#chef winger

[air--so--sweet]

'You gave me ulcers, and panic attacks and nightmares.'

Calling it now, we will eventually get a confrontation between Syd and Carmy where she says something very similar to this and it will make Carmy realise just how bad he's become.

[harlequinhovers]

jeff and britta: we slept together again

abed subplot:

[donetbhlmao]

im really hoping/thinking that s4 will give us some of the highest highs this show has ever seen. like im thinking about the despair of s3 (the ever funeral, marcus' mom's ACTUAL funeral, the general dysfunction of the kitchen) and how the setup is there for season 4 to be one of rebirth, fresh starts, and redemption.

thinking about how we're almost certainly going to see tiff's wedding, how the possibility of new love is on the horizon (FOR SURE chef jess with richie, if you're lost in the sauce like me, luca for sydney), and how the kitchen, despite carmy being a toxic boss this season, still has room for people to innovate and grow (tina and marcus and their lovely scenes together).

idk i mean i'll fully accept it if im wrong but the storytelling for s3 of the bear is so weird and specific that it looks like a lot of the good stuff is being set up in the bg for it to payoff in s4.

[lalionnalunna]

why is jeff winger so mean just because he became the head chef?

[anarchoarchie]

carmy the bear is transgender btw in the same way as jesse pinkman i’m not going to explain myself the reasoning should be obvious

[eyes-of-rock]

Should I just admit Winger is my second favourite band ever or what?

[upinyourcortex]

some of you really just want sydney to be carmy's emotional punching bag and get really mad when she gets to be her own person and isn’t at his beck and call everytime he has a problem. she told y'all she’s not his fucking babysitter give her a damn break

[carmyberzattosjournal]

Entry 7: Idle Hands

Bearblr Promptober Day 6: Carving Pumpkins

Summary: Carmy can't figure out what to do with his hands when he's not cooking. Fluff.

Warnings: Mentions of anxiety, mentions of Berzatto family trauma (minor), mention of Chef Winger (Chef David, for the uninitiated), swearing, written with fem reader who is a trauma surgeon (nothing gross described) in mind, she/her pronouns, minor aches and pains.

Notes: All journal entries will be titled as such and tagged with #cb journal.

Reblogs appreciated. Thank you to @carmenberzattosgf for putting together this prompt list.

06 Oct 2024

I’m not used to letting a girl sit in my lap and get me drunk off kisses.

Like just chill there? And not do anything else? Not use my hands to do something, to make something? The kisses and pets are temporary distractions from the urge to use my hands—welcomed ones, even so.

Her lips are soft. Hands are always a little cold, feel good wandering over my scalp, trailing down my neck. She brushes her bent knuckles over my throat sometimes, yeah? It’s fucking addicting as all hell, sure, but 90% of the time, I can’t figure out what to do with my hands. Touching her doesn’t help, it doesn’t stop the buzzing, doesn’t stop that weird ache in my fingers. You know how if you’re sitting too long—plane, bus, car, whatever—or like you’re passed out, crammed on a couch that’s just a little too small for you, and you wake up feeling like your knees are cramping? And you need to walk around and shake them out until they work again? It’s that, but it’s in my hands. I wake up with it every fucking day, it's miserable.

So, much as I like having my tongue down my girl’s throat, my hands fucking scream at me the whole time.

“Have you ever carved pumpkins?” she murmured into my mouth.

It took me a few seconds to figure out she even spoke to me.

“I… have not. No.”

Her fingers trailed down my arms and curled around my wrists. I realized I had her sweater in a death grip and released it.

“Sorry. I-I didn’t realize I was doing it.”

She smiled. Kissed my forehead. Brought my scarred palm to her lips and then to her face to nuzzle it. “It’s spooky season. Do you want to carve pumpkins?” she asked.

“Do you want to carve pumpkins?”

“I asked first, silly.”

She’s so fucking cute, I can’t.

“Uh, sure, I guess,” I said. “Uh, why do you want to carve pumpkins?”

She shrugged, pressed her fingertips into my other palm. “Low stakes, low pressure, gives you something to do with your hands.”

Ah. “That obvious, huh?”

“Yeah. But I understand it. You’re so used to a go-go-go lifestyle that trying to turn it all off is kind of impossible. At least all at once. Pumpkin carving was always one of my favorite things about October. And, I guess, if all else fails, you could cook the pumpkins.”

