Soup, salad, sandwiches. The Bear’s Fak on his ‘holy trinity’ of food
There’s an element of the free-wheeling, eccentric soul of his character in The Bear in Matty Matheson. The chef-turned-actor plays handyman Neil Geoff Fak, long-time family friend of Mikey, Carmy and all the Berzattos.
Ironically, given he trained as a chef and runs restaurants, Matheson plays a mister fix-it in the show, rather than working the pans.
Canadian chef and executive producer of The Bear, Matty Matheson.
There are similarities between him and his onscreen character though, he says. “Fak is more vulnerable than me. I’m a big people pleaser, you know, I’m a very jovial person. I want to make sure everyone’s having a nice time, I want to make sure everyone’s happy, but I think Fak is a very soft version of who I am ... I love my friends, obviously, but I think Fak, he cares so deeply,” Matheson says. “I am Fak and Fak is me, but there’s definitely some acting, you know, like we try to make Fak a very specific type of person that works within the means of what’s happening on that show.”
The hugely popular series is set in what was an Italian beef sandwich shop in Chicago (loosely based on the actual venue, Mr Beef). After the suicide of its owner Mikey, it’s overhauled by his younger brother, Carmy, into a fine diner known as The Bear.
A resounding success worldwide, The Bear won a record-setting 11 Emmy Awards from 23 nominations, the most in a single year for a series in the comedy categories.
Initially employed to work with the culinary producer on the show, Courtney Storer — sister of the show’s creator Christopher Storer — Matheson was soon invited to become one of the cast; he is also the show’s executive producer.
This week, the Toronto-based restaurateur releases his third cookbook, Soups, Salads, Sandwiches. Matheson considers these three dishes as the holy trinity of food and describes the book as a choose-your-own adventure: “It’s a walk through the woods. It’s a riverboat ride, but there’s no boat and it’s just an inner tube. We’re going to get wet and wild. We don’t need a boat. We thrive in the nothingness. Now, control your destiny ... embrace the pure joy of freewheeling cooking.
“Sometimes cooking is scary or makes you feel uncomfortable. That’s OK. Even I’m uncomfortable when I’m cooking, But the power of cooking always outweighs the anxieties. As long as the love is just a little greater than the fear, we’re eating good tonight.”
According to Matheson, the book offers combinations of soup, salad and sandwiches “for, like, 238,390,283 days straight (not really, but you get the idea).”
Each dish is broadly defined: meet the grilled salami salad, as one example, and the giant meatball soup, the product of his imaginings. His dishes are fun and wacky — a little like Fak — and his food ideas are clever.
Despite his experience making TV shows for Vice and having created YouTube clips for the past decade, he finds acting terrifying. So why does he think the show resonates with so many people? It’s all about family, Matheson says.
Matty Matheson (centre) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach kiss at the Emmys earlier this year.Credit: AP Photo
Most of us are broken, he says. “I think everyone’s trying to put back the pieces; I think it’s really hard. Every single day, something’s happening to somebody, good or bad, and you’ve got to go to work and put on a face, and no matter what that job is — it doesn’t matter if it’s in a restaurant, it doesn’t matter if it’s what we’re doing right now — [The Bear] is showing everyone’s got stuff going on.
“A lot of people don’t have the infrastructure to deal with it, they don’t have maybe even the love to understand what’s happening, or a way to articulate it ... I think it’s a human show, it’s not a restaurant show.”
Despite being catapulted to next-level fame thanks to the show, Matheson says life has changed (“mainly at the airport, there’s lots of fans and photos”) but it also hasn’t — and that’s just fine.
Matheson and his wife, Patricia, with children Rizzo, Macarthur and Ozzy.Credit: Quentin Bacon
“I’m very happy with what I have, you know, I live in a small town where me and my wife grew up and we have a lovely family. I’m not trying to move to Hollywood and become famous.”
The much-anticipated next season of The Bear will drop in June next year.
Meanwhile, the 42-year-old’s followers will be happy to know he intends to continue making YouTube series such as Cookin’ Somethin’ W/ Matty Matheson and Stupid F*cking Cooking Show.
“I want food to be fun and exciting and, like, funny, and I want to make people laugh,” he says. “Maybe they cook it, maybe they don’t, but at least they’re laughing and having a good time.”
Matty Matheson: Soups, Salads, Sandwiches is out now.