Warning! Contains spoilers for The Bear season 3.
Summary
Carmy introduces a long list of non-negotiables inThe Bearseason 3’s episode 2, revealing his overbearing approach towards running a restaurant. After his break-up with Claire inThe Bearseason 2’s ending, Carmy changes significantly inThe Bearseason 3 and focuses on nothing but successfully running his restaurant. He doubles down on his efforts to improve as a chef and enforces his harsh methods on others as well.
However, instead of being lucrative, most of his tactics seemingly backfire on him as they lead to more chaos and conflict in the kitchen. Despite realizing that going too hard on himself in the past has left him with many deep emotional scars, Carmy does not step back from his rigid approach. Hisnon-negotiables inThe Bearseason 3perfectly reflect the inception of his gradual downward spiral.
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27Of The Place
Seems Similar To Mise-En-Place
The first non-negotiable on Carmy’s list is “of the place,” which seems to a common culinary term “Mise-en-place.” It is a French kitchen term thatencourages a chef to gather and organize all ingredients before starting the cooking process. According to the concept, everything from chopping vegetables to setting up utensils, measuring ingredients to arranging everything correctly must be done beforehand. Carmy puts this on top of everything else because he knows that is how restaurants of the highest caliber function.
26Less Is More
Emphasis On Minimalism
With this pointer on the non-negotiables list, Carmy intends to emphasize how hisstaff must practice minimalisminstead of overdoing every dish. Some of the best dishes in the world are the most uncomplicated concoctions of high-quality ingredients and are prepared through the simplest (but not easiest) of processes. Even when it comes to presentation in fine dining, plating is usually done in a clean and elegant manner, allowing the customers to appreciate every separate component of the dish. Therefore, the non-negotiable is a reminder that they must focus more on quality and less on quantity.
25Vibrant Collaboration
An Expectation Of Dynamic & Lively Teamwork
Interestingly, even though Carmy does not prepare a list of non-negotiables inThe Bear’s seasons 1 and 2, he maintains “vibrant collaboration” in the kitchen with his positive leadership. However, in season 3, he becomes less patient with his co-workers and always rushes them and stresses them out in his pursuit of perfection. Owing to this, it is ironic thatThe Bearseason 3’s Carmyputs “vibrant collaboration” on his list of non-negotiables when he himself is not able to follow the rule.
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24No Repeat Ingredients
Ensuring Food Diversity
Carmy was against the idea of chasingMichelin stars inThe Bearseason 2because he understood how much pressure star-earning restaurants have to deal with. However, in season 3, he changes his mind about getting the stars because he isdriven more by his mind-numbing pursuit of culinary success and less by empathy and passion. Therefore, to ensure his restaurant ranks among the best for food quality and innovation, he encourages the use of new and fresh ingredients.
23Consolidation + Speed
Striving For Quick Turnaround
As Carmy’s flashbacks from working in top restaurants reveal, head chefs like Terry and David would often remind him and other chefs to increase their work speed to ensure their customers were never dissatisfied with the overall turnaround. Carmy wishes to implement the same in his kitchen while also adopting other methods to streamline the process of their service. He even buys new equipment for the kitchen inThe Bearseason 3 and reorganizes workstations to promote this aspect of the non-negotiables list.
22Confidence + Competence
To Encourage Autonomy & Maintain High Standards Of Service
To level up their service, Carmy also hopes to ensure all staff at the restaurant are fostering a sense of ownership towards their responsibility while showing enthusiasm to learn new skills. While it is understandable where his sentiments come from, Carmy seems to adopt the questionable methods of his former bosses, like David, to instill these practices in employees. As a result, many employees leave The Bear restaurant at the beginning of season 3, while several others feel burnt out and tired.
21In + Out Service
To Increase The Efficiency Of Service
This seemingly refers to creating a dining experience where the staff is expected to streamline every process in the kitchen. Meanwhile, even the servers and external staff have to practice every method that reduces waiting time and maximizes table usage. With this non-negotiable, Carmy’s intentions seem to be in the right place. However, he struggles to implement this becausehe is too fixated on chasing perfectioninstead of investing some time in training his co-workers or establishing means of effective communication.
20Pursuit Of Excellence
Carmy’s Coping Mechanism
This leads to a dissonance between him and Sydney, prompting Sydney to think about leaving The Bear and pursuing other opportunities.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with chasing excellence, getting blinded by the pursuit is what leads to trouble for Carmy. By putting this down on his list of non-negotiables, Carmy wants to strive for the highest standards of performance and quality. However, instead of understanding what excellence means to Sydney or other employees at his restaurant,he only thinks about what it means to him. This leads to a dissonance between him and Sydney, prompting Sydney to think about leaving The Bear and pursuing other opportunities.
19Details Matter
The Devil Is In The Details
Since Carmy worked in several high-grade restaurants before taking over his brother’s business, he realizes that he and his team will have to focus on every detail to ensure they rank among the best. He also knows that earning a Michelin star is no easy feat and requires a restaurant to serve exceptional food that reflects the highest culinary standards. Therefore, he highlights the importance of details in his list of non-negotiables because it is the details that can ultimately determine whether they will earn the star.
18Know Your Shit
Encouraging Staff To Hone Their Skills
This pointer in Carmy’s list seems a little too forced because he does not allow his staff to breathe before enforcing his dream of earning a Michelin star on them. In the previous seasons, Carmy gave everyone enough time to adapt and breathe instead of forcing them to level up suddenly. InThe Bearseason 3, however, his patience runs thin, and he expects everyone to upgrade themselves in an instant. This leads to many conflicts in the kitchen and causes many staff members to crack under pressure.
