6 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets From FX’s Kitchen Dramedy

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 1 of The Bear, Episodes 1-8.]

If you haven’t tuned in for FX‘s new series The Bear, then you’re missing out on plenty of kitchen drama, family trauma, and surprisingly hilarious scenarios wrapped up together in a tasty package like the sandwiches served at The Original Beef of Chicagoland.

From showrunners Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo, this show captures the chaos of a culinary ecosystem with the help of a talented cast and expert chefs. Below, they’re sharing some behind-the-scenes secrets about their involvement with the binge-able series, but beware of spoilers ahead.

(Credit: FX)

Culinary Connection

Series creator Storer isn’t just a TV writer, he’s also related to a professional. “Chris who created the show, his sister [Courtney Storer] is a chef,” Calo told TV Insider. “And they had this connection to a bunch of amazing chefs that would come and talk to us,” she added. This insider connection made it really important to Storer and Calo to honor the chefs they were representing. “We really wanted to get it right for them.”

Family Dinner

While there was occasional discord in the kitchen between Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and the rest of The Beef team, they often got together for “family” before they began service. This meal was a moment for everyone to gather around and gear up for their shift, which wasn’t unlike the cast’s less complicated bond behind the scenes. “It felt like camp, where you just get this strong bond with everybody and everyone got along,” Lionel Boyce, who plays baker Marcus, mused. “We would all hang out and go to eat when we’re done shooting for the week… have one meal together.”

(Credit: Matt Dinerstein/FX)

Menu Creations

Series star Matty Matheson who plays handyman Neil Fak is actually a professional chef. Starting out on the show as a consultant behind the scenes, Matheson’s role was far-removed from his culinary knowledge, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t using it for the show. “We worked hand-in-hand with the writers and everybody to figure it all out,” Matheson shared. “I would write out the menus and go back and forth with them and then write out the recipes and then we would literally have to train because we wanted everyone to do it for real.” So, some of the dishes seen onscreen are crafted by Matheson and the other culinary experts behind the characters. You can even watch Matheson cook alongside Courtney “Coco” Storer on YouTube as they go over recipes from the show.

Real-Life Foodie

Onscreen Ebon Moss-Bachrach‘s character Richie isn’t the brightest bulb in the kitchen, serving mostly in front of the house while Carmy and the others handle cuisine in the kitchen. But in reality, Moss-Bachrach revealed, “I cook all the time.” The actor admitted, “sometimes it was frustrating that I couldn’t pick up a knife, and most of the time I was happy to watch [everyone else].”

(Credit: Matt Dinerstein/FX)

Competitive Cooking

Edebiri and White trained together to get ready for the series as their characters both come from professionally trained backgrounds. The task brought out some friendly competition in the costars as she recalled, “Jeremy and I were like side by side, getting a little bit competitive with each other. And then after we just were sent off to work in different restaurants.”

Cooking for the Camera

White’s formally trained Carmy had to appear competent in the kitchen and there were no hand doubles on set, making for long hours on camera with most focus on the cooking tasks at hand. “We had pretty much a day of just shooting us, and I was really nervous,” the actor admitted. “When you’re nervous, hands get a little shaky. And you don’t want your hands to be shaky when you’re holding a super sharp knife and the camera’s on it.”

The actor almost made it out of the show without any injuries from the knife work. “I got too worked up and I forgot what I was doing,” he remembered. “And I pressed really hard with a — thankfully pretty dull — knife into my fingernail twice. I felt the pain, but for the camera, I was like, ‘it’s fine.’ And I went down again, but it was happening so fast. I knicked it twice.” Luckily, it wasn’t anything too serious to take White out of commission as he continue to cook up some special dishes for the delectable TV fare.

The Bear, Season 1, Streaming now, Hulu