Yes, Ayo Edebiri Is Really Cooking In The Bear
"The Bear," FX's show now streaming on Hulu, is all about the seriously stressed kitchen staff at a Chicago sandwich shop and has taken the television world by storm. The first season of "The Bear" currently has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Everyone from fans to critics is raving about how good and often painfully realistic the show is when it comes to depicting the everyday goings-on in a kitchen and of restaurant culture as a whole. One writer for Bon Appétit, who was a former restaurant worker in a Michelin-starred establishment, wrote, "it was the most accurate portrayal of life in a restaurant kitchen I've seen in a while." One fan shared in the comments of the show's Instagram that "This is one of the best, most stressful yet addictive shows I've watched in decades."
None of this sense of realism is by accident. The show's creators meant for the restaurant at the center of it all to look and feel real, right down to sending its stars, like Ayo Edebiri, to culinary school to prepare for their roles.
Ayo Edebiri can chop an onion like a pro
According to the Los Angeles Times, some of the cast of "The Bear" was sent to experience cooking in the real world before filming began. Ayo Edebiri, who plays sous chef Sydney Adamu, headed to Pasadena's Institute of Culinary Education with the show's star, Jeremy Allen White, who plays Carmy. The pair had private lessons with a chef and also partook in larger group classes with real-life culinary hopefuls.
Edebiri may have had several takeaways from her time in culinary school and on the set of "The Bear," but one thing's for certain: she can work a knife. When asked on the TODAY show if she's doing the food preparation herself while showing a clip from the series of someone chopping an onion, Edebiri replied, "Those are my hands." She stands strong in defense of her new skills, even when questioned by some of her biggest fans. "One of my best friend's moms, who is a chef, she called me and was like, 'I know those aren't your hands.' I was like, 'Those are my hands. I learned something,'" Edebiri said.