The Bear Jubilee LA Transcript

Kerry Diamond:

Hi, everyone. You're listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond. Today, we're bringing you a special episode recorded live from our very first Jubilee L.A. conference this past September. I was joined on stage by Joanna Calo and Courtney Storer, two of the powerhouse women behind the hit series, "The Bear." Joanna is the showrunner and co-writer who has worked on “Hacks,” we love “Hacks,” “BoJack Horseman,” and the Marvel film, “Thunderbolts.” Courtney is the culinary producer and real-life sister of "The Bear’s" creator, Chris Storer. Amazingly, Courtney started in human resources at Whole Foods, then moved over to the restaurant world, where she worked at beloved L.A. places like Animal and Jon and Vinny's. Together, Jo and Courtney have helped create one of the most talked about shows on television, a series that captures the chaos, camaraderie, and heart of kitchen life like nothing before.

They are introduced by Kiano Moju, chef, recipe developer, and author of the cookbook “AfriCali,” and Sarah Simms of Lady and Larder, the specialty shop she founded with her late sister Boo Simms, who we all adored. Lady and Larder has locations in Santa Monica and Carmel Valley, and I love their shops. Definitely go visit. We'll be back with the whole gang in just a minute.

A little housekeeping. We've got two cool things going on this coming Thursday. A lunch and panel that I'll be moderating in Washington D.C., and our monthly member meeting on Zoom. All right, so what's the lunch all about? Cherry Bombe has teamed up with the Visa Dining Collection by OpenTable and Visa to present a new event series, Working Lunch: Tastemakers at the Table. It's a celebratory daytime dining experience that brings together food, community, and the incredible women shaping the hospitality world. Each stop in the series will include a delicious chef-driven lunch, networking, and a panel conversation between me and some of the city's top culinary talent. It's the perfect way to break bread, make connections, and toast the season ahead. We're kicking things off in Washington D.C., like I said, this Thursday, November 13th, at Centrolina Restaurant with Chef Amy Brandwein. Then we'll be in New York City on November 20th at Markette with Chef India Doris, and then Charleston on December 11th. I haven't been to Charleston in ages. I can't wait to go back. Stay tuned for the venue. Access to all working lunch experiences is available for eligible Visa credit cards, and tickets are on sale now on OpenTable. Terms and conditions apply. Visit cherrybombe.com for links and all the delicious details. I hope to see you there. 

All right. Then also this Thursday at 3:00 PM on Zoom, we've got our November member meeting with special guest, Tiffany Lopinsky, the president and co-founder of ShopMy. You might remember Tiffany from a past episode, but the difference is: you get to ask questions this time. If you work for a cool brand or company or you're a culinary creator or aspiring creator, you need to tune in. We'll talk best practices and how ShopMy is giving creators a very powerful tool in their toolbox and money in their pockets. We love that. The meeting is for Bombesquad members and paid Substack subscribers only. Check your inbox or Substack for the registration link. If you'd like to join, visit cherrybombe.substack.com. We've got memberships starting at $6 a month.

Now, let's check in with today's guests.

Kiano Moju:

Hi, everyone.

Audience:

Hi.

Kiano Moju:

Oh, I love when you guys talk back. I'm Kiano Moju. I'm a chef, recipe developer, and author of the cookbook, “AfriCali.” It's the orange one on that table down there. And as you can tell from the title, the book celebrates my African heritage as well as my California upbringing. And this year, I have the semi-crazy idea of bringing my cookbook to life as a restaurant. So we've been running chaconne as a an Afri-Cali restaurant all summer and spring and now into fall at Citizen Market in downtown Culver City, and we'd love to have the Bombesquad come see us, we'll be there till Halloween.

Sarah Simms:

And I'm Sarah Simms. I co-founded the cheese shop Lady and Larder here in Santa Monica with my late twin sister, Boo Simms. We helped kickstart the grazing board movement back in 2016. And yeah, it's gotten pretty big, huh? I love that so many people love cheese. Our business has expanded to include a shop in Carmel-by-the-Sea, eCommerce, a cheese club, and of course, the Lady Crackers. We really hope you come visit us soon.

Kiano Moju:

So we are so thrilled to introduce this keynote interview. I'm guessing everyone here has watched "The Bear." Yes? Yes? And the lots of you have devoured all four seasons, fall in love with Carmy, Sydney, Richie, and cast and the rest of the crew.

Sarah Simms:

But at the same time, some of you chefs and restaurateurs in the room have said that you can barely watch it because it's just so spot on. They can't bear it, right?

