Chicago has rightfully gotten its flowers in the era of prestige television as FX’s award-winning series The Bear continues to amass a cult following and major accolades. But to celebrate NYC Restaurant Week, we take a look at how the series portrays New York City’s culinary scene. In Season 3 of the award-winning series, viewers get a peek into the world of Manhattan’s Michelin-star kitchens.
The Bear Takes New York
The latest season begins with a flashback where Carmy (Jeremy Allen White)—the show’s brooding and overstrung protagonist—is working his way up at a high-end New York restaurant. The restaurant Carmy works at isn’t given a name in the show. Fans might think that it’s Eleven Madison Park since Carmy’s “cousin” Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) calls him an “Eleven Madison Park d*ck-head” in the pilot episode, but an FX publicist confirmed that the Season 3 flashbacks were filmed at Daniel, a two-star Michelin restaurant at 65th Street and Park Avenue.
Daniel Boulud and Jeremy Allen White: Image Courtesy of Daniel Boulud
Daniel has been a staple in the New York culinary scene since the 1990s. Owned by French chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud—who makes an appearance in the first episode of Season 3—Daniel was part of the first batch of New York restaurants to be recognized by the Michelin Guide in 2005. It is one of twelve restaurants in the city to earn a two-star Michelin rating. Over the years, diners have been served an eclectic range of dishes, from swordfish to fried lollipops, amongst the restaurant’s neoclassical architecture. In addition to Daniel, Boulud owns two other Michelin-starred restaurants in the city, Le Pavillon and Joji, both located in One Vanderbilt.
The History of New York’s Michelin Guide
The original Michelin Guide had nothing to do with food. Brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin produced the Guide through their tire company founded in a French village called Clermont-Ferrand in 1889. Its purpose was to help drivers navigate France’s nascent autoroute system. In addition to providing geographic information like the nearest gas stations, the guide included how-to manuals on changing tires and basic car maintenance.
It wasn’t until the 1920s that the Michelin Guide started to become what it is today. The Michelin brothers started to include lists of Paris hotels and restaurants. They soon began scouting “mystery diners,” people hired to anonymously inspect and evaluate the performance of restaurants and hotels throughout the country. The star rating system was introduced in 1926.
Restaurant Daniel: Picture by Kevin Lau
The Michelin Guide wouldn’t reach the United States until nearly a century after its inception. New York was the first American city to receive a Michelin Guide in 2005 when United States restaurants became eligible to earn Michelin Stars. Nearly 40 countries worldwide now release an annual Michelin Guide. As of 2023, there were 71 restaurants in the city with one Michelin star. This puts New York in seventh place on the list of cities with the most Michelin-starred restaurants. The world leader, Tokyo, has 194.
Much like New York’s fine art and luxury real estate, Michelin-starred restaurants cluster in upscale neighborhoods with cultural cachet, like the Lower East Side and Williamsburg. You can find a complete map of Michelin-starred restaurants on Eater NY.
What it Takes to Earn a Michelin Star
The latest season of The Bear focuses on Carmy’s pursuit of the white whale in fine dining: his first Michelin Star. The Michelin Star is more than just a banner to entice customers. Similar to an Olympic medal, it’s a universal accolade that sets the bar for greatness. But more importantly, it’s a golden ticket to join the exclusive society of fine dining. It gets you invited to exclusive galas and international conferences and attracts talent from all over the world.
Michelin stars are awarded at the discretion of anonymous inspectors, which keeps aspiring chefs on their toes. The scoring is based on five criteria: the quality of the ingredients, the harmony of flavors, the mastery of techniques, the personality of the chef, and the consistency both across the entire menu and over time. To turn the Bear—the titular restaurant in the show—into a Michelin-caliber eatery, the team from FX consulted Will Guidara, the co-founder of Eleven Madison Park.
“The Guidara Effect“
In addition to Daniel, Eleven Madison Park has been world-renowned since the 1990s. Located on 24th Street and Madison Ave, the restaurant sits in an Art-Deco building that overlooks Madison Square Park. It is one of four restaurants in New York to have three Michelin stars, the highest star rating reserved for “exceptional cuisine.” Guidara has a cameo in the season finale, alongside culinary critics like the New Yorker’s Naomi Fry.
Much like the Bear, Eleven Madison Park recently underwent a major overhaul. The interior was renovated and the menu became exclusively vegan. This was a polarizing decision that has paid dividends. Good luck finding a last-minute reservation; their waitlist has exceeded fifty thousand guests.
Eleven Madison Park Restaurant, Allied Works Architecture, Eric Piasecki Photography
Guidara’s influence first appears on the show in the episode “Forks” in Season 2. Carmy’s cousin Richie is caught reading Guidara’s bestseller Unreasonable Hospitality.Known for his implacable commitment to hospitality, Guidara once ordered the world-renowned Chef Daniel Humm to grill a New York hot dog for a table of tourists who complained about having to leave New York without trying one. The team from FX adapted this story for a scene in Season 2 when Richie serves guests a deep-dish Chicago-style pizza.
In an interview with the New York Times, Guidara opened up about his experience consulting for The Bear, comparing a kitchen staff to a film crew. “On set, you have the camera and the crew and props, and then the actors and the writers and the producers. At a restaurant, you want everyone to care so much about their specific part of the puzzle that they’re willing to push to make sure that their specific part of it doesn’t get watered down. But they do so with a profound respect for all the other people around them,” he told the newspaper.
But there is a dark side to the pristine kitchens, where some line cooks are expected to work up to eighty-hour weeks. According to Business Insider, Eleven Madison Park maintained a “no-tipping” policy up until 2022, and paid its employees minimum wage, while charging customers $425 for its signature tasting menu.
The Bear pulls back the curtain on the stress inherent to the service industry, in which the insatiable customer is complicit. It shows the often fast-paced and high-stress environment in the “back of house” where an assembly line of waiters, line cooks, and sommeliers toil. Though the mood in a Michelin Star kitchen may be especially nerve-wracking, anybody who’s worked as a part-time barista might find themselves cringing at relatable scenes.
The Michelin Guide in 2024
The Bear’s brilliance lies in its ability to make fine dining accessible to a broader audience. But New York’s Michelin Guide still favors affluent, predominantly White neighborhoods. All but one of New York’s Michelin Star restaurants are in Manhattan or Brooklyn. In Manhattan, not a single Michelin-starred restaurant is above 80th Street. There wasn’t a Black-owned Michelin-starred restaurant in New York until 2022 when Clover Hill in Brooklyn Heights became the first.
Carmy assures his sister in this season’s first episode: “New York has everything.” Most New Yorkers would agree that fine dining is no longer confined to the Upper East Side. While The Bear’s trip to New York fixated on Michelin Star restaurants and star-studded cameos, it ignored the vibrant culinary scene that has flourished irrespective of the Michelin Guide. Amazing restaurants and delicious dishes can be found all over the five boroughs, from ethnic enclaves like Flushing and Jackson Heights in Queens to iconic Harlem eateries like Sylvias and Melbas.
In a post-pandemic world, when a TikTok might reach a larger audience than a New York Times food critic, everyone can be a foodie. Platforms like Beli allow everyone to refine and share their own Michelin-style guide. Instagram influencers are beginning to supplant the role of culinary critics. What does this mean for the Michelin Guide as the gatekeeper of New York’s fine dining? Are the Carmy Bears of the world enough to keep its legacy intact?
