In case you haven’t been on Twitter this week, perhaps you have not been blessed to see Jeremy Allen White’s photo on your timeline with some sort of anecdote about the food service industry. The still is from White’s new show The Bear, a food-centric drama about a young man who takes over his family’s sandwich shop after a tragic death.
Despite playing a savvy chef, White himself is actually a bit self-conscious about his food choices. While speaking to IndieWire, the actor admitted that people might judge him for his go-to food spots in Chicago, where the show takes place. “People are gonna make fun of me,” White began.
“We didn’t shoot Shameless really in Chicago — we shot it in Los Angeles mostly — but we would go kind of like two weeks a season,” White explained. “And there was a Portillo’s, which is like a chain in Chicago, but their Italian beef was very good. It was kind of like my introduction to Italian beef. Also their sausages; they have a really amazing chocolate cake. But it’s like a blue-chip sandwich spot, so I dunno if I’m gonna get like dragged for picking it. But it was my first, so I’d have to say I’ll always have a soft spot for Portillo’s.”
Unlike the show, which is riddled with anxiety-inducing kitchen montages, White said the vibes on set were great. “We knew that we did something really good. The feeling on set was always strong. But then when you put something out there, you just never know.” he added. “You could be thinking you’re making the greatest thing and it just doesn’t touch upon whatever is going on in the zeitgeist and it doesn’t catch.” It seems like it caught!
All episodes of The Bear are streaming on Hulu now.