Kiano Moju:

And at a tar, "The Bear" is about family, both our actual families and our restaurant families. So these two women you're about to meet help give the show the heart. Joanna Calo is co-showrunner of "The Bear,"and she's also worked on “Hacks,” “BoJack Horseman,” and co-wrote the Marvel Cinematic Universe film, “Thunderbolts.”

Sarah Simms:

And my dear, sweet, beautiful friend, Courtney Storer, is the culinary producer of "The Bear." She went from a career in HR to culinary school, cooked in Paris, and then found herself here in Los Angeles, where she's worked at critically acclaimed places such as Animal, Jon and Vinny's, and then launched her own business, Coco's to Go-Go.

Kiano Moju:

Courtney and Joanna will be interviewed by Kerry Diamond. Please welcome them all to the stage.

Kerry Diamond:

I am so thrilled to be talking to you two. Courtney, you're always one of my favorite people to interview. You've been on Radio Cherry Bombe, and I've loved learning about you. And Joanna, you and I have never talked. Oh my God. And you might not believe this. I have a list of people I've never talked to, Oprah, people like that. And you have been on that list, and you're finally here.

Joanna Calo:

I'm here. I'm so happy to be here.

Kerry Diamond:

First, I have to say congratulations on all the success of "The Bear." I mean, for those of us who've been on the other side of the journey, it has been nothing short of remarkable. I remember the very first day I saw the trailer. My first thought was like, "What is this? If this is half as good as the trailer, it's going to be amazing." And now here we are. They got picked up for season five. You start filming around January, and you have gotten 21 Emmys. Do I have that right?

Joanna Calo:

It's a lot.

Kerry Diamond:

It's a lot. I mean, I know I'm not asking questions, yet, I'm just like saying things, saying facts. But just on behalf of everybody in the food world, I mean, I really think that what you've done is as important to the industry as like Anthony Bourdain's “Kitchen Confidential.” It is industry-changing in that respect. And I just want to thank you on behalf of everybody for all the hard work and love that went into this project.

Courtney Storer:

Well, thank you so much for creating the Lilith Fair for everyone in the hospitality community. We're back, baby. This is amazing. Thank you, Kerry. Honestly, you've been so wonderful to Jo and I, but also so supportive of the show during a time that is very, very vulnerable. It's art. You're putting it out there in the world and it was really wonderful to just have you rooting for us. We appreciate it.

Kerry Diamond:

Thank you. Joanna, I want to start with you. Did you ever work in a restaurant?

Joanna Calo:

So I never worked in a restaurant, but I worked at the Emack & Bolios in New Jersey, which is an ice cream store. And then when I got to college, I worked in the cafeteria, which was actually really fascinating. I don't know why I agreed to do that. It's actually like, I mean, I needed money, that's why I did it. But it's actually really humiliating to wear a hairnet at college, but I did that and I served food and cleaned up and cleaned mats and did the whole thing. And then I would have loved to work in a restaurant or a bar, but I'm too spacey. Even at the ice cream store, they would tell me what they wanted. The ice cream is behind me.

Courtney Storer:

And you'd be looking at their outfit.

Joanna Calo:

By the time I turn around, I would have forgotten what they said. So I wouldn't have made it. I was a food lover. I loved food writing. I love Ruth Reichl. I like to read and there was always beautiful food in the books.

Kerry Diamond:

And a lot of folks don't necessarily know what a showrunner is. I know that's sort of like a term that's become very popular over the past few years. Can you tell folks what that means to be a showrunner?

Joanna Calo:

Yeah. It can mean different things, which is also annoying of us. But generally, what it means is that in television, you're the boss. In movies, really the director is the one with the vision and they're the ones that brings everything together. In television, it's really the showrunner. Chris and I, together, we hire writers and we come up with the season and we make sure the scripts are good. And then we go to set and we hire our staff. And it's our show's weirder because Chris and I direct most of them ourselves. So usually you then hire a director and then fight with them, but we just fight with each other.

Kerry Diamond:

You mentioned Chris. Chris Storer created "The Bear," Courtney's brother. So I've got questions about Chris for both of you, but Joanna, how did you and Chris connect and how did he convince you? Because I want to go back one second. When the trailer dropped for the show, I'm not saying this to be mean or anything. I felt like there were no expectations for your show.

Joanna Calo:

Yes, that's not mean.

Kerry Diamond:

They dropped it in June, and if anybody knows the entertainment industry, you don't drop the things that you think are going to be big hits-

Joanna Calo:

That's right.

