All the Celebrity Chef Cameos You May Have Missed on The Bear Season 3
From Daniel Boulud to René Redzepi, here's every celebrity chef that makes an appearance in Season 3 of 'The Bear.'
Though its complicated family dynamics and frequent screaming matches would have you believe otherwise, The Bear is, ostensibly, a show about restaurants and the people who run them and love them. Previous seasons have featured noteworthy figures from the food world—consider, in Season 2, Rob Levitt, Donnie Madia, David Posey and Dylan Patel, to name a few, as well as full time cast member, chef, and restauranteur Matty Matheson.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]Season 3 of The Bear has the most stacked list of food-world guest stars yet. Here’s a rundown of every celebrity chef and chef-adjacent cameo we could spot this season, in order of appearance.
Read more: In The Bear’s Intense Third Season, a Restaurant Can’t Thrive on Food Alone
Daniel Boulud
French chef Daniel Boulud appears as himself throughout the season in flashbacks, where’s he’s seen mentoring Carmy, who once worked at his eponymous, two Michelin-starred restaurant in New York City. In the flashbacks, Boulud takes a hands-on approach to teaching Carmy in the kitchen and appears to be a positive influence in his journey in fine dining; in real life, Boulud founded the Dinex Group, which has multiple restaurants around the world, including Daniel, plus a catering company. Boulud has won six James Beard awards and was named “Chef of the Year” by Bon Appétit.
René Redzepi
Danish chef René Redzepi makes an appearance as himself in the first episode of season three. In the show, Carmy is seen in flashbacks working in the gardens and kitchens of noma, Redzepi’s acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant whose hyperlocal fare (often sourced from foraging and prepared using methods like dehydration and fermentation) scored it three Michelin stars and netted Redzepi two James Beard awards. Redzepi cut his teeth in fine dining at Les Jardins des Sens, Kong Hans Kaelder, and the French Laundry—another institution where Carmy worked.
Paul “Uncle Paulie” James
Sandwich impresario Paul “Uncle Paulie” James’ cameo in The Bear is apropos—he plays a line cook who worked at the Berzatto family’s original Chicago beef sandwich restaurant, The Beef, in Episode 6. His character returns to help Carmy and the staff of The Bear with their severely understaffed sandwich window. In real life, James, a Queens native, opened Uncle Paulie’s Deli, a New York-style sandwich shop, in 2017 in Los Angeles. It has now expanded to three shops in L.A. and a Las Vegas outpost. In addition to their beloved sandwiches, Uncle Paulie’s has also garnered a cult following for their merch, which has been sported by the likes of Pete Davidson and Jennifer Lawrence.
Thomas Keller
The legacy of Thomas Keller looms large in Season 3 of The Bear; in the first episode, Carmy is seen working at Keller’s famed Napa restaurant The French Laundry, while in later episodes, a photo featuring Keller with Boulud and Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa is held up as inspiration for Marcus and Carmy. The chef and restauranteur has a significant cameo in the beginning of Episode 10, when he teaches Carmy how to prepare a roast chicken, including carefully removing the wishbone, for the staff meal on Carmy’s first day of work at The French Laundry.
Nobu Matsuhisa
While Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa doesn’t show up in person in Season 3 of The Bear, he’s referenced in a photo alongside fellow chefs Keller and Boulud. Matsuhisa, a two-time James Beard award winner, is known for his wide-reaching culinary empire, which includes Nobu restaurants in 50 locations around the world.
Grant Achatz
Chicago-based chef Grant Achatz has a memorable cameo as himself in Episode 10 of The Bear, when he arrives to toast Olivia Colman’s Chef Terry ahead of the closing of Ever. Achatz, a six-time James Beard award winner, is known for championing molecular gastronomy at his restaurants, which include the three Michelin-starred Alinea. Achatz also worked at Chicago institutions Charlie Trotter’s and Trio, as well as The French Laundry, where he was mentored by Heller and eventually rose to the rank of sous chef.