“Pumpkin ravioli does sound nice.”

She giggled. Worked her hands into my hair, tipped my head back, and kissed my throat. Fuck, the heat of her mouth on my Adam's apple felt good. Murmured into my skin again, “I was almost thinking about doing a little party, but I don’t think you’ll like that.”

“No, I’d prefer the quiet.” Did my voice really just come out that strained?

She noticed. “Good?”

“Yeah. Yeah, really good.”

She rewarded me with a trail of wet kisses down my throat and then across my collarbone.

“Is it the volume levels themselves?” she asked between kisses. “I just want to understand.”

It took me even longer to figure out what she asked. My attention kept snapping back and forth between the warm, wet feeling on my neck and the ache setting into my hands. “Yeah, yeah, a bit? Uh… sometimes just keeping track of that many people is-is exhausting? You know, and people will... find something to be mad about. And then it gets louder.”

“You don’t know when someone’s going to explode.”

Yeah. Yeah, that was it. What was going to set ma off? What was going to set Mikey off? Richie and Fak might get into it again, and who the fuck would ever know when or why or how it was coming? I wouldn’t do anything—seemingly wouldn’t do anything, who fucking knows if I did, because it’s not like anyone would offer an explanation—and ma or Mikey or Richie or Lee or Cicero or sometimes even Sug would go off on me. The Devil would go off on me.

“Sweetheart?”

The thing with him is that I could truly never see it coming. Sometimes, he’d offer a correction—no, chef, pair that with a demi-glace—but other times, with the same voice and the same posture and the same fucking cadaverous look on his face, he’d tell me I’d amount to nothing. Wouldn’t tell me what I was doing wrong or why I earned it. You’re going so slow. Why are you going so slow? You have a short man’s complex.

“Carmen?”

Rapidly shifting pressure on my sternum from her rubbing the heel of her hand up and down my chest. Right. Couch. Chicago. Home.

“Hi,” she whispered. Hooked my chin to get me to look at her. Eyebrows furrowed, lips pursed, eyes wide. I tried summoning a response, but the longer I couldn’t formulate one, the deeper the wrinkle in her brow got. I squeezed my eyes shut, tried to hunt for something to say. Anything. Literally anything would’ve been better than the deafening silence that smothered us. What were we talking about before? Parties? I didn’t like parties? No, there was something before that.

Her arms snaked around my shoulders and pulled me against her chest. Her heartbeat thundered, slow and routine in my ear. I dug my fingertips into the stitches of her sweater, crushed them into my palms, inhaled a lungful of her faded perfume and the scent of her.

“Will you teach me how to make pumpkin ravioli?”

Her voice came to me a muffled rumble through her chest louder than my other ear picked it up. Oddly soothing.

I nodded. “Yes. Yes, I think you’d find it fun.”

She stroked my cheek with her thumb.

“I hope it’s also fun for you, Carmy.”

That, I did, too.

[wow-jinx]

i think the ‘what job did you want as a kid’ question is stupid cause i didnt. i didnt want a job, i wanted to study dinosaurs because i thought they were cool, i wanted to be a chef because i loved cooking, i didnt want to do it for a paycheck i wanted to do it because i cared

edit bc right wingers cant think ab things and yall are missing my point!!! my point was ‘people only work for profit’ is bullshit, people would still do jobs just cause they enjoy them, and would probably enjoy their jobs more if they didnt have to worry ab being evicted or not have money for food if they got fired

[buddie-fic-recs-this-way]

two minutes for roughing

—if you love hockey au's, this one's for you!

author: ok_thanks | rated: m | words: 10.8 | ao3 link

summary:

They trade for a winger after Buck’s second season. When he walks into the dressing room a few days later, Buck freezes in his place.

Chim and Bobby are huddled in the corner, openly staring from their stalls.

“Who the hell is that?”