Kerry Diamond:

... in June. There was almost no promotion. Not that this is the be all and the end all, but nobody had reached out to Cherry Bombe to write about it. So literally, if it wasn't for the trailer on Instagram, I wouldn't have even known about this. Were there little to no expectations on the part of the network?

Joanna Calo:

I think people were surprised by what happened. I also think that something that Chris and I had felt united about in the beginning was that remember when you would just discover things on your own and find them. I feel like these... I mean, obviously it's a really horrific time in our industry and it's really complicated, but I think sometimes it's also, it's like being jammed down your throat. And so I think that first time it was because I think there were low expectations and we had no famous people and all that. But moving forward, we always were sort of like, "We're okay doing less," and just so that people can be surprised and come up with their own feelings about it.

Kerry Diamond:

Was it a scrappy production at the beginning?

Joanna Calo:

Oh, it still is.

Courtney Storer:

Yeah.

Joanna Calo:

We're very scrappy. I met Chris on a Zoom. My manager had read "The Bear" was originally a movie that then he wanted to turn into a show and they were looking for a TV person to help. And I read it and was like, "Oh, I like this."

Kerry Diamond:

What attracted you to the project? What did you read that-

Joanna Calo:

I could feel the rhythm of it. And I was like, "This doesn't sound like anything else." And I said, "This person is trying to do something different," and that feels really exciting to me. And then we just met on a Zoom because it was the pandemic and we actually didn't meet in person for months, at which point I had to tell him that I was very pregnant because he didn't know and I was like, "Oh, no one's going to make the show. I'll just write the show and I'll say I'm going to show run, but it won't matter." And then of course they wanted to make the show. We just met and we got along.

Kerry Diamond:

Courtney, what is your version of that? I mean, you knew your brother had been doing these projects all along. You knew "The Bear" was supposed to be a movie originally. How did he get you to be part of this?

Courtney Storer:

Well, my brother's a man of mystery, that's for sure. He kind of keeps a lot of things private. His inner world as an artist is very private. And so when I've seen work of his, "The Bear" was written as a movie. So I had seen variations of it, but it didn't have a title. I was like, "Hey, when are you doing this show? What's happening?" He's like, "Oh, I don't know. I don't know." And then he called me one day and he's like, "We're going to make ‘The Bear.’" I was like, "What? What's ‘The Bear?’" And he was like, "The show about the restaurants." And I was like, "Okay, congratulations. Good job." And he was like, "Yeah, well, I guess we're going to need to talk to you and stuff about it." And I was like, "Okay, well, you can call my agent."

Just kidding. I didn't have an agent. And so I was like, "Yeah, well, I'll just see you tomorrow and we'll talk about it." It kind of fumbled along for a while. I really didn't know how involved I would be. I didn't know how helpful I was to the writers. That's when I met Jo, was actually pretty early. We ate a sandwich from Roma Deli and I dressed it up for her because I love the sandwich, but I wanted her to try it with balsamic and a little other... I remember fixing it for Jo and just really being impressed by her. And yeah, I didn't know really what was going to happen with how the show was going to actually be filmed. So each step was kind of magical and surprising and I kind of just went with it. And thank God at the time, I had left restaurants.

I was newly out of Jon and Vinny's kind of like, "What the hell did I just do? I just quit." Thought about quitting for a while, but when I did it, it was a scary place to be and I just felt a little lost and private cheffing and catering allowed me some space. And then luckily, I was able to join when they needed me.

Kerry Diamond:

Had you ever worked in TV or movies before?

Courtney Storer:

No. Just listen to Chris complain or talk about it. I'm like, "I could do that job. Throw me in. What do you need me to hold the camera?"

Kerry Diamond:

But Coco knows everyone in Los Angeles, which it feels like a chef thing, but you know-

Courtney Storer:

Yeah, I worked in an open kitchen and I knew all of the cast before I think a lot of the team did because they were customers at Jon and Vinny's. So Lionel and I went way back, which was really great for training him. And Jeremy, I've known for years, and Ayo. And so it was kind of natural to guide them through the process, especially very early on.

Kerry Diamond:

Similar to Jo and showrunning, can you explain to people what it means to be a culinary producer and what your role was in the beginning and how it's evolved?

