'The Bear' culinary producer shares how she helped create an authentic experience

Hit series The Bear’s culinary producer Courtney Storer played a significant role in achieving the authenticity, which the show is lauded for.

As the sister of the series creator, Chris Storer, Courtney brought her extensive experience working in renowned kitchens, including Verjus in Paris and Jon & Vinny's in Los Angeles.

In a recent interview with Variety, Storer revealed how she helped make 'The Bear' feel so real. Commending her team’s openness to alterations, Storer detailed the kind of conversations they had.

“Those are the conversations I have with the writers. And with Joanna Calo and Chris, and being able to say, “Guys, this doesn’t feel right. This doesn’t really happen,” even if it’s a script issue. And I have the the most amazing team.”

“They’re like, “Okay, can you explain what would happen?” It’s bigger than me just being the culinary mind and saying, “You guys go and do it.” I’m elbow-to-elbow with these actors, cooking with them, stepping out of the scenes that you’re seeing, and then I come back in when they say “Cut.” I have a very close relationship with everybody, the crew included.”

“We [in restaurants] literally speak a different language, and each kitchen is different. Some people like hearing “Chef”; some people don’t. Some people say “Heard”; some people don’t. It depends on the culture of the kitchen, and we had to create that culture.”

Storer added that she prefers actors actually carrying out kitchen tasks, which she believe lead to the authenticity in scenes.

“And I like the actors to do the work. I want them to call back to the chef, grab pots like they were setting up for bucatini. Sometimes Chris would be like, “They can just mimic it this time.” I’m like, “No. They need to put the steak in the oven, because that will make a difference in how they look when they’re holding it because of the weight in their hand, and how your muscles react to carrying those things.” It’s more work for me, but it makes a better product.”

The Bear season 2 concluded in June 2022.