Chicago is a major food town, from pricey fine dining to modest neighborhood joints that hit the spot, and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen the sweaty, cacophonous kitchen dynamics of the latter so richly and lovingly portrayed as they are in “The Bear,” a darkly comedic drama that takes its inspiration from a local staple: Mr. Beef.
On the show, this River North Italian beef sandwich shop is simply called The Original Beef of Chicagoland. But the exterior shots certainly look as if they were filmed at Mr. Beef. And a crew member told me that production designers all but rebuilt the interior of Mr. Beef on a soundstage at Cinespace (the studio complex on the city’s West Side) down to grease on the stoves and the walls. That had me laughing and intrigued before I watched a single frame.
Having seen all eight episodes, it might be one of my favorite shows of the year. (This is one of those FX productions for Hulu; it’s not airing on the cable channel, but the entire season is available on the streamer.) Front and center are the travails of a young chef named Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, who sometimes goes by the nickname Bear, hence the title. Here’s a guy who made a name for himself in the fine-dining world and he’s very good. As in, James Beard and Food & Wine awards good. But now he’s back home in Chicago, running the family restaurant months after his brother Mikey killed himself.
