The Bear stars a celebrity chef who never cooked on the show

With The Bear season 3 airing, some fans have just learned that a celebrity chef is playing one of its best characters — and he’s never cooked anything on the show.

Matty Matheson’s Neil Fak has been a force for good in The Bear’s cast since season 1, always there to fix a flickering light, rewire a dodgy fuse, or offer a helping hand wherever it’s needed.

At the end of Season 2 and the beginning of Season 3, he even pivots to become a waiter, offering his edgy charm to restaurant patrons.

The thing is, he spent a lot of time in the kitchen, but he never cooked a single dish. Why is this funny? Well, for those who don’t know, Matheson is an acclaimed chef and internet personality who owns several restaurants. He has also written two books and appeared in several web series.

He has also served as executive producer of The Bear since its inception. The fact that he never cooks anything on the show is part of the joke, but some viewers didn’t realize it until now.

“I find it crazy that they put Matty Matheson, a celebrity chef who has written two cookbooks, in The Bear and didn’t ask him to make food on screen once,” one user tweeted, sparking a wave of responses.

“This amazes me every day and I can’t wait to receive her new cookbook in October,” one said. replied. “Oh that makes so much sense now lol, I was wondering why he made all those videos but he’s a chef so duh,” another wrote.

“I don’t know what’s funniest: people who are just learning that Fak is a famous chef in real life, people who think *EP* Matty Matheson had no say in this- in it, or people who don’t understand that it’s funnier and better that way,” said a third. added.

You can watch one of her latest cooking videos below:

In a Maintenance 2023 with Variety, Matheson admitted that “acting scares him” and he still finds it “scary.”

In addition to his starring role, he uses his expertise (alongside the show’s culinary producer, Courtney Storer) to bring authenticity to the show’s menus.

“The way I think about food and the way Coco thinks about food are very different. But it’s still the same structure,” Matheson explained.

“When we thought about a pasta dish, we were like, ‘Where does this pasta dish come from? Where do I come from? What are the flavors that I could take and put into a pasta?’ So we’re trying to figure that out for Sydney and Carmy.

If you already have, check out our full recap of The Bear Season 3. We also detailed The Bear’s new guest stars, how Mikey died, and there’s a Bradley Cooper cameo you may have lack.