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The Bear Explores the Depressing Economics of Middle-Class Life
After a barrage of mostly positive reviews about The Bear, I took the Italian sandwich bait and signed up for a free-trial at Hulu where the show is currently being streamed. Honestly, I wasn’t prepared for the extreme closeups of braising beef, sizzling onions, and carrots being chopped very fast in the first few episodes. It was far more cooking instruction than I wanted though it’s effective at making you crave a Chicago-style roast-beef sandwich.
Obviously the show can’t be just be about sautéing veggies, so the writers kicked it up a notch. Management and line workers in this failing sandwich joint are prone to cursing a blue streak, causing the occasional cooking-oil fueled inferno, and experiencing emotional breakdowns every few minutes.
In other words, it’s not that far removed from real restaurant life. Sure I had read Bourdaine’s Kitchen Confidential. And for extra credit, I once upon a time sank my teeth into Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London, which has great descriptions of the author slaving away in dirty subterranean kitchens and meeting all manner of humanity in late 1920’s Paris. I’ve also chatted with escapees of these asylums who relayed to me stories of sadistic chefs.
No, I don’t ever want to work in a restaurant, and you should think twice about engaging in…