Bobby simply shrugs. “Eddie Diaz. New winger out of Dallas.”

or: the hockey AU that literally NO ONE asked for

—kels reasons to read—

hockey au's my most beloved; seriously, give them all to me

the enemies to friends to lovers was chefs kiss

i just love them being them but in a hockey universe 🥹

[loveabledirtbag]

1.02 hands

the tense opening! and how the show expertly swaps the chaotic tension of the beef with the sterile tension of carmy’s restaurant in new york. but it amazes me how even on my millionth rewatch of the show, when joel mchale comes in i go “is that joel mchale? no. it can’t be”, why is jeff winger on the bear? and then he does such a scary good job.

the quick cut from the quiet horror of the new york restaurant to the chaos of the beef is beautifully done, and the fact that carmy is making a burrito is so random and fitting and odd. it just works. carmy has swapped out one shitshow for another, and this one is messier, lower quality, and there’s never a quiet moment. it’s just in your face, all the time, nonstop. but THAT is the place carmy has chosen to be. worth noting.

carmy throwing out the french laundry is his first mistake of the episode. he should know better, especially after specifically not doing it last episode, than to throw out his previous jobs and education to richie, tina, or ebra. “well, go fuck your french laundry. stupid fucking name”. “alright, then at noma-“ “oh, and fuck your noma, too”.

but the back and forth conversation of carmy having noma, and the french laundry on his resume, and richie having gone to devry where they’re “serious about success”, and then the ice cream machine breaks and richie is the one to go fix it (but also by grabbing a bunch of spoons and kitchen utensils, and decidedly NOT actual tools) is on point. and without a missed beat sweeps asks “you graduated?” and richie going “fuck no!” *chefs kiss*

but the class dynamic at play in that scene is gorgeous. because both paths have validity and value in the beef. the ice cream machine breaks and carmy can’t fix it with chef skills. but richie has the skills to fix (or at least he can finagle his way to fixing) the machine. it’s lovely.

the slowdown we see with carmy going outside to smoke, before he goes back to cleaning is nice. the first episode is so break-neck, nonstop intense that having this pause is nice. because it would be impossible to keep up with that pace, and even if it was possible, it wouldn’t be enjoyable to watch.

of course the peaceful and slow scene is followed up by carmy sleep-cooking and almost starting a fire in his apartment when he cooks frozen and wrapped food. it just reminds us that even when he’s away from the (chaotic and nonstop) kitchen, and we the audience get a small reprieve, the show reminds us that chaos can return at any moment.

also, in the scene of carmy at home, the quick meal of peanut butter sandwich, chips, and pop, when he works in a place of great food is so real. when i worked in food, after a long day when i’d come home and be absolutely starving, the last thing i would want to do would be make food for myself. ramen, or just a bunch of lunch meat was a regular meal of mine for YEARS.

i have a lot to say about the scene when sydney comes into carmy’s office to show him her multi-paged research project of ideas to help the bear. and i want to be careful and intentional about how i say this because i know the carmy and sydney debate and subsequent fierce support for each of them is strong and i don’t want to needlessly offend anyone.

BUT as someone who has been on both sides of that conversation, as a passionate employee who has a million ideas for how to fix all the problems of the place where i’m working, and as a manager/operator of a business who has a million things on their plate and can’t quite deal with a million more ideas flying at them (even if those ideas are good) i get it. i really get both sides. sydney is not *annoying* for bombarding carmy with this 30-something page packet of data and ideas. and carmy is not a dick for brushing it off and jumping into something else and leaving sydney in the lurch. sydney didn’t have tact with how and when she came to carmy, who is trying to deal with big picture problems, small picture problems, culture, systems, and a million other issues. sometimes as management you just can’t process anymore. but likewise, carmy could have done a better job of telling sydney that he needed time to process and couldn’t engage in that conversation in that moment. the real issue was a lack of communication, and a misunderstanding of how the other operates. which is something that i think is built upon in season two. i’ve seen so many people defend only carmy, or only sydney. but i think both have their faults in this scene.

you could also argue, however, that carmy as the person in charge with the privilege of ownership, should have done more with his power to communicate what he needed. he’s the example setter for the business and didn’t do a good job showcasing what he needed in the moment.

(also, peep the beginning of the season-long storyline arc: to-go orders and the battle of sleeping on making money from to-gos, and the struggle of figuring out how to manage starting a to-go program)

it’s odd that carmy leaves his office (and sydney) because richie calls out to him “yo, carm!” but then when carmy comes out to see what’s happening richie is the one who says “i can handle this myself cousin. i got this.” like…was that a continuity mistake on the editors/directors part? am i missing something? why draw attention to the issue, and then when the person who’s attention you drew gives you their attention you go, “i don’t want your attention”?