Courtney Storer:

Yeah. I think culinary producing is really interesting because it's macro and micro. So there's a macro where if Jo has a question or needs something specific for the writing team, we can go into a story or I can say, "Hey, here's what happened to my personal experience." And we can really drill those details in like a script sense with their team. But it's also looking at the movement in the space and really getting it accurate with the cast so that they're prepared when they get into set, that they're actually moving like a chef will move. We don't use hand doubles and most of the time what you see on screen is Jeremy, it's Ayo. We don't have hand doubles on set. So season one, we didn't have a food stylist. So I just ran it like a restaurant and I was like, "Okay, I'm cooking, I'm ordering like a restaurant, turn this oven on."

The oven didn't work, so we had like this easy bake oven and I was cooking like 250 pounds of Italian beef. The union guys were like, "Yo, what's up with the beef? What time is it served?" I was like, "You guys, I can't right now with you. Come back later." But I was freaking out and I think culinary producing is just kind of being a little bit of a jack of all trades, really. It was very close to being a chef in that you kind of just meet each challenge and learn it. I think that's what's so interesting about "The Bear" is when we came in, I was like, "Okay, don't people put Vaseline in squirt bottles and like spray it on stuff? I'm not doing any of that." And my brother was like, "No, we want it to feel real and we want real food." And I think that it made an impression on camera.

It also made my job really stressful, I think, at times where people would just look at me and be like, "Don't ask her, don't ask." I'm like, "What?" They're like, "We need a few more pounds." I'm like, "What's a few more pounds?" They're like, "200 pounds." I'm like, "Of course." And then it would be like my brother and I'd be like, "Yeah, Chris. Yeah, 200 more pounds. No problem."

Kerry Diamond:

That's right. I just remembered you had told me you were always the clipboard girl at every restaurant you worked in. You were the organized person who was on top of everything.

Courtney Storer:

Yeah. They saw me coming a mile away and I would be like, "I don't care. I'm organized." It's so surprising because in my personal life I'm not, but in a kitchen, I like to create structure because I think people can perform within structure and it sets them up for success. And as a chef, I always felt like, okay, I might not be the best chef in the whole wide world. I came into being a head chef a little bit young in my cooking career, but I had leadership experience. So I came in from working at UPS and Whole Foods and human resources. So I was like, wow, things that I learned from logistics is that when you have a plan and people can stick to a plan, they perform a little bit differently. And then we can start having fun. And when the stress is stressful because the restaurant's busy, at least they're not panicking because they're running out of things all the time or like, how can I create the security blanket?

And so we talked a lot about that with Sydney's characters, her having sort of a lot of things to help the team and then what it feels like to go in and not be met with encouraging eyes of like, "Hey, great, you're here."

Kerry Diamond:

For those of you who heard UPS and Whole Foods, we're going to come back to that because that is a very fascinating part of your story. Jo, I want to know, how did you get into the entertainment industry?

Joanna Calo:

Oh, I don't know. I mean, I really liked movies. I really liked watching movies. And so I went to college for marine biology and then...

Kerry Diamond:

Step one.

Joanna Calo:

Yeah. Step one, yes, try very hard to get a biology degree. And then dropped out, worked in TV as a PA for two years and just was here. I was 19 and kind of worked on shows and I was way too young to be living here by myself. I've realized now at this age, but loved it. Just loved it. Just wanted to be there. I mean, it's just you love something, but I still wasn't like, "Oh, I'm going to do it." I just was like, "I'm just going to work. I'll be a PA for the rest of my life." I went back to college, I got a film degree, but like a film history degree, a film studies degree and then just worked.

I was an assistant for 10 years and then I was a writer on staff for 10 years before I ran a show. So I just kind of like was in it. I was in it. I just was there for the ride. I kind of didn't really know what I was going to do and I didn't really care. I just was sort of like, "Oh, I'll just keep working. I'm very happy."

Kerry Diamond:

You put in the hours.

Joanna Calo:

Yeah.

Kerry Diamond:

Yeah. Seriously. So many of us love “Hacks,” right? What did you do on “Hacks?”

Joanna Calo:

So I wrote on the first season of “Hacks.” I'm boring. I talk about how I have children. It is a thing I have to talk about constantly, but I was writing on “BoJack Horseman,” which was my friend's show, and it was brilliant and I loved it, but I had had a baby and then I was still there. And then I was like, "I think I want to work with humans." I just was like, I don't really... It wasn't even the animal. It was the live action.

Kerry Diamond:

Right. Animated.