Christina Tosi
Christina Tosi appears as herself in Episode 10. In the episode, Tosi recounts her early days as a chef during the funeral dinner at Ever. Tosi, a two-time James Beard award winner, is perhaps best known for creating the dessert program at Momofuku, and founding and co-owning Milk Bar, where she is the chef and CEO.
Kevin Boehm
In Episode 10, Chicago-based restauranteur Kevin Boehm talks shop with Carmy at Ever’s final service. Over the course of his three-decade career in hospitality, Boehm has opened 40 restaurants and won a James Beard award. He co-founded and co-owns the Boka Restaurant Group, which includes its eponymous restaurant and the The Girl and the Goat.
Anna Posey
Chicago chef Anna Posey appears in Episode 10 of The Bear for the Ever funeral dinner. The co-owner and executive pastry chef of Elske, Posey has won the Jean Banchet award for Pastry Chef of the Year. Although she had stints at restaurants like Blackbird and The Publican, where she was the pastry chef, Posey went to school for painting and drawing and often draws on her art background to inform her work as a chef.
Rosio Sanchez
Although Rosio Sanchez owns two restaurants in Copenhagen, she hails from Chicago, making her cameo in Episode 10 of The Bear especially poignant. Sanchez, who grew up in Chicago as the daughter of Mexican immigrants, began her career as the pastry chef at wd~50 before working as the pastry chef at noma for six years. She left noma but stayed in Copenhagen to open her own restaurants, Hija de Sanchez, a taqueria, and Sanchez Cantina, a restaurant.
Malcolm Livingston II
It’s fitting that Malcom Livingston II finally has a cameo on The Bear, since the former noma pastry chef was cited by the show’s creator, Christopher Storer, as being the inspiration for the character of Marcus. Livingston appears as himself in Episode 10, one of the many chef alumni who return to Ever for the final meal. In real life, Livingston’s career in fine dining has been one for the books. The Bronx native started his career with stints at Le Cirque and Per Se, before moving on to wd~50, where he was the head pastry chef before becoming the pastry chef at René Redzepi’s three Michelin-starred noma. After leaving noma in 2017, Livingston helped found the food justice collective Ghetto Gastro; he is currently working on August Novelties, his own brand of non-dairy ice cream.
Will Guidara
Will Guidara is featured in Episode 10 as part of the food-world ensemble that comes to partake in Ever’s funeral meal. Guidara, a longtime New York City restauranteur and three-time James Beard award winner, co-founded the Make It Nice hospitality group, which owns and operates restaurants like Eleven Madison Park and NoMad New York. This isn’t the first time that Guidara has been referenced in The Bear; in Season 2, Richie is seen reading Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect during his stage at Ever.
Wylie Dufresne
New York-based chef Wylie Dufresne appears in the tenth episode of The Bear for the Ever funeral dinner. Dufresne is best known for his former restaurants, wd~50, where he won a James Beard award, and Alder; he currently co-owns and runs Stretch Pizza. He began his career working with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, eventually becoming the sous chef at Jean-Georges.
Genie Kwon
Chicago-based chef and restauranteur Genie Kwon appears in episode 10, where she discusses the pressure of the job while at the Ever dinner. Kwon worked at restaurants like Nobu Fifty Seven and Eleven Madison Park in New York, before she became the pastry chef at Chicago’s GT Fish & Oyster. Now, Kwon, who won the James Beard award for Best Chef: Great Lakes in 2023, co-owns and is the co-head chef at Kasama, the only Michelin-starred Filipino restaurant in the United States.
Honorable mentions
In addition to the many high-profile chefs, there are plenty of other notable cameos in this season of The Bear. Sue Chan, the founder of media agency Care of Chan (and former brand director of Momofuku) is one of the many faces featured in the lineup of fictional food critic portraits in Carmy’s office in Episode 3; Chris Black and Jason Stewart of the podcast How Long Gone and New Yorker writer Naomi Fry are also featured as fictional food critics. Hollywood man-about-town Christopher Chang and fashion designer/olive oil purveyor Davide Baroncini also make appearances as customers at The Bear.