This article contains spoilers for “The Bear” season 3.
Now in its third season, it's clear that “The Bear” knows how to bring on guest stars.
Last season, the FX series, which follows a chef named Carmen Belzatto (known to almost everyone as Carmy) as she transforms her family's Italian beef sandwich shop into a fine-dining restaurant called The Bear, starred a Hollywood-filled cast including Jamie Lee Curtis and Olivia Colman. In its new season, now streaming on Hulu, “The Bear” continues to feature cameos from star chefs showcasing their culinary prowess.
In the premiere episode, titled “Tomorrow,” Jeremy Allen White's Carmie looks back on the past, reminiscing about the kitchens of famous restaurants like Noma in Copenhagen and Daniel in Manhattan, while in the season finale, many culinary luminaries attend the closing dinner of Ever, a restaurant run by Coleman's Andrea Terry in the show. Coleman is one of many returning guest stars (Curtis is another). Notable newcomers to “The Bear” include John Cena, Josh Hartnett and actor, “Billions” co-creator and noted restaurant enthusiast Brian Koppelman.
The final episode, titled “Forever,” blends fiction and reality in a way familiar to “Bear” fans: Forever is a real Chicago restaurant that is “open and thriving,” co-owner Curtis Duffy said in a statement. Duffy also said it was “honored to have so many friends from across the country join us.” In addition to Forever, the series will continue to feature a variety of Chicago establishments, including Croatian cafe Doma and sausage joint Jim's Original.
But it's the chefs who are stealing the show. Here are the chefs joining the Karmy ranks this year.
Daniel Boulud
In the flashback-heavy season premiere, Carmie is standing outside O'Hare International Airport, telling her sister Natalie (Abby Elliott) that “New York has it all.” Next thing she knows, she's at 65th Street and Park Avenue, entering Daniel Boulud's elegant mansion, Daniel. Soon Boulud himself is on screen, giving Carmie a personal lesson. One of the dishes Boulud teaches Carmie how to make is his famous potato-wrapped sea bass, which he invented at Le Cirque. A 1989 New York Times article explained, “There are several reasons why this dish is so good: the crispness of the super-thin potatoes contrasts with, but doesn't overwhelm, the delicate sea bass; the reduced, almost tangy red wine sauce is beautifully neutralized by sweet leeks.”
Rene Redzepi
Last season, the Bears' pastry chef, Marcus (Lionel Boyce), followed in his boss's footsteps to Copenhagen to hone his talents. This season, we get glimpses of Carmy's time there, particularly at the acclaimed restaurant Noma under the watchful eye of director Rene Redzepi. He and Carmy exchange glances and nods as Redzepi surveys a wall of food photos. Last year, Redzepi announced that Noma, now a three-star Michelin restaurant, would close from regular business at the end of 2024.
Dave Beran
Veran is a chef at French restaurant Pajoli in Los Angeles, but the first screen glimpse sees him working alongside Carmy under the tutelage of Coleman's character in Ever.
Pauly James
Episodes six and seven of season three feature Paulie James, founder of Uncle Paulie's Deli, a Los Angeles sandwich mini-chain favored by celebrities. In episode seven, “Legacy,” James appears to help keep Bear's Italian Beef Window running smoothly alongside Christopher Zucchero, owner of Mr. Beef, the restaurant on which the show's original shop was modeled. Zucchero has appeared on “The Bear” from time to time as Chi-Chi since the show's beginning.
Thomas Keller
The premiere also sees Carmie bask in the glory of California's French Laundry. In the finale, French Laundry chef Thomas Keller (who is also chef at Per Se) takes to the stage in a cold opening. Appearing in a flashback to Carmie's first day preparing a family meal at the restaurant, Keller shows Carmie how to remove wishbones from chickens and tie them down. “I know we're called chefs, but we're cooks, and to me, cooking is such a profound profession because we really get to touch people's lives in important ways,” Keller says. “So don't forget that.”
Grant Achatz
One of the restaurants synonymous with fine dining in Chicago is Grant Achatz's Alinea, so it makes sense that Achatz would show up to attend Ever's “funeral,” where Will Poulter's character Luca, who was introduced in last season's Copenhagen, questions Ever, specifically about Alinea's edible balloons and Achatz's “Truffle Explosion,” which Pete Wells described as “exploding ravioli” in a 2016 Food & Wine article.
Kevin Bohm
During the funeral meal, Carmy gets chummy with Kevin Bohm, co-CEO and co-founder of Boca Restaurant Group, which owns numerous renowned restaurants across the country, including Lee Warren's namesake restaurant Boca in Chicago, Stephanie Izard's Girl & the Goat in Chicago and Los Angeles, and Michael Solomonov's Razor Wolf in Brooklyn.
Wiley Dufresne
Wylie Dufresne was also at the party, serving as the nucleus for many of the other guests. He now runs Stretch Pizza in New York but is best known for the groundbreaking WD-50, which closed a decade ago. “No other chef has made nerdiness cool in the kitchen as Mr. Dufresne has,” Wells wrote in The New York Times, which means he's a perfect fit for “The Bear.”
Christina Tosi
Christina Tosi is a pastry chef best known as the founder of Milk Bar, which serves up creations like cereal milk soft serve. But one of her earliest jobs was with WD-50. Sitting at a table with Carmie and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) at the funeral dinner, she talks about how to make “cornbread ice cream,” pointing to Dufresne and explaining, “He taught me different ways. How many different ways can you make ice cream taste like cornbread? I ended up trying different ways for months and months. That's how I got into ice cream.”
Will Guidara
Tosi is married to Will Guidara, who also appeared at Eber's farewell party. He ran the Make It Nice Hospitality Group with chef Daniel Humm before their partnership ended in 2019. Guidara has written a book called “Unreasonable Hospitality” and has been heavily involved in the “Bear” world. He is credited for a story in the third episode of this season, “The Door,” and is a co-producer on the series.
Anna Posey
One of Carmie and Sydney's dining companions is Anna Posey, the pastry chef at Elske, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago, which she co-owns with her husband, David Posey.
Malcolm Livingston II
Over dinner, Malcolm Livingston II described how he made a ganache that “Alex” described as “the best ganache ever.” This Alex was presumably Alex Stupak of Empelon in Manhattan, who came from WD-50 and who else? Livingston had succeeded Stupak at Dufresne's. Livingston now runs August Novelties, a line of dairy-free frozen desserts, but he was also once head of Noma's pastry department.
Rocio Sanchez
During the Everdinner, Luca compliments Rocio Sanchez talked about her own creation, a dessert topped with “Negroni ice cream.” A native of Chicago, Sanchez is now a regular in Copenhagen. She worked at Noma before opening the taqueria Hija de Sanchez, and then the restaurant Sanchez.
Genie Kwon
Jeannie Kwon's Filipino restaurant, Kasama, already had a prominent scene in “The Bear.” In the Season 2 episode “Sundae,” Sydney visits and orders a longganisa (Filipino sausage) and hash brown breakfast sandwich, mushroom adobo, and mango tart. During dinner at Ever, Kwon says she didn't necessarily like cooking, but always “wanted to create something for people.”