“ron’s gone. gone gone.” “ron’s dead!?” is so funny. i don’t understand people who argue this isn’t a comedy.

the actor who plays nancy chore, chicago board health inspector, is a chicago staple. and i always forget her name.

the biggest thing i have experienced in the service industry when it comes to health inspectors is that if you take richie’s attitude towards them: combative, mistrusting, aggravating; they’re going to suspect you have shit to hide. if you take carmy’s attitude: polite, welcoming, say something along the lines of “feel free to look around, ask me anything if you need me” they’re not going to be as suspicious. don’t fuck with health inspectors…they will fuck back.

ebra and tina taking a smoke break but ebra smoking a BIG ASS cigar, is ICONIC. plus the fact he doesn’t say anything as tina complains to him….we need more ebra. he deserves a spin off. he deserves a movie. i’m in love with ebra.

sydney going right back in with talking to carmy is kind of what i’m talking about. sydney isn’t reading the room and trying to be courteous of where carmy is at. they work in a shithole and a health inspector just came in. carmy probably needs to focus on that, and not on your 30-pages of ideas. however, while carmy is a little blunt, i think he does a decent job of telling sydney that what she’s giving him is a lot with everything else he’s dealing with. highlighted by the immediate shouting of richie…again.

is richie being the one to interrupt sydney and carmy’s conversations about fixing up the beef symbolic? maybe? idk. just a thought.

it’s amazing to me (and again, i know chicago is special and a world unto itself) that a restaurant can have a hole in the tile, with a former gas line next to the stovetops not properly dry-walled and caulked, but clogged with napkins, meaning cross contamination, no hot water in the hand station, AND a pack of cigarettes ontop of the stovetops by the burners and it ONLY results in a C grading? damn.

major props to sydney for getting in between carmy and richie as they get in each others face, ready to beat each other up. that’s some chicago badass behavior right there on her part and i think that’s the moment i fell in love with her.

“you cocked it up, you’re gonna caulk it out” is such an ingenious line and i wish i could have been in the writers room when they came up with that one. same with “surge rates, fucko!” the gold standard of lines.

sydney and richie in his car is just, once again, a chefs kiss of a scene. richie telling sydney she has to wiggle the gear shift, sydney asking richie to hold her purse while she gets ready to drive and him dutifully putting it at his feet. but there’s an automatic nature to how richie does it, that while it may have been ebon moss-bachrach just doing it, i really believe it was an acting choice to show that richie definitely had a wife, before we even see the phone call between him and his ex-wife.

the comment about the multiple arby’s cups being from different visits. god, i love it.

BUT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL detail is the song choice that starts up when the car starts: have you seen me lately, by the counting crows. but not just that, but the live acoustic version. this is a deep cut that ABSOLUTELY was not chosen randomly, but was chosen with precision simply because it’s a song you listen to only when in the depths of despair��. richie driving to work and listening to that song is a sign of his internal torment like nothing else we see this season.

richie calling carmy “carmine” is odd. since we know carmy is short for carmen. everyone always says carmen. this is the one instance we hear carmine. is carmen short for carmine, and i’m not aware of it? was it a character choice to say carmine in this instance? was it a mistake that was left in? i wanna know.

gotta respect sydney (for a multitude of reasons, as i’ve said and as i’ll continue to say) that while richie is ranting about how angry he is at carmy, and how stupid carmy is, she says “what does that have to do with what we’re doing? we’re trying to fix the wall. which you fucked up before carmy was even at the restaurant.” like trying to use some therapy 101 of “hmmm…what you’re saying has nothing to do with what’s happening. so, you probably have some deeper issues at play here that you should probably address and work through on your own time.”

ope, uncle jimmy cicero coming in hot with a plot twist of mikey owing jimmy 300 grand. but also, the quick comment of jimmy saying that mikey was “an animal”, which comes into play in season two. a lot of thought went into this show, and you can tell with just every second while watching it.

