What's Eric Eating Episode 476
Award-winning Houston chef dishes on season 4 of hit show The Bear
This is the third time Sandler and Yu discuss a season of The Bear.
On the most recent episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” James Beard Award-winning chef Justin Yu joins CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss season four of The Bear, the FX series set in a Chicago restaurant. It’s become an annual tradition for the two men.
(Spoilers ahead for all episodes of season four of The Bear.)
In season four, which debuted on June 25, the show’s eponymous restaurant is struggling to find its footing after a review in the Chicago Tribune criticized the inconsistencies of chef Carmy Berzatto’s constantly-changing menu. The stressful environment leads chef de cuisine Sydney Adamu to contemplate leaving for a new restaurant. Yu relates to the other chef’s desire to hire Sydney away from The Bear.
“This constantly happens in the restaurant business. We become both friends with and fans of people working under other people. You envision opening something new and having that person work for me. How do we get them to move over,” Yu says. “The ability to create is one thing. Money is a big thing. The promise of work-life balance is one thing. Those are ways to get people to move from one place to another.”
The duo also take up the topic of sous chef Tina Marrero’s struggles to get the timing down on the pasta course that’s part of The Bear’s tasting menu. Sandler asks Yu about encouraging cooks to improve their skills
“It’s trust but also training and the ability to have them understand what each dish means, the way it should taste and why, and how fast or slow it should go. A long time ago when we were being trained, we were told to cook the food and not given a reason for why it should be done that way. Whereas, we try our very best these days to explain the reasoning behind having a dish with fewer components so it can be plated up more quickly to get another turn on a table.”
Listen to the full episode to hear Yu’s thoughts on Carmy’s decision to step away from The Bear. He also provides an update on some big changes come to the menu at Theodore Rex, his restaurant in downtown Houston’s Warehouse District that earned a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide.
