After more than 40 years in restaurant kitchens, chef Tom Colicchio says he sees elements of his experience reflected in the FX series Bear.
“What they really fix is the tension — especially during the service — and show you how things can go wrong,” says Colicchio, who spoke with PEOPLE June 14 at the annual Food and wine Classic in Aspen.
The Emmy Award-winning series, which returns for its third season on June 27, follows chefs Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) along with their family and friends as they race to turn their late brother’s Chicago sandwich shop into a high-end restaurant , aptly named The Bear.
Colicchio, who has worked at and opened some of New York’s busiest and most popular restaurants, such as Gramercy Tavern and Craft, says intense backyard scenes can reflect reality.
“The tension you feel in the kitchen, the nerves, it’s all real,” says The A top chef judge, referencing a volatile scene in Season 2 when ticket orders flow into the kitchen faster than the team can handle. “It happens.”
Tom Colicchio and Bernese Mountain Dog Kitty at the opening night party of the 2024 ‘Food & Wine’ Classic in Aspen on January 13.
C2 PHOTOGRAPHY/FOOD AND WINE
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However, the chef says there are several aspects of the show’s script that “bother” him.
“There are a few things that I look at and think, ‘That would never happen,'” says Colicchio, who will reunite with his fellow Gramercy Tavern alumni for a dinner to be held at Food and wine Classic to celebrate the restaurant’s 30th anniversary.
“If you’re a chef and you’re opening a restaurant, there’s no way you’re going to let your sous chef write the menu. That won’t happen! That’s the only thing I kind of shake my head at,” he says.
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Tom Colicchio has been a judge on ‘Top Chef’ for 18 years.
Ernesto Ruscio/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
While Colicchio says some chefs might find the fiery kitchen scenes “a little too close to home,” he admits the emotional story and family dynamics can be raw and tense for him.
“Kitchen scenes are kitchen scenes – I’ve lived it for over 40 years,” he says, but the “generational trauma scenes” are “hard to watch”.
Despite being a permanent member of Bravo A top chef since the series premiered in 2006, Colicchio says he rarely watches cooking competition shows.
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“I don’t actually watch any cooking shows. I don’t watch reality cooking, I don’t watch anything on the Food Network,” he says.
When asked if he watches his own series, he was persistent in his answer. “I certainly don’t want to watch myself,” says the chef, who will appear on the season finale A top chef on Wednesday, June 19.. “And my children have no desire to watch it at all.”
Events on Food and wine The Classic in Aspen runs until June 16. In May, the brand announced that the first Charleston Classic will be held September 27-29 in South Carolina.
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Source: HIS Education