It’s been a hectic quarter for me. Juggling between work and personal life. I am glad that I am still able to run into some entertainment. Especially, in the form of series. There is a new series called The Bear, it’s a fast-paced series about a family restaurant in Chicago. Here’s the teaser:
The Original Beef of Chicagoland
Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) is the main character, he is a young and talented fine-dining chef who have won several awards. However, he recently take turns to go back to his family restaurant called The Beef. The Beef was previously run by his brother Mikey (Jon Bernthal). Throughout the episodes we’ll get more details about the tragic death of Mikey and why Carmy decided to takeover the restaurant.
I really like the fast-paced style. You can really feel like you are in the middle of that hectic kitchen and feel how each chefs manage their tasks to prepare a meal.
Deep inside, I think it’s an interesting redemption story. Carmy takeover The Beef with all the problems within. Roles and responsibilities in the kitchen, the far-from-healthy cashflow, regulation problems, and some debts. He got a lot of objection from the crews, especially his own cousin Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). Things are getting more dynamic in the kitchen because Carmy hire a new young chef named Sydney (Ayo Edebiri). Sydney admires Carmy’s credentials and The Beef is her dad’s favourite restaurant when she was a kid. She believes she can help Carmy to make The Beef a better restaurant and to learn directly from Carmy.
From one episode to the next, we learn more about the restaurant, about Carmy, and about the other chefs. Each has their own characters and interests. The people at The Beef really reminds me of Anthony Bourdain’s words that professional kitchen in the US is the last refuge for misfits. A little sidetrack, I wrote some notes about Bourdain here.
In America, the professional kitchen is the last refuge of the misfit. It’s a place for people with bad pasts to find a new family. It’s a haven for foreigners — Ecuadorians, Mexicans, Chinese, Senegalese, Egyptians, Poles.
I love the sheer weirdness of the kitchen life: the dreamers, the crackpots, the refugees, and the sociopaths with whom I continue to work; the ever-present smells of roasting bones, searing fish, and simmering liquids; the noise and clatter, the hiss and spray, the flames, the smoke, and the steam. Admittedly, it’s a life that grinds you down. Most of us who live and operate in the culinary underworld are in some fundamental way dysfunctional. We’ve all chosen to turn our backs on the nine-to-five, on ever having a Friday or Saturday night off, on ever having a normal relationship with a non-cook.
Mental Health
This series also explore mental health issues, especially grief. In Episode 3, we learned that Carmy get himself into Alcoholic Anonymous support group. He tried to maintain his mental stability in juggling between the grief of losing his dear brother and the chaotic restaurant inherited to him.
We also got a peek on what’s going on with Richie’s life. Especially, his relationship with his daughter. Even though it’s only told through phone conversation, we can get a sense of his problems.
We got multiple perspective too on how each chefs handle their stress at work. Especially with the drastic change that Carmy brought into the restaurant. Carmy have the choice to sell the restaurant, but he didn’t want to take that route.
Managing People
It’s as cliché as it sounds, but being part of a change is not easy. And it’s even harder to lead the change.
There are few notes about team management that hits me hard too. Carmy is trying to implement the classic French brigade system. He wants the kitchen to operate to higher level. One of the best line in the Episode 3.
We have to change the chemistry.
On the other hand, it’s a very big challenge and responsibility for Sydney to be appointed as the sous chef. Not all the team welcomes her to be the person giving instructions and assignments.
However, it still show how deep inside Carmy wants to change the restaurant to be better. And yet it is not that easy.
It’s a deep lesson on listening too from Sydney by the end of the episode.
If this is going to work the way that I think we both want it to work, I think we should probably try to listen to each other.
The Chaotic Within
I really like how the show captured the chaotic live in the kitchen. I think most reviews and feedback that I have seen so far are positives. The scenes truly felt real.
The highlight of this first season is of course on this one-shot take of Kitchen Nightmare.
Kudos to all the team involved in this series. Turns out most of the creators are related to other series that I enjoy too. Quoting from Chicagomag:
This is the third time members of this crew have crafted such an honest, youthful perspective on a changing American metropolis — show creator Christopher Storer did the same for NYC in Ramy, while executive producer Hiro Murai captured vibrant city life on Atlanta.
We can also learn to understand the lingo around the kitchen, like Corner!, Behind!, and many more.
I think if you ever been a part of a hectic moment in a team, in any industry, you can feel the emotion and the intensity. And probably you want to be angry and to shout as well. It’s so great. The food shots, the knife shots, the cluttered kitchen, the noises, and the steams are all in the right place and the right amount in this series. It’s a striking balance between the story and the cinematography.
Life: The Peace within The Chaos
One of the most emotional moment came in the later episodes.
Carmy asked:
Is there a name for that thing where you’re afraid of something good happening, because you think something bad is gonna happen?
In which Richie replied simply:
I don’t know…life.
Have you ever pondered that kind of question?
How can you stay sane in this roller-coaster we called life?
That keeps you thinking that life is about feeling peace within the chaos. Whether it’s in the kitchen, or even in our own mind.
I don’t want to spoil much, but the ending of the season feels hopeful. There is a quite big surprise that in the end unites the chefs again despite all the mayhem.
I really like this series and can’t wait for The Bear to return for second season. Yes, chef!
This is truly a great year for cinema so far.
Whatever chaos you are into at the moment, I hope you can feel some peace.
