Chrane's "The Bear" Test Kitchen
Episode 7 - Forks
Recap: Season 2, Episode 7 - Forks
5:38 a.m. Ritchie’s alarm goes off.
“F*** you, Cousin.”
Ritchie walks through a dimly lit, decorated hallway and into a bright and geometrical commercial kitchen space. We see our familiar “Every Second Counts” sign yet again.
“Forks!” a man in a suit calls out to Ritchie.
“No, I’m Ritchie.”
“No, you’re forks.”
Garrett is a server and stage supervisor at the 3 Michelin star restaurant we live in this episode. Contrary to Ritchie, Garrett takes his work seriously, has a tremendous amount of purpose, and will die believing that he works at the best restaurant in the world.
After polishing all day, Ritchie begins to wonder if Carmy setting him up as a Stage is a learning opportunity or a punishment.
Next day. 5:35 a.m. Ritchie’s alarm goes off.
In the kitchen, he polishes silverware while watching the Chefs prep for dinner service, from the protein, sides, dessert, tabletop, and expo stations. He can’t take his eyes off the robotic dance between each station.
Next day. 5:24 a.m. Ritchie’s alarm goes off.
Ritchie, on his third all-day shift, continues to carelessly polish forks, and Garrett grows sick of it.
“Outside.”
“Do you think this is below you or something?” Garrett asks.
“You really drink this Kool-Aid don’t you? Why?” Ritchie asks in defense.
“Because I love this Ritchie. I love this so much, dude. Did you know that when this restaurant opened 12 years ago, it won the best restaurant in the world the same year? It’s retained three stars because we have a waiting list that’s long, 5,000 people waiting at any given moment… It takes 200 people to keep this place in orbit. And at any given moment, one of those people that is waiting in line gets to eat here. They get to spend their time and their money here. I’m sorry bro, but we need to have some forks without streaks in them.”
Garrett, in a last attempt, begs Ritchie to just respect him, the diners, and himself.
“I can do respect,” Ritchie says.
In the dining room, Ritchie shadows his first pre-dinner service meeting. The restaurant’s designated guest researcher tells the employees who they will be serving that night. And we’re not just talking first and last names, we’re talking these people’s relationship to each other, job titles, hobbies & interests, and any relevant information that could be gathered from their social media pages.
Ritchie watches as the servers feverishly write tonight’s specials and menu changes in their notepads and flinch as the Chef de Cuisine yells at the team about a smudge on a plate that put his team 45-seconds behind in the kitchen.
Quiet and attentive, Ritchie continues to watch as the servers communicate in the dining room through passing notes to each other behind their backs. He watches as the notes make their way to the expo station in the kitchen. On expo, he sees multiple color coded documents and asks what it all means.
“Orange is a dietary restriction. Yellow is out of town. Green is a VIP. And Blue means kitchen tour.”
“And what about those notes?”
“Table 15 likes to eat faster so we speed up their tickets. 23 likes it slower, so we add an extra amuse not to back up the kitchen. 22 doesn’t like people to speak to them.”
Ritchie lights up, infatuated with the process.
“Gangster.”
After watching closely for several minutes, he thinks he sees the pattern. He’s inspired by the control the role of expo has on the entire BOH team. Assertive, important, purposeful.
Back in the dining room, Ritchie receives his first note from a server and power walks sloppily, but excitedly, back to expo.
“Chef. Guest on nine. Emily overheard her telling her family that she was bummed she was leaving Chicago without getting a chance to try deep dish,” he says in ONE too many words.
“Surprise on nine,” expo tells the kitchen.
“What’s the surprise?” Ritchie asks, “You’re going to make them deep dish?”
“Nope.”
The camera cuts to Ritchie running down the street to pick up a Chicago-style deep dish pizza at a local pizza spot. After delivering it to the Chef de Cuisine, Ritchie lights up at how he plates the three Michelin star deep dish plate.
Next day. 5:30 a.m. Ritchie is out of bed before the alarm goes off.
On his last day, Ritchie finishes polishing forks. It's safe to say that his adrenaline has worn off from dinner service the night before. When Garrett walks in the room to express his gratitude for the experience he had with Ritchie, Ritchie asks him for a job, but Garrett tells him that it’s Chef Terry’s decision, the big boss of the restaurant.
Alone again, Ritchie takes his last moments as a stage exploring different areas of the kitchen. He stumbles upon another hallway, and as he walks back, finds a picture of Carmy and pastry Chef Luca from Marcus’ visit to Copenhagen. Could Carmy be the Chef that Luca was talking to Marcus about?
As Ritchie enters the kitchen, he finds Chef Terry doing prep work. The two meet and chat about each other’s backgrounds before Chef Terry gets pulled away.
Chef Terry asks Ritchie to say hi to Carmen for her, and tells Ritchie that Carmy really believes in him.
“What makes you say that?”
“He says you’re good with people. He’s not wrong.”
Purpose, Cousin!!!
When did you find your purpose? Is it ever too late to find your purpose?
Products Featured Throughout The Show:
Alto-Shaam | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/alto-shaam
American Metalcraft | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/american-metalcraft
American Range | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/american-range
Cambro Manufacturing | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/cambro
ThermalRite by Everidge | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/thermalrite
Mercer Culinary | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/mercer-culinary
Waring Commercial | For more product info, visit: https://www.chranefs.com/manufacturers/waring-commercial
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