“i should have stopped by to break your legs”…i would just love to know more about uncle jimmy. i mean obviously he is a prime example of “less is more” with storytelling. we know he’s rich, we know he’s older but has a younger wife and kid (who we’ll meet later), and we also know he makes comments and has conversations around giving people jobs under the table. we can fill in the blanks that he has mob connections, or a criminal network, or something along those lines but we never know exactly what it is upfront. we also don’t know what his day job is. and while i always want more, i love that we’re allowed to just sort of wonder. plus, don’t we all have that relative that we grow up and learn more about and go “ohhhhh. that’s suspicious.”

sydney also trying to come in hot with throwing out some of carmy’s accomplishments to richie, who without surprise still doesn’t give a shit. class struggle right here.

ok. so. the phone call richie gets in the car. this is a master class of storytelling. from the writing to the acting, to the way it was shot. we see richie, being driven around to fix a mistake he made out of his own incompetence. he’s being talked down to by people with skill and talent, of which he seemingly has none. he’s being so obstinate and thick and grating on the audience. and then he gets this call and he picks it up and we see his dirt-caked fingernails, and the distinct shine of his golden wedding ring still on his finger. and we see his pain, and his frustration as he talks to his ex-wife, with these absolutely open and innocent and brilliant blue eyes that softens the hard edges we’ve come to know from him. and then we see that softness actually come out as he talks to his daughter with this mix of pain and heartbreak as it’s so clear she’s his favorite thing in the world, but she asks him if he really loves her. you suddenly know exactly what he’s dealing with outside the restaurant; an ex-wife who is poisoning his daughter against him, even though he clearly isn’t the best example of a stable father and you think his ex probably has a point, and that eats him up because he so clearly wants to be a good dad. and in season two we see how much he wanted to be a good dad. but we’ve also seen so many examples of how he’s not the best example for his daughter. and that all of this happens with sydney right next to him (the worst person in the world to be right next to him). plus he caps it off by saying he fucked up by getting the wrong caulk, AND messed up by leaving his cigarettes on the burner! more on that later. but all of it absolutely makes your heart ACHE for richie, and if it doesn’t you’re a monster. it’s because of the time and care for scenes like this with richie that there is a whole subsection of people who are OBSESSED with richie and love him. despite him being sexist and homophobic.

also, richie calling his 5 year old daughters classmates a bunch of “fuck faces” is an example of ruthless and honest parenting that i am coming to understand more and more each day since my son was born. other kids ARE fuck faces, but my kid is fucking incredible.

i love that we see carmy reading syd’s packet. because it shows he does want to read it. he wasn’t dismissing her for his own egotistical desire to fix everything himself. he truly needed to wait for a moment when he could process everything she was saying, and that moment wasn’t the moment sydney came into his office to talk to him unannounced, but it was later on in the day

oh, pete. i feel like every family has a pete. that person who you know treats your family member well, and loves them, and you know they’re basically a good person…but they just don’t click with the vibe of your family. they’re a little bit too square. they’re off. it’s just too easy to make fun of them. it’s so painfully funny, and honest, and UGH the short conversation between pete and carmy on the phone. pete’s doing nothing wrong and you just wanna be like “pete….shhhhhhhhh.”

it does take real acting skill to have a scene where carmy says “i wanted to apologize for last time…” and pete says “no problem! i went to urgent care and they gave me some stuff to put on it.” and without even knowing the specifics or the context you’re left going “yeah, but pete probably deserved it?” pete is that good at being a loveable schmuck.

carmy admitting to natalie that he sleep walked and almost set fire to his apartment is so good at showing that nat has gone to therapy. and that carmy desperately needs to go as well.

nata saying “shut the fuck up” to carmy, and then pete from another room saying “you want me to shut the fuck up?” to which nat responds “not you, sweetie. you didn’t say anything.” is SO GOOD

“i was throwing up everyday before work” “oh. well that sounds chill” “i kinda dug it.” - a low key theme shown throughout the first season that carmy has an unhealthy attachment to his own pain and suffering (more on that as it happens in the show)

the way that the bear could have been just another show of any infinite number of shows about a fucked up protagonist who’s driving narrative could be resolved if the main character just went to therapy, but never does, because instead the bear says “yeah! carmy needs therapy!” this show is so pro therapy, and i’m excited for more of it as the show progresses in future seasons!

AHHHH richie found a note! addressed to carmy! from mikey! i forget that this episode really sets up the rest of the season! the first episode introduces us to the show, but this episode introduces us to the seasons! there are so many points that we’ll keep coming back to as the show progresses.

also, ebon moss-bachrach committing to, and executing near perfectly, the thick inside chicago accent (as illustrated by his “yeah yeah yeah, i’ll be right dere”) is perfect. i know some people say his accent is borderline offensive as a stereotype, like the accents used in fargo was for minnesotans. but much like the accents from fargo, while not everyone in illinois has richie’s accent, SOME people do. and his use of it is 🤌🤌🤌.

so sydney is on the line, calling out orders as ebra repeats the orders back to her while calling her “chef”. this shows that ebra is now getting on board with the new system, as opposed to mikey’s old system. i only wish we would have seen the transition of ebra accepting this new system. or maybe the point is that ebra is go-with-the-flow enough that as long as he gets to work with his beef, he’s happy.

