘They get very specific. Sometimes they get excited and they start explaining food and then they realise, “Oh yeah, you’re an actor, you’re not a real chef so you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
‘It just shows that they’re really impassioned. They’re like this is cool because you’re representing us, and things like that.’
One such incident stayed with Lionel, who stated that it’s not just young aspiring cooks and restaurant staff that stop him in the street.
‘It’s not just like one age range,’ he explained.
‘There was a really old women who approached me who opened a bakery, and I thought that was cool. She was like, “I don’t like TV, I don’t watch TV. But I watched this show.”
View this post on Instagram
‘And she spilled her heart about it. And I was like, that’s awesome.’
While The Bear highlights the worst sides of a company, it also brilliantly demonstrates why people continue to flock to the deadly hot air of a professional kitchen.
The Bear radiates warmth, and not only from the stove.
Lionel masterfully articulated this notion while describing his character Marcus, in whom he sees a lot of himself.
‘He’s a person who thought their life would go one way, and just accepted their life being in that direction,’ he explained.
‘Then they found their passion at a certain point and it gave them a second wind, and they realise nothing has ever mattered as much to them as this thing.’
The Bear is streaming now on Disney Plus.
