Biography
Chef Terry is depicted as "calm, caring, soft spoken, and focused." [1] Her legendary restaurant, a fictionalized version of Chicago's real-world Ever, is maybe "the best restaurant in the world." [1] Her father was in the military and she apparently adapted to his desire for order, such that she "runs her kitchen with the silent precision of a fine Swiss watch." [2] Terry is depicted as having trained, employed, mentored, collaborated with or befriended many star chefs, including fictional peers Carmy, Luca, and Adam. [3] She is also responsible for or somehow familiar with the villainous and sociopathic Chef David Fields (Joel McHale), who haunted the fictional New York restaurant Empire and then Carmy's nightmares and panic attacks for years. [4] Similarly, Terry's current chef de cuisine Adam Shapiro, who eventually seeks to poach chef Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri) from the Bear to be his chef de cuisine at an unnamed restaurant in the Avondale neighborhood of Chicago, at one point "erupts into a torrent of verbal abuse aimed at Garrett (Andrew Lopez), who must bear the responsibility for one of his staff having smudged food on a plate. Chef Adam's behavior is excessive and vicious. And in light of what has come immediately before, the outburst raises the question of whether [Terry's supposed] values...are merely masks for disvalue." [5] Less problematically, Terry is shown to be an associate or friend of real-world chefs and restaurateurs Grant Achatz, Dave Beran, Kevin Boehm, Wylie Dufresne, Will Guidara, Genie Kwon, Malcolm Livingston II, Anna Posey, Rosio Sanchez, Christina Tosi, and Lucas Trahan. [3] As depicted in multiple episodes of season three, but especially the visually exquisite and meditative season-three premiere episode "Tomorrow," "[Terry's] dulcet voice commands her team, demanding perfection without the abuse and trauma. She sees Carmy's potential and chooses to nurture it, not through mind games and negativity, but by building his confidence and guiding him in the right direction." [2]
Chef Terry is initially only suggested as a presence at the beginning of the season two episode "Forks," an apparently untouchable, unknowable goddess of an elite chef, whom only designated demigods may approach. [5] When Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who was sent to Ever by Carmy to stage with the front of house staff, finally encounters her, she is doing the simple, hands-on prep work of peeling mushrooms, thus modeling that care for one's duties is honorable thing, and impressing upon Richie a resonant and enduring lesson about "the significance of others, and how worthy they are to be known, served and valued." [5]
After more than a decade at the culinary peak of Chicago cuisine, Chef Terry decides to retire to visit London more often and spend more time enjoying the quality of life she has worked so hard to serve others through her food. [6] The finale of season three is a celebratory "funeral" for the beloved restaurant. [6] Both Terry's Ever and Carmy and Sydney's Bear are sites of "visual splendor" where "the restaurant is a living, breathing organism, composed of ego and community, but also of food." [7] In Terry's eulogy for the business, she declares that one of the main lessons she learned over her career was that the relationships she established with people she served and worked with were more important and memorable than any plated dish could ever be, and indeed, the connection contributes to the experience of dining. [1] [7] As one of Ever's alumni chefs, Carmy attends the funeral, with Sydney as his plus one, and Richie spending the evening in the kitchen with expert service expediter Jessica (Sarah Ramos). [6] After dinner Terry finds Carmen, as she calls him, on a mist-shrouded street outside the restaurant and they talk one-on-one, which is a "heartfelt moment...Carmy reveals that he has learned a lot from Andrea while she tells him...she was able to make a career along with the people she wanted, which makes her feel more proud." [6] The approachable goddess ends the evening at a raucous afterparty at Syd's tiny apartment, spooning caviar onto baked Eggo waffles, drinking keg beer out of red Solo cups, and singing along to "Laid" by James. [8] The following day, Richie announces to Bear co-owners Jimmy (Oliver Platt) and Carmy that he has replaced recently resigned employees Eric, Debbie, and Daveed with some of Terry's legacy to Chicago cuisine, the exceptional front-of-house staffers Garrett, Jess, and Rene (Rene Gube). [9]
