The Bear's Iconic Final Meal, Explained — Exclusive

Contains spoilers for "The Bear" Season 5

While viewers of "The Bear" might, at this point, be most familiar with the breakout stars of the show — namely Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Jeremy Allen White — there's one name everyone should be spotlighting in addition: Courtney Storer.

Courtney is the show's culinary producer and a longtime chef herself, in addition to being the sibling of the show's creator, Christopher Storer, so she intimately knows what it takes to create the incredible dishes featured prominently in the show. While all five seasons have featured visually impressive meals, in the final episodes, we focus on one last dinner service with several standout dishes. Each course is crafted to perfection and reflective of the characters' development over the run of the award-winning television program. Courtney says, "I'm able to really understand what story [Chris is] trying to tell and use the food as a vessel to do that. It kind of feels like to me its own character in a way."

Just in time for the fifth and final season's premiere, Courtney spoke exclusively with Tasting Table about her influences and process around designing this last set of dishes, and just how they all came together to create one last unforgettable service.

This is the first "welcome" dish that's given to diners in the final dinner service, a riff on the classic bread and butter you might get at any other restaurant. Not only does the lardo feel special and elevated, but it's topped with a tomato powder, as well.

Courtney Storer says this course came out of Marcus' journey as a baker: "What Marcus really does so well is he's constantly trying to make his own bread," which harkens back to his journey in Season 1 of trying to challenge himself. 

Storer continues, "I think the bread and the focaccia, like him getting to that place where it's this not only fluffy, incredible focaccia, but that he's watching his other chefs around him and complimenting them, saying this is a savory dish, I'm also riffing on it with you and turning something in that I'm making that contributes to this tasting menu, other than hey, I'm just doing desserts over here." For viewers, there's a great mirror element and satisfaction in having the courses start and end with Marcus' baking.

Courtney Storer calls the second dish to hit the table "sophisticated," and says it shows the evolution of Sydney's culinary prowess. "I think this is a dish that shows Sydney's imagination, her ability to challenge herself, and also rise to the occasion that Carmy is kind of presenting to her." According to Storer, the dish encapsulates how Sydney has learned to think outside the box and isn't afraid to experiment, while also integrating her own experiences into her work adding in personal touches.

As for why prawns were chosen to pair with peach and Champagne, Storer explains further: "How do you take something that people ...think is sweet, and how do you make it balance with something from the sea? And if you think about being on the coast of France or Italy, and it being peach season, and a cold glass of champagne, and something coming out of the water."

When you think of lettuce, you might think of a boring salad, but Courtney Storer reflects on how the fact that it's paired with a pasta that is indicative of Carmy's training, and the pasta itself is a component so many of these Chicago-based characters grew up with. It's a credit both to Storer and the writing team to develop a dish that feels almost like an Easter egg with a nod to the central location and a character's backstory.

She says, "It's like Chicago-style family-style restaurants, you know. Chicago has some of the most incredible, incredible trattorias and Italian restaurants that I miss every day ... but I think with this sort of combination of, you've got Yountville lettuces, is what we called it, which is Carmy's nod to his time at French Laundry, and then he's got this agnolotti ... a white wine, there's a little bit of elderflower in there, so it's also allowing that garden to kind of flourish in the pasta."

In Episode 4, Carmy invents this dish out of necessity when supplies are running low and the pressure is cranked up to serve more patrons than the restaurant can accommodate. Of course, it is still both beautiful and delicious.

The dish is a riff on what Courtney Storer describes as "a tuna aioli, sort of." Specifically, she's referring to tonnato sauce, which you'll typically find on Vitello tonnato, thin-sliced veal which Storer notes is often served cold with capers and lemon.

It makes sense character-wise that Carmy would return to this dish, because, as Storer reminds us, "That dish is so significant because we see Carmy and his mom talk about it, and she's like, 'I had this dish with peppers and tonnato,' and you just see deep down, that even in hurting, there's some grace he has for his mom, and some heartache that he still is sort of processing, but she's ... there in his mind and his creativity, which says something really interesting."

The first shot of Episode 1 is Tina's fried brussels sprouts dish that she's working on at home, which reappears as the internal family meal before service and then gets added to the restaurant tasting menu as the staff get even shorter on ingredients. She names it "Family Meal," and for Courtney Storer, it's clear that this is a full-circle moment for Tina's arc throughout the show.

Storer explains, "She's looking how to bring it to life with what's available in season, you know. We see her go through this farmers market journey, understanding what grows together goes together, and so she's really looking to refine her palette under a lot of pressure, and in a space when there's not a lot of room to just explore. ... So you see Tina trying in her own time to actually make something that can contribute to the menu."

Another dish that is so indicative of long-term character development is Sydney's Coca-Cola braised short ribs, which we've seen her working on and which has a connection to her biological family. This dish is also a last-minute replacement in the story, but it turns out to be a great success.

Courtney Storer ties the short ribs to a larger exploration of family, pride, and professional development within the show: "It reminds me of what she was trying to riff on in Season 1, where she's like, 'Carmy, I'm look at me, I'm good, I'm making this thing, it's delicious, it could work.' And that sort of battle that happens between two creatives, two chefs. How do you relinquish control to one another and allow them to grow into real development as a chef, you know?"

According to Storer, these braised short ribs are very important to Sydney. They remind her of her mother, and they're a further example of how she's brought her experience from outside The Bear into the kitchen.

The last course served is one of the most impressive the show has presented to date, conceived by pastry chef Marcus. The dessert course is presented in three parts: a box of Bear mints, a dish of Donnie's raspberries, and a bananas foster sundae, with a surprise and delightful element: caramel hidden inside a candle that has been burning on the table.

Courtney Storer talks about how this final dish was really a nod to so many elements of the show. First, the Bear mints: "We thought about Marshall Field's, and these iconic Frango mints, and a nod to how important those were to our childhood, and how they still are something we crave, and we see Marcus kind of thinking and debating how to reminisce about the Christmas tree he talks about ... and this is kind of his way of doing that in his own spin, to create a chocolate that involves mint, but also a little bit of saltiness."

As for Donnie's raspberries, there is a nod to the Chicago culinary world. Storer says, "Donnie is a Chicago legend. He is a hospitality icon. He's an owner of many successful restaurants in Chicago, and a dear family friend. Chris and I, we adore him. ... He's meant so much to us and to Mr. Beef, Chris Zucchero, and that story as well. ... I think we wanted to mention him in that, in his resourcefulness and generosity."

It's clear that in every way, Storer and "The Bear" team entered this final season thoughtfully and artistically, not just in the writing of the show but in the presentation of the dishes. We're sad to see the show come to an end — but thrilled to see it go out on such a high note.