The Best Books, Movies, Video Games, and Podcasts to Check Out After Watching 'The Bear'[html]
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The Bear is a phenomenon not only because exploring what goes on in the kitchen is fascinating, but because it's also one of the best shows on TV when it comes to portraying family drama, generational trauma, and the intense pressure of being the best at something.
Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) is a tortured artist who might be one of the top chefs in the world, but his self-doubt is the engine that keeps the show racing along into uncertainty. Add in the precision and pressure of a high-end restaurant and brigade-style kitchen, and you have the perfect recipe for drama and humor. Plus, the opportunity to watch mouth-watering cuisine being created by passionate people.
If you're searching for similarly satisfying fare, we’ve already told you the TV series you should be watching, but there are a lot of books, movies, games, and podcasts that share the spirit and themes of The Bear too.
The best books like The Bear
The Bear is a dense narrative with rich, detailed characterizations. In other words, it’s like a novel in TV series form. There are a lot of terrific books that will give you the same vibe.
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
If you love an insider glimpse of how high-end restaurants are run and have a true love for food, head to the ultimate classic of the genre. Bourdain’s 2000 memoir was a revelation, detailing how fine-dining kitchens actually operated, warts and all. It turned Bourdain into a star and is an obvious precursor to (and inspiration for) The Bear.
Unreasonable Hospitality, by Will Guidara
This book directly inspired many plot points on The Bear, and specifically informed the evolution of Richie’s character from an angry lout who disdained fine dining into a man with a purpose. The former co-owner of Eleven Madison Park, one of the best restaurants in the world, Will Guidara writes about making every diner’s experience personal, memorable, and curated. If you want to know what drives Carmy and the gang to extremes, this book will explain it all.
Hot Mess, by Emily Belden
If you love The Bear because of the messy interpersonal dramas going on in the kitchen, check out Hot Mess, which offers up the perspective of the people afflicted by an unreliable, mentally unhealthy culinary genius. Allie Simon is swept away by the handsome, charming, and undeniably gifted chef Benji Zane—so much so that she invests her life savings in his new restaurant. When he relapses into addiction and vanishes a few weeks before opening night, Allie must undergo a crash course in the restaurant biz before she loses everything.
Sweetbitter, by Stephanie Danler
Love gulping down the inside dirt about the restaurant business in The Bear? Sweetbitter is the perfect chaser. It’s like Kitchen Confidential turned into a soapy story about a young woman who snags a job at an uber-cool restaurant in downtown New York City. She dives into the pressure, the drama, the drugs, and the culture, and the book offers the combination of revelation and personal struggle that fans of the show will love. (The TV adaptation is fun too.)
Last Night at the Lobster, by Stewart O’Nan
Is a Red Lobster in a New England mall the same as a fine dining restaurant chasing a Michelin Star? No, but the drama is just as high. This short novel about a manager trying to get through his final shift at the fast casual spot on the night of a heavy blizzard is filled with all the conflicts, chaos, and kitchen mishaps you could possibly imagine. The setting might be basic (though those Cheddar Bay biscuits are pretty amazing), but the story is just as entertainingly fraught.
The best movies like The Bear
If your biggest complaint about The Bear is that the episodes are too short, good news: There’s no shortage of movies that capture the frenetic world of high-end cooking and the misfits who work in it.
Big Night (1996)
This 1950s story of brothers and recent Italian immigrants to the U.S. trying to save their struggling restaurant on the Jersey Shore, Big Night is the spiritual precursor to The Bear. Beset by customers who prefer Americanized versions of their cooking and a big pile of debt, the brothers conceive a “big night” to pack the restaurant and make enough money to save their dream. The (often hilarious) pressure builds from there. Stream Big Night on Hoopla or rent it on Prime Video.
Boiling Point (2021)
Are your favorite episodes of The Bear the ones where things go horribly wrong in the kitchen and the pacing goes to lightspeed? Boiling Point is the perfect movie for you. Presented as a single, 90-minute take, it follows head chef Andy Jones (Stephen Graham) during a disastrous shift at his restaurant. It kicks off with a bad health inspection and gets worse from there. Bonus: If you like the movie, the BBC produced a single season of a sequel series with the same cast. Stream Boiling Point on Kanopy or rent it on Prime Video.
Chef (2014)
Less fraught and with a slower, cozier pace, Chef nevertheless hits all The Bear's sweet spots. When chef Carl Casper quits his job at a successful restaurant after a social media meltdown and a clash with the owner, he opens a food truck to get back to his foodie roots. If you love the idea that a passion for cooking can save (or destroy) your soul, check it out. Stream Chef on Netflix or rent it on Prime Video.
Burnt (2015)
If your favorite aspect of The Bear is Carmy’s tortured genius, Burnt is a great way to spend a few hours. It’s the story of Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper), a superstar chef in Paris with two Michelin stars who destroyed his career through addiction and by generally being a terrible person. After sobering up, he heads to London to make a comeback and get a third star—but he still has a lot of work to do on himself. It’s breezier than The Bear, but still filled with self-sabotaging drama. Stream Burnt on The Roku Channel/Howdy or rent it on Prime Video.
