Real chefs reveal what REALLY goes on in the kitchen as season two of The Bear airs

Real chefs have revealed what really goes on in professional kitchens after The Bear’s second season returned with even more bawdy on-screen antics.

The successful FX series focuses on young chef Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto who leaves his fine dining career behind to return to his family-owned sandwich shop after the death of a loved one.

The show is packed with tantalizing tensions and brutal situations as workers navigate the realm of a working kitchen.

And while viewers were once again captivated by the latest episode, FEMAIL spoke to chefs from all over the US who uncovered the real secrets that go on behind the scenes.

Originally from Louisiana, Ryan Rondeno is a private chef to the stars who has cooked for a host of notable names, including Ashton Kutcher, Ben Affleck, and Will Smith.

Discussing his own experience with professional kitchens, he told FEMAIL: ‘There is always drama behind the scenes, especially on cooking shows or when prizes and/or money are involved.

“Chefs will do things to sabotage to win. I’ve seen things like taking ingredients and hiding them and/or not sharing them, but also telling someone else that you’re going to cook the same dish as them or something similar to get the chef to change their menu or plans.

‘I’ve also seen chefs turn the oven [temperature] higher or even off to ruin the recipe. Not all competitive chefs are like that, you also have chefs who go out of their way to help and/or share ingredients needed etc. It really comes down to the person. There are good and bad decisions in all areas of life.’

He continues: ‘In most kitchens it is pleasant to work with colleagues who are talented and have the utmost respect for each other. On The Bear’s show, it can be portrayed in their own way.

“Chefs who are passionate but don’t have the formal training are on display throughout the show. In real restaurants, this is certainly similar, as many chefs want to learn and grow.

‘One of the first aspects that caught my attention is the intensity of the kitchen. On the set of The Bear, the pressure and demand of running the restaurant was so intense that you saw chefs walk away due to constant fighting and sometimes the lack of focus.

“One of the greatest things preached in the kitchen is to have your mise en place.”

Going on, Rondeno said, “The simple mistake of not having enough at your stations to get through lunch or dinner service can make or break the restaurants.

“Obviously, in real kitchens, there may be additional staff to help navigate the process of having enough par levels for service.” In real kitchens today, the intensity is there, but more on a respectful level.

‘In episode seven [of The Bear], the kitchen prepares for a new program that means a big day for the restaurant. We see this in real time all the time as restaurants are always rolling out new programs.

“We also don’t see any sexual harassment in actual restaurants that was portrayed on the show.

‘Compared to real-time kitchens, they illuminate the daily life of kitchens in 20 minutes. There are many accuracies between the two, but also differences in modern kitchens that make it unique.”

But Rondeno wasn’t the only chef to speak out about how his experience compares to The Bear.

Brandon Mezurashi, executive chef of Scratch Kitchen, based in Honolulu, told FEMAIL that the first season was “so perfect with the dramatic depiction of what happens in the restaurant” that he got “anxiety.”

He continued, “From the sabotage to the fighting and complete chaos. I’ve been in the industry for over 18 years.’

He discussed in detail the problems he encountered at each of his locations and started with his compact 67-seat restaurant.

‘[There was a] lack of staff in the kitchen with a fully saturated restaurant with a line out the door to get in and the ticket printer just explodes,” he said.

‘Cooks panic and try to keep calm in an open kitchen. One of the cooks who used to work for me would take the sauté pans and place the handles over the fire to get the handle of the pan hot and burn my hand if I got to the station.

“I have come across them deliberately disabling equipment while on duty to sabotage operations. Staff get into a fight over who is the bigger man.

“I had one time when I took off my apron to go to the toilet, I came back and put the apron on and someone filled the bags with raw shrimp.

And of course there are the love stories. Employees interacting with each other that never ends well. I’ve also lost so many of my own personal chef’s knives at this location that it looked like they had legs and walked away.”

But Mezurashi also revealed that his new 285-seat restaurant in Hawaii Kai is plagued with its own problems.

He explained how his company took over the property after the existing Outback Steakhouse closed and reopened after a complete remodel.

‘WWe were attacked left and right on Yelp and social media tearing the restaurant and food apart every day. Now that we’re about two months into it, things have gotten better and people are calming down,” Mezurashi said.

To provide further insight, Mezurashi said, “Overall, the key to building a team you can trust is to build a team that feels empowered to do the right thing. Once you have fully gained trust, they will do anything for you.

Now that being said, no person in my Hawaii Kai location has ever tried to mess with me or sabotage me because of the level of respect we all have.

“It’s satisfying to know that as a team we’ve achieved what would be impossible.”

Likewise, Luke Thomas, the chef and CEO of New York City-based Cafe Habana, is also one of the professionals who has delved into the kitchen reality.

He told FEMAIL, “The Bear is really real, raw and reflective. In my time behind the stoves of professional kitchens, a lot has undoubtedly changed.

The term “boiling point” reflected what I thought was an old-fashioned way of running kitchens, something that really needed a drastic change for the long-term benefit of the industry and attracting the next generation of chefs.

“There is a shortage of chefs and you have to wonder why, with the hospitality industry growing as fast as consumer demand; I think it’s because of the burnout rate that people went through.’

He concluded: ‘The short- and long-term effects it has on people’s physical and mental health have been unsustainable. in modern times around where they come from [the employer] apart from just their salary package.’