BUT sydney at the front calling out orders is something we see started in the next episode, where carmy has formally implemented a french brigade system in the kitchen and placed sydney as his sou chef. so why is sydney already acting as his sou in this scene? was this scene shot and intended for a future episode and was cut and moved to fill a hole in this episode? once again, am i missing something? it seems like sydney is doing the thing she’s promoted to do in the next episode, in this episode. except that in the same scene carmy says “thank you for taking richie today”, which could only be talking about sydney taking richie to get caulk right?

richie and carmy talking about how jimmy is getting the health department to come back, despite the health inspector saying she can’t legally come back for 30 days, and just chalking it up to jimmy being jimmy. *another chefs kiss*. i want to know more about jimmy but his beauty is his mystery.

it’s really good storytelling that richie sees the cigarettes on the burner and assumes they’re his. and that everyone assumes they’re his. even though richie, carmy, and tina smoke cigarettes. but it can’t be carmy because he’s the professional, young, hot shot, classical and fine dining trained chef. on top of that, we have this whole episode where you could get the vibe that maybe carmy is ignoring sydney’s suggestions because carmy wants to do it himself, he wants to save the restaurant himself. but then we have a scene where carmy is looking at syd’s packet, before nat tells carm that he might need help, and then carmy hires sydney officially at the restaurant, subtly telling her he’s going to implement some of her ideas. because he said he couldn’t afford to hire her for real, but now he can. carmy is admitting to sydney that he needs her help. and right as he admits to us the audience that he needs help, we realize that it was him who left his cigarette on the burner. he was busy cleaning the restaurant by himself, trying to save and care for it by himself, and he absentmindedly put them on the burner and kept on cleaning. so now we, the audience, really know: carmy, most definitely, needs help. because his talent, his skill, his training, and his schooling aren’t enough to save this restaurant. he needs syd’s passion, and he needs richie hobbling things together cheaply. he can’t do it alone.

and realizing that he really, really needs help leads him to look at nat’s text again: where she’s sent him a link to al-anon. the closest thing to therapy he’s gonna get this season.

Season One: Episode 1 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8

[jolteonmchale]

“what’s wrong with me if that’s hot?” - me about chef winger in the bear

kind of fucked up that he looks this good when he's playing such a horrible person

[balancethescales]

saw some discussion about how the message of s2 seems to go against s1 in that s1 was about the toxicity of the fine dining industry as a whole while s2 undoes all of that work, and id just like to write down some thoughts about that.

it definitely is true that the fine dining experience for many a chef sucks ass. this is perfectly portrayed in carmy, who is a ball of anxiety due to chef jeff winger (and his family but thats a different conversation for a different day), and sydney, whose trauma from her catering business and the to-go order debacle serve as the root of her debilitating fear of failure. but despite all of that, the ptsd the panic attacks the health issues the lack of a social life, they still love food. every chef at the beef/the bear does. you can see it in the way that tina is genuinely excited to hone her skills, the way sydney delights in making the simplest dish for a friend in need, and in the way carmy tries so hard to not fuck everything up. even richie, loud crude shithead richie, finds purpose as a server/host.

so while there is so much to be said about how the restaurant represents carmys past, that isnt the main social commentary of s2, and neither is the sentiment of “fine dining is the standard.” where s1 exposed all of the dark nooks and crannies hidden inside of a restaurant, s2 serves to remind us what a restaurant is supposed to be about, that it is so much more than what the industry has twisted chewed and spit it out to be. to work in a restaurant is to put your blood sweat and tears into pots and pans, put it on a plate, and then give it to someone. plain and simple. it is the oldest act of service, and is exactly what richie comes to respect in ep7, where chef terry tells him something along the lines of how she wants people to see all the work that went into one dish just to make them happy because it makes them feel special and people should be able to have that experience. to be a chef, to be a server, and to be a part of all of the work that goes into making and sharing a meal, is to love. 

ultimately, the overarching plot of changing the beef into the bear is not saying that simple sandwich shops made by regular people arent good enough. season 2 is a reminder that as dark as the fine dining industry can be, if you go into it with an actual love for the craft, an aptitude for service, and remember that everyone is a human being before they are an employee, working in a restaurant can be beautiful.

tldr: the “deep” social commentary of s2 is that capitalism and competition ruins food service by turning it into something horrible when its supposed to be about showing and receiving love through a good meal. the end.

