"Their T-shirts are too white!" ': What real chefs think of The Bear and other on-screen restaurants

Food and cinema are made for each other: heat, rhythm, drama, screams. That's not to say that kitchen life always happens with precision on the big screen. The volatile chefs of high-end restaurants are often the only version offered: take the upcoming thriller-satire The Menu (in theaters November 18), in which a couple (played by Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) go on a secluded island for some fine dining to enter a dark house of entertainment orchestrated by a sadistic celebrity chef (Ralph Fiennes).

Yet, as Sous Chef Sydney Adams says (played by Ayo Edebiri) in new American drama The Bear, kitchens don't have to be places where “everyone does shit”. The eight-part series, which has garnered rave reviews in the US for its depiction of everyday life in the kitchen, sees upscale chef Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) return to Chicago to transform the sandwich shop failing in the family after inheriting it from his late brother. It's frenetic and claustrophobic, with sharp knives and roaring flames in tight quarters, all set to a cacophony of "corner", "behind", "yes, chief!"

The anxiety is palpable, but does it really ring a bell for professional chefs? To find out, we've assembled a panel of culinary experts: Tom Kerridge, chef-owner of two-star Michelin Hand & Flowers, Erchen Chang, creative director and co-founder of famed ravioli restaurant chain Bao, and Max Halley , chef-owner. from Max's Sandwich Shop, winner of the Observer Food Monthly award. Here, they give their verdict on The Bear and five other TV shows and movies set in the restaurant world, assessing how right they are, from throwing plates to too-white T-shirts…

The Bear< p class="dcr- kpil6a">Award-winning chef returns home to take over the family sandwich shop and its eccentric staff

Tom Kerridge I have really thought The Bear was awesome, and I can't wait to see more. You don't really see any creative nourishment [in the early episodes], but Carmy's passion is captured through the script, the acting, the editing. This shows the chaotic environment in which most restaurants operate; the tension of running the business, the infrastructure of the kitchen, the pirate ship feeling with the different, slightly gritty, slightly awkward characters, and the dark sense of humor. Because you work late, you work hard and everyone is incredibly tired so there is no room for polite jokes.

My only criticism is that their T-shirts are too white. Otherwise, it's one of the best things I've seen, and it's not just because it's my industry. While there's often a lot of artistic license taken to create something dramatic for movies or TV, The Bear feels more supported. It depicts the kitchen in what looks like real light. If I was 18, I would think, "It would be cool to work there." You believe in Sous Chef Sydney's journey, following that chef and wanting to be part of creating something. It's a great series.

Max Halley Part of the problem with running a sandwich shop is that in everyone's mind, they see eggs and watercress. The truth is that places like mine are pretty serious restaurants masquerading as a silly sandwich shop. There isn't just one guy who spreads butter on bread, and The Bear passed him on.

I liked the relationship between Carmy and his brother's best friend and restaurant manager Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). It felt like a very genuine restaurant-business relationship. It's almost like with siblings: you love them, but you also hate them more than anything. The expression used in restaurants is: "There are no friends in the service". You can't tell someone when you're in on Friday night, "I'm so sorry, mate, but would it be okay if I asked you to come downstairs for some ice cream?" Just say, "Get more ice cream!" There are so many things going on at the same time and when there is a good level of camaraderie, we can talk to each other like that. I think The Bear showed that very well, and the panic and the intensity, especially when the restaurant starts to get busy. To work successfully in a restaurant, you have to get used to working with this feeling of panic. I don't mean in the sense of the movie Burnt, where it works with anger because I don't believe in it at all, but where it's intense but not mean.

Ratatouille