It's frenetic, intense, uplifting, funny, and gut-wrenching – sometimes all in the space of a few minutes. Hit TV show The Bear has scooped multiple awards and captured the hearts of countless avid fans, and it's easy to see why.
With Season 4 coming to Disney+ in the UK on 26th June, we've rounded up some of the best books that give us The Bear vibes – from tell-all kitchen memoirs, to tantalising fiction about food, dysfunctional family dynamics, and the streets of Chicago.
(Note: this article contains mild spoilers for Seasons 1 and 2 of The Bear , so you may wish to finish watching all episodes before checking out our recommendations. Can I get a "YES, CHEF"?)
Monocle is a recent graduate and aspiring writer who's down on his luck: rent is overdue, and the job search is proving fruitless. So, as a last resort, he takes a job as kitchen commis in a London gastropub and enters the underbelly of the restaurant world full of of deranged, neurotic characters. Inspired (in part) by his own stint as a chef, Simon Wroe's debut novel is a gripping, darkly funny depiction of the brutal, fast-paced world of professional kitchens – perfect for anyone who loves the heart-pounding noise and intensity of The Bear 's kitchen scenes.
From browning butter at culinary school in Lyon to drinking with football hooligans in Manchester, American writer Bill Buford is known for throwing himself into new worlds to make his journalism all the more immersive and gripping. Heat is the product of Buford's time spent working his way up in the kitchen of famed New York restaurateur Mario Batali to become a line cook, then pasta-maker and butcher's apprentice in Italy. The result? An eye-opening, page-turning account of the weird and wonderful world of professional cooking.
"Forks" (Season 2 Episode 7), which follows Richie's endearing character journey from volatile restaurant manager to sharp suit-wearing front-of-house aficionado, is perhaps one of the most unforgettable episodes of The Bear 's second series. Eagle-eyed viewers may have spotted Richie reading Unreasonable Hospitality , a rousing treatise on the art of going above and beyond, by the former co-owner of the world-leading, three-Michelin-star restaurant Eleven Madison Park. One of Will Guidara's remarkable anecdotes (about a diner who wanted to try a New York hot dog) reportedly served as inspiration for that deep-dish pizza scene.
The Bear is, of course, about the food and restaurant business, but it is also a show about family and the complicated hold our loved ones can have on our lives. If you were gripped by the claustrophobic domestic scenes and fraught family dynamics laid bare in "Fishes" (Series 2 Episode 6), you're likely to love this instant New York Times bestselling novel by Ann Napolitano. Hello Beautiful follows four sisters from a tight-knit Italian-American neighbourhood in Chicago's Lower West Side as love, chaos, heartbreak and betrayal shape their lives – and threaten to break their lifelong bond.
If last season of The Bear piqued your interest in Italian-American food, look no further than Stanley Tucci's bestselling memoir of a life in meals – the good, the bad, and the downright delicious. Taste is filled with charming, laugh-out-loud funny anecdotes and vignettes (not to mention a knockout Negroni recipe). It charts everything from his childhood shaped by Italian family cooking, to his foodie pursuits in film-making and life, making it the ultimate love letter to, well, the joy of loving food.
From the gruelling hours and obsessive head chefs, to the psychology of menu design, journalist Imogen Edwards-Jones and her anonymous industry insider source lift the lid on what really makes the UK's multi-billion-pound restaurant industry tick. If you watched in awe as Carmy, Sydney and Richie pored over every last detail of The Bear restaurant ahead of opening night, then this jaw-dropping, impeccably researched book is the perfect read for you.
On the South Side of Chicago in 1999, unlikely friends Felicia, Precious and Stacia embark on a summer that will change their lives as they welcome mysterious newcomer Tonya into the fold. If the opening credits of "Review" (Series 1 Episode 7) – with its montage of Chicago clips set to Sufjan Stevens' music – tugged at your heartstrings, then Toya Wolfe's tender coming-of-age story is the book for you.
David Chang opened New York mainstay Momofuku Noodle Bar as a young chef in 2004 and went on to become hugely influential in shaping a changing food scene. Eat A Peach is his candid, funny memoir in which he tells all about his childhood as part of a Korean immigrant family, his feelings of otherness, and the mistakes he made in his career. It offers an unflinching look at life in the heart of the restaurant world. This New York Times best-selling read is perfect for fans of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential – and, of course, the scrappy success story of The Bear 's lead protagonist, Carmy.
From Amy Tan to Émile Zola , this pocket-sized anthology is a compilation of some of the most tantalising fiction writing about food in all its glorious forms. Expect short stories from the likes of M. F. K. Fisher, epicurean essays about the perfect meal, and vignettes from the novels of beloved authors such as Charles Dickens, Nora Ephron, Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust and more.
When a mysterious fog spreads and crops begin to die out, a young chef flees London to take a new job in a hilltop compound. It is there that she meets her new employer: a father-daughter duo who are experimenting with a new way of life for the world's elites, the true nature of which she begins to uncover in a journey of reawakened desire and ambition. Eerie, sensual, and beautifully written, Land of Milk and Honey offers a dystopian vision for what the future could hold for the world of food – one that is, perhaps, not such a far cry from the bustling kitchens (real or fictional) of today.