[damnikindadontcare]

The Bear is just an au where Jeff Winger became a chef instead of a lawyer

[shrubberiesaremytrade]

I keep going back to how Carmy is just wrong about the food this season. Not just because switching the menu every day is a 3 am idea if I ever heard one, but all of it.

Let's start with ingredients. We hear him yelling about the Wagyu beef and see so many other super fancy ingredients ("they're expensive because they're micro!") which to me just screams insecurity. Sure, the Wagyu beef will probably taste good. It's designed to. Like, the meat will do 80% of the job for you, you just have to not fuck up the sear on it. That does not make for a particularly inspired dish, does it? Part of the magic of cooking is taking something seemingly ordinary and familiar, and transforming it to something no-one ever imagined, but this season, Carmy is just.... Using expensive shit, tanking his creativity and the restaurant's economy at the same time.

This is truly Carmy at his lowest (or so I hope), because he chose to imitate the place where he was the most stressed out. His non-negotiables seem like they could have been written by Chef Winger, and unless I'm mistaken, the whole first menu is just a replica of the one served at Eleven Madison Park, the way Syd was having flashbacks.

The way out is pretty clear: Eleven Madison Park was pre-Chicago Carmy at his most stressed, but the gardens at Noma saw him seemingly at peace. He was inspired, inquisitive and genuinely enjoying the connection to the ingredients. We even saw a smile! Noma has very strict rules on what they can and will use when - if it's not in season, it is nowhere to be found in their food, including things like onions. They will also do plates like "here's seaweed 37 different ways", or elevate just one ingredient like a carrot. It is said to be surprising, sometimes challenging and always amazing - and clearly this approach works for the Michelin Guide as well.

In short, let Carmy have a garden and focus on things in season rather than just fancy things he "should" make for fine dining, and the stars will follow.

It might also get his head out of his ass.

[disneytva]

Disney Branded Television Celebrates The New Year With Robogobo As It Sets January 17th Premiere On Disney Junior.

They are the pets that rescue pets! Dax, Allie, Booster, Hopper, Shelly and Wingo will have to learn to work together as a team. Disney is celebrating the new year with the series premiere of Disney Television Animation's 99th series "Robogobo" premieres Friday January 17 on Disney Junior and streaming soon on Disney+.

”RoboGobo” highlights five adorable pets without a home — until kid inventor Jax adopts them and gives them super-powered robo-suits. Now Hopper, Boomer, Allie, Shelly and Winger are a team of superheroes saving other pets in trouble and learning how to become a family in the process.

Creator Chris Gilligan also serves as director and executive producer. The series is produced by Brown Bag Films in association with Disney Television Animation., is developed for television by Matt Hoverman, with Hoverman, Andy Guerda, and Brandon Violette as story editors.

The roster of young voice actors, including Ja’Siah Young (“Raising Dion”), Brayden Morgan (“Slumberkins”), Azuri Hardy Jones (Warner Bros Animation “My Adventures with Superman”), Gracen Newton (“Puppy Dog Pals”), newcomer Leili Ahmadyar and veteran voice actor Dee Bradley Baker (“Phineas and Ferb”), recurring guest stars include Cynthia Erivo (Universal Pictures "Wicked", "Wicked: For Good") as Slink, Valerie Bertinelli ("Valerie's Home Cooking") as Chef Polly, Susan Kelechi Watson ("This Is Us") as Professor Millie, Dax’s mom, Dulé Hill (20th Television "The Wonder Years") as Dr. Vaughn, Dax’s dad, Alan Cumming ("Rhona Who Lives by the River") as Dame Luxley and Alison Pill (Netflix Anime "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off") as Farmer.

A line of toys, clothing and merchandise based on the series are set to drop on ShopDisney and the Disney Parks in 2025 with a series of books by Disney Hyperion and Disney Publishing Worldwide also set for 2025.

A Robogobo album featuring songs from the series by Walt Disney Records is set to drop on January 17.