1.First, the food on The Bear all looks so good thanks to Courtney Storer, who is the culinary producer on the series. She's worked in some of the biggest and best kitchens in the world, like Verjus in Paris, and is now a private chef. Courtney creates all the food seen onscreen.
2.Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who plays Richie, said he had to learn Taylor Swift's "Love Story" specifically for Richie's singing moment in "Forks," Episode 7. He said he was "nervous" about it because he "wasn't familiar with the song."
4.Jamie was a fan ofThe Bear before joining the cast in Season 2. In fact, she said that as soon as she saw the first episode, where Sugar/Natalie (played by Abby Elliott) asks Carmy (played by Jeremy Allen White) about their mother, she "knew that [she] would play her."
5.In order to get the timing of the kitchen moments in "Fishes" down just right, the cast was lined up in the hallway waiting for their time to enter as Jamie's Donna was cooking.
6.For Season 2, Courtney wanted to make sure the food aesthetic evolved but also paid tribute to the Berzatto family and moments from Season 1. For instance, the donut from Season 1 has now "evolved into this zeppole with fermented cherry glaze."
7.Lionel Boyce, who plays Marcus, said that while he was filming the rolling-dough scene with Will Poulter's Luca, the duo began to "riff a little bit" while joking about basketball. He said Will kept making him laugh while they were shooting the scene.
8.While preparing to film "Forks," The Bear crew looked at sci-fi movies like 2001: Space Odyssey and Ridley Scott films in order to figure out how to create the mysterious (and different) atmosphere seen at the Michelin-starred restaurant Richie works at.
9."Forks" was shot on location at Ever in Chicago, which is owned by chef Curtis Duffy. It's his second restaurant in Chicago and currently holds two Michelin stars. Since it's a working restaurant, while the cast and crew filmed in the dining room, the chefs would be working on new dishes in the kitchen.
10.While preparing for Season 2, Ebon said he went to "some pretty nice restaurants" and observed their kitchens in order to prepare for Richie's time spent at a Michelin-starred kitchen in Episode 7.
11.In "Fishes," Jon Bernthal improvised Mikey's table flip at the end of the episode, which happens after Mikey throws yet another fork at Bob Odenkirk's Uncle Lee.
12.Prior to the start of Season 2, Abby shadowed at a restaurant in order to get a feel for what it's like behind the scenes. While she worked as a host at a restaurant growing up, she said that observing a kitchen now was a different experience.
13.In order to make the Marcus-centered episode in Copenhagen feel different from the rest of the series, The Bear brought in a new director of photography, Adam Newport-Berra, who had previously shot the pilot, and Ramy Youssef directed the episode, marking the first time an episode wasn't directed by Christopher or showrunner Joanna Calo.
14.Ebon didn't find out that Olivia Colman had been cast as Chef Terry until about "two weeks before [they] shot" the episode.
15.Like her character, Tina, who attended culinary school in Season 2, Liza Colón-Zayas was also sent to work with a chef in order to prepare for Tina's expanded role in the kitchen. She worked with David Waltuck, who ran the restaurant Chanterelle, as well as with Courtney.
16.Richie goes through a huge character arc in Season 2, and Ebon said that Christopher told him his character's trajectory while they were filming Season 1.
17.A lot of thought went into the suits Richie wore in Season 2. Ebon worked with costume designers Cristina Spiridakis and Courtney Wheeler to come up with the perfect suits. He said he always thought Richie would want to emulate Al Pacino in Heat, so they went for a black suit with a dark suit and dark tie.
18.Courtney worked with each of the actors to help them with their culinary skills. In Season 2, Courtney and Ayo Edebiri, who plays Sydney, actually made the omelet Syd makes for Sugar at Courtney's house before they re-created it on set.
19.The phone call between Richie and Tiffany (Gillian Jacobs) was not in the original script but was added the week before they filmed Episode 7.
20.In Season 2, Episode 2, "Pasta," when Richie pokes the ceiling and all of the mold and dust falls on his head, Ebon said he originally pitched the idea of a "bunch of live rats" falling down on him too, but Disney (which owns Hulu) reportedly said they didn't want to work with live animals.
21.And finally, one of the hardest (and most emotional) scenes in Season 2 for Ebon to film was the big fight between Carmy and Richie in the finale. He said that what helped him get through that scene was "looking at Molly [Gordon]'s face right before."