Joanna Calo:

Yes. It's an animated horse show, which is good. I was like, "Oh, I want to work it with humans." And so I kind of had to really specifically say, "Don't say yes to the next five animated things that you're given." And then I was able to do “Babysitter’s Club,” which again was like kids and sort of like close, but obviously it's “Babysitter's Club.” And then Lucia was an EP of that, and then I was able to get in and go right on “Hacks,” which was great.

Kerry Diamond:

Courtney, you mentioned UPS, but I want to talk about Whole Foods because your Whole Foods story is nothing short of remarkable. You had a boss and what did that boss tell you? Wait and what department were you with?

Courtney Storer:

Well, I was the HR person, but he told me to stop telling the prepared foods department how to cook the salmon and he was right. That was totally inappropriate and they were my friends. And I was just like, "Guys, what if we try higher heat less time?" And they were like, "Okay." And then he was like, "Who's telling them to do the salmon differently?" And it was like a big snafu and it ended up being me. And then he was like, "Look, you really love cooking. And I can tell, but there's a culinary school down the street. They have night classes." His name's Mark Barbieri. He's amazing. I still talk to him, but because of him, I enrolled in culinary school. I always wanted to be a chef. There's a lot of reasons. I was deterred for a lot of reasons. I was always front of house since I was 15 years old. I never left restaurants. In any job that I've had, I've always worked at restaurants on the side.

So I knew it was a calling, but I never gave myself the chance until someone pushed me. So if you see people like that, encouragement is so important in someone's story.

Kerry Diamond:

I want to ask about the specific characters on the show because there's a lot more to Courtney's story and obviously Jo's story. You worked so many places, you worked in France. We talked about the places that you worked at here. After I first heard your story and watched the first season of "The Bear," I thought, "Courtney is Carmy." Are you Carmy?

Courtney Storer:

Jo, am I Carmy?

Joanna Calo:

No. Oh, no. I mean, I think-

Kerry Diamond:

I don't have any questions left after that.

Joanna Calo:

I mean, I think Carmy is made up, I'll be honest.

Courtney Storer:

I know a few Carmys.

Joanna Calo:

Yeah, exactly. I think we would bring in chefs to speak to and mainly to Coco and to Matty and just be like, "Tell us every single one of your stories and we're going to steal all of them." I think Coco is in a lot of the characters. There's some Carmy, there's some Sydney. It's totally an invention of just, yeah, sad little chef boy.

Kerry Diamond:

Let's talk about the actors on the show, because I mean, you all know they're all superstars now. Jeremy Allen White, who was famous before, but not on this level. Ayo Edebiri at the Venice Film Festival with Julia. Julia, I was going to say Julia Child. With Julia Roberts about to be in this huge movie and on and on and on, what is it or was it about "The Bear" that has been such a star-making machine, because it really has been?

Joanna Calo:

I actually think the fact that they were able to be in something that sort of... Because we weren't being watched as much in the beginning, I think we were able to give them... They could play, you know what I mean? They could bring themselves to it. And I think it felt like the kind of thing that you could see actual acting in instead of just kind of playing these roles that are sort of these typecast things. So I think everyone always wants to talk about how we're not funny.

And I feel like what I'm always thinking about is how emotional these really talented and also funny comedic actors got to be. And so I think it's the thing that makes us not funny is probably what allowed them for people to see how talented they were.

Courtney Storer:

Well, they're all superstars. I've never been around actors before, so sometimes I'd just be watching and they'd be like, "Coco, go jump in." I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, whoa." Because it's wild to see memorizing the script, but with each of the different personalities that they bring and the chemistry with each other is really significant. And you see some of that on the episodes, but watching that behind the scenes was amazing and watching them grow together has been really special because I think what we feel in restaurants, the camaraderie, meeting each other, showing up for each other, I see that within their dynamics before they start rolling and they're filming, is that they do that for each other in this really beautiful team way. I like seeing them all succeed because they deserve it, but when it comes to the show, they all do the work. They work really hard.

Joanna Calo:

I also think the whole show where it's like the crew and the actors and every department, I feel like everyone goes to the highest level. And I don't know if that's just that group of people or just if it's some magic thing, but I haven't felt that on this show more than any other show where it's like, "Oh, I see you working that hard. I'm going to work that hard," and that person's going to work that hard and that person's going to work that hard. And to all raise to that level has been very exciting.

Kerry Diamond:

How do you decide what to mirror in terms of what's going on in the restaurant industry? I know for a show to succeed, it has to be emotional first and foremost, but it really has tracked with a lot of what's going on in our industry, toxic kitchens, fine dining, things like that. What kind of conversations do you have about those things when you're working on the scripts and the show?

