Chrane's "The Bear" Test Kitchen

Episode 10 - The Bear

Recap: Season 2, Episode 10 - The Bear

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Tickets are printing off the hook, timers are going off, Sydney is on expo.

“Walk Focaccia, Walk Cannoli.”

“Fire 3 T-bone and Bucatini. Everyone feeling good?”

“Yes Chef!”

From hyper-focus in the kitchen to light laughter and conversation in the dining room, our waiters transition us to a completely different vibe and energy.

Natalie sits down with her husband Peter. “Think she’s going to like it?” she asks about her mother. “I think she’s going to love it,” Peter says positively.

Notes are passing through The Bear staff, Ritchie greets family and friends at their tables, and we see an IMPRESSED Uncle Kalinowski. To no one’s surprise, Claire is present and sharing a table with a friend. She looks up to Ritchie and says, “Cousin, this is amazing!”

As the camera guides us back through the kitchen doors, we see the chefs moving faster than they can handle. Sydney and Marcus still cannot communicate effectively after Marcus’s expression of his love for her. The food is going too slow, like, down 12 TABLES SLOW, and we’ve ran out of forks.

Faced with a predicament between his personal and professional life, Carmy avoids going out to see Claire Bear, pouring everything into the work he’s doing at the chefs table.

It’s 7:12 p.m. and the team is refiring plates that are cold and that have come out wrong. Tina pushes back, saying that if they don’t send out the plates they have now, they’ll be too far behind. Sydney shuts her down.

Every. Second. Counts.

Muffled in the background, we hear Carmy yell out to the team. He’s… stuck in the walk-in? Marcus goes to open the door, but the handle breaks off. In situations like this, it’s IMPERETIVE to invest in trusted refrigerated walk-in solutions. What The Bear team should have looked into? An Everidge Walk-In Cooler with Cambro Manufacturing Camshelving.

Ritchie storms through the kitchen doors, “It’s getting a little loud in here,” he says concerned about the customer experience.

Sydney gulps before saying, “Carmy’s stuck in the walk in.”

“He’s what?”

Sydney stops the kitchen completely to think of a solution but watches as tickets print rapidly from the machine.

 

“Tina, can you run expo for me?”

“I got two stations, Chef!”

“I can do it,” Ritchie says with a growing smile.

Sydney nods, speechless about the situation at hand. Ritchie takes off his suit jacket and assumes his position at the expo station.

“We have 5 minutes to do this or we’re f^#$ed.”

Ritchie sets the timer on the clock and Sydney runs back to the station.

While Carmy sits on the floor of a faulty walk-in with rusted shelving, having flashbacks of stressful moments in his life and career, the team pumps out menu, with Ritchie confidently leading the kitchen.

With Ritchie swept away from FOH management, Neil is scared that he can’t handle customers on his own.

“Pour water, pour wine, read minds, and check-in,” Ritchie tells him.

The timer counts down as Ritchie continues to read off tickets and food FLIES out of the kitchen.

Back in the dining room, Peter sees a familiar face out of the window.

It’s Carmy’s mother, smoking a cigarette. When Peter meets her outside, she says she can’t come in. She “doesn’t think she can take it,” that she “doesn’t want to ruin a good thing for them.”

18 seconds left on the timer.

When the 1 second mark approaches, Ritchie kisses the last ticket and punches it. The kitchen is fully caught up, and claps for their success. Meanwhile, Carmy sits in the walk-in, emotional, but finally calmed down.

Later in service, Tina asks if he’s okay.

“I’m stuck in a refrigerator on the opening night of my restaurant… I failed you guys.”

While Carmy vents to Tina, Claire asks Ritchie & Neil if now is a good time to see Carmy in the kitchen to congratulate him on his success. Desserts were just brought out to the tables, and The Bear is wrapping up for the night.

“Probably not,” Neil says hesitantly, but eventually and nervously blurts out what happened.

Carmy continues to vent as Claire walks through the kitchen doors to the walk-in.

“I wasn’t here. What was I thinking? That I was going to be in a relationship? I’m a F&#$ing psycho!” Carmy beats himself up still thinking he’s talking to Tina, but Claire’s on the other side of the wall.

“No amount of good is worth how terrible this feels… It’s just a complete waste of f^$%ing time.”

“I’m so sorry you feel that way Carm,” Claire says before walking away.

When Carmy hears her voice, he softens, and immediately calls out to her. Stuck.

What’s the craziest thing that’s happened to you on an opening night? Which trusted foodservice equipment & supplies must you have in place for a successful opening?

 

Products Featured Throughout The Show:

Alto-Shaam | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/alto-shaam 

American Metalcraft | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/american-metalcraft 

American Range | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/american-range 

Cambro Manufacturing | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/cambro 

ThermalRite by Everidge | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/thermalrite 

Mercer Culinary | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/mercer-culinary 

Waring Commercial | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/waring-commercial 

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