Joanna Calo:

I don't know how we choose. That's actually a good question. I mean, I think some of it feels the most obvious to some extent, but so much of it really is driven from the actual stories that people have come and talked to us about because I think that feels like the freshest. It's not just you read an old article about restaurants. It's like, no, you're hearing from stories right now of how depressed someone was or how working those hours killed them or how they missed their friend's wedding or all that stuff. I think it's just trying to take from people's stories.

Courtney Storer:

Yeah. I mean, it's hard being a chef, being present in the show sometimes because there is a sense of responsibility. I don't take it lightly. It's a conversation Chris and I have a lot and sometimes a tense one because sometimes I'll be like, "Enough Carmy, send Sydney in again." There's just like moments where I understand the story he's trying to tell and all the writers and Jo and it's such a collective. So I think trying to encompass all the complexity in the restaurant industry is really, really hard. And then also that there isn't a definitive answer in a lot of the things that we show about toxicity, about unhealthy dynamics and all of these things. It's like we're barely scratching the surface on a thing that is very complex and has a long way to go still.

Kerry Diamond:

Want to talk about season five. You probably can't tell me anything. I don't even know if you've finished it, but you do have to start to think about the end, I guess, right? How does it work in Hollywood? I have no idea how it works. Do you think about each season as it could be the last or do you think to yourself, "I don't want this to ever end?" How do you balance those things when you're working on the script and the show?

Joanna Calo:

It's two things, right? It's a story and it's our lives and it's a lot of people's lives. And so it ends up being more like a restaurant in that way than a story. You're like, "Okay, this is actually like a business and how does it work and how much does it cost and how many hours does it take?" And that's, I think, you're trying to meld those two things. How do we end the story beautifully? How could one end the story beautifully and also the fact that there's all these people whose lives have changed a lot in the last five years. You have to make those two things hit in the same way.

Courtney Storer:

It's really scary for me because it's the only time I really get to see my brother in this way. And I'm like, "No." But I think it's like we can't carry on forever. And I think finalizing the story in a way that makes the most sense with respect to the characters instead of just saying, "Hey, we need to continue this on and not make the best show possible." It's that dance. So I trust you guys to make the right decision. I'll be there forever though, if you want me.

Joanna Calo:

I will say, when I was in the set on set last year or whenever that was, was that this year, I was standing at the bar and I was like, "I'm going to really miss this restaurant." I'll go and I'll sit at the bar on set or I'll sit in one of the booths and I'll work. And it's like, you have those places in your town or whatever and you're like, "Oh, that's my spot and I go there." And it's like, "Oh, this restaurant's going to end." And it made me really sad.

Kerry Diamond:

One last question, this might be a hard one, but what do you ultimately hope the message of "The Bear" is maybe one day looking back when all is said and done?

Joanna Calo:

Oh, gosh. I mean, what I would hope is that people are what matter and the few people in your vicinity are the ones that matter. I think all of us are women and going out and trying to make a life and it's weird. And I think especially being a little bit older, you start to go like, it really is who are the people you're actually talking to every day and how can we be kind to them and how can we let that hopefully circle back and have us be kind to each other? I mean, it's kind of boring, but I think that's what it is.

Courtney Storer:

I think a big thing I hope people take away is that none of us are alone. When you're thinking about trauma or what people go through, I think Chris and I grew up in a family system where we had to hide a lot of dysfunction and the art therapy, the biggest takeaway for me is watching some of these things on television, even though it's been very painful for parts of my family and things like that. We were exposing, in a lot of ways, some things that I think a lot of people deal with. Stuff that goes on at home, difficulty with relationships with siblings or families or found family and how significant found family is and that that found family sometimes happens at a restaurant. That's what saved me in my life. So I think it's really important on the show to kind of demonstrate that in some of the relationships that you see.

Kerry Diamond:

That's beautiful. Well, thank you both for this gift that you've given all of us. Thank you for your time today.

Courtney Storer:

Thank you. Thank you for watching.

Kerry Diamond:

That's it for today's show. Thank you for listening. If you love "The Bear" as much as I do, check out my past interviews with Courtney and the stars of the show, Ayo Edebiri, Liza Colón-Zayas, and Jeremy Allen White. I have loved talking to all of them. Our theme song is by the band Tralala. Our producers are Catherine Baker and Jenna Sadhu. Our executive assistant is Bridgid Pittman, and our head of partnerships is Rachel Close. Thanks for listenin,g everybody. You're the Bombe.