"Omelette" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American television comedy-drama series The Bear. It is the 17th overall episode of the series and was written by executive producer Joanna Calo and series creator Christopher Storer, and directed by Storer. It was released on Hulu on June 22, 2023, along with the rest of the season.
The series follows Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto, an award-winning New York City chef de cuisine, who returns to his hometown of Chicago to run his late brother Michael's failing Italian beef sandwich shop. In the episode, the staff prepares for the soft opening of The Bear, while Cicero gives some advice to Carmy over his priorities.
The episode received critical acclaim, with critics praising the calmed nature of the episode, character development and pacing.
Natalie (Abby Elliott) surprises Carmy by revealing she invited their mother for the opening, and Carmy reluctantly supports the decision. Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) gets Fak (Matty Matheson) and Gary (Corey Hendrix) to work in front of the restaurant to help him, and also talks with Natalie over having to increase reservations despite a fully booked two weeks in order to reach profitability. As the staff prepares for the final stages, Cicero (Oliver Platt) pays a visit to talk with Carmy. He provides him with his business license, but warns him about prioritizing the restaurant's best interests. He compares it to the Steve Bartman incident, feeling that a single mistake could potentially lead to other disastrous events. As such, Carmy chooses to ignore Claire's phone call prior to the opening, so she leaves a voice message instead.
As Carmy and Sydney try to accommodate a table, Carmy apologizes for his behavior, and promises to be more cooperative with her in their plans. He also surprises her by giving her a custom chef's coat. With just a minutes away, Carmy has forgotten to have the handle of the walk-in refrigerator replaced, but is focused in getting everything ready. With Carmy, Richie and Natalie in the reception, Sydney proclaims "let it rip", and Richie opens the door to the customers.
Context
The issue of Ebra becoming ServSafe-certified "relates to a 2013 state law mandating that all paid staff be certified food handlers...and be supervised by a certified food protection manager. That's not unique to Illinois, but still requires hours of training, passage of a written exam, and as much as a couple hundred bucks in tuition costs, depending on the level at issue (manager versus food handler). Employ uncertified staff, and you get shut down."[1] This and other license and permitting issues surfaced in season two are part of the "Kafkaesque and daunting...bureaucratic challenge" of opening a new restaurant in the United States.[1]
Production
Development
In May 2023, Hulu confirmed that the ninth episode of the season would be titled "Omelette", and was to be written by executive producer Joanna Calo and series creator Christopher Storer, and directed by Storer.[2] It was Calo's fifth writing credit, Storer's seventh writing credit, and Storer's eleventh directing credit.[3]
Costuming
Carmy gave Sydney chef whites embroidered with her initials as a gift before the restaurant opening. Designer Thom Browne confirmed via Instagram that the whites was a custom design.[4] One Daily Beast column about the chemistry between Syd and Carmen commented that "a Thom Browne chef coat is basically a marriage proposal."[5] Series creator Christopher Storer is a fan of Thom Browne, and Sydney wore an embroidered Thom Browne shirt on her first day and the restaurant and a different one later in season one.[6] According to costume designer Courtney Wheeler, it took four to six months to create the chef whites, and "I'm so glad that they were able to do that. It's so fitting for Sydney. It's such a great gift and kind of shows that Carmy is believing in her, and so it connects their relationship. But also just for the show, for Chris, it's such a full circle moment."[6]
Taking after mentor Richie, Neil Fak also starts wearing suits. Matty Matheson's personal tailor Harry Rosen created a retro-styled brown suit and pink-striped shirt combo that costume designer Courtney Wheeler thought was intended to suggest a vintage JCPenney or Sears suit that Neil had borrowed from his dad's closet. Wheeler added a vintage embroidered tie purchased at Richard's Fabulous Finds in Chicago.[7]
Set design
The table that Carmy and Syd screwed under was made by Chicago's Navillus Woodworks.[8]
The episode opens with a blue-filtered Claire–Carmy sex scene, followed by a scene between Sydney and her father (in which she discloses that her most recent dinner was a left Twix), followed by a scene of Carmy alone in the alley behind the restaurant having a panic attack. In attempting to resolve his distress, "Carm tries to envision happier times with his current fling, Claire, but that only makes him spiral harder. And then, poof! All of his nerves go away the second he imagines his co-chef, Sydney, walking through the restaurant doors on her first day."[10] The Pearl Jam song "Strange Currencies" plays backward during the panic attack, in garbled, disconcerting form, as the camera tracks forward to the distressed Carm, while he is consumed by thoughts of Claire and members of his dysfunctional family including Mikey (Jon Bernthal), Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis), and "Uncle" Lee (Bob Odenkirk).[11] Once a memory of Sydney appears in Carm's mind, soundtrack then switches to the usual, forward-played, melodic version of the song.[11] This was called the episode's, if not the season's, "most controversial" scene because of its implications for Carmy's feelings about the two women.[10]
Food: Sydney's omelette
Syd's omelette is based on a classic French omelette.[12][13] A French omelette is prepared differently than omelettes served in the United States, where the show is set.[14]
French omelettes are different from American omelettes in two primary ways. First, they are very thin, and they cook very quickly. American omelettes tend to be thick and fluffy, stuffed with toppings and add-ins, but a French omelette is thin and elegant. The second difference is the toppings. American omelettes include a bevy of options, but the French version traditionally only includes eggs, butter, and perhaps some cheese, but not always. The point of a French omelette is to highlight the creamy, perfectly cooked eggs without any distraction from other ingredients.[14]
According to restaurateur Abe Beame, Syd's omelette technique is "more or less flawless, although, if I may nitpick, the pan doesn't seem hot enough because the butter isn't 'singing' as it should when it first hits the pan, and she pipes a thin tube of Boursin onto the setting eggs, a major no-no (but almost certainly delicious, based on Ludo Lefevbre's omelet recipe). Extra point for rubbing butter onto the rolled omelet on the plate, and the textural chip crumble with chive garnish spoke directly to my Jewish palate. More food-based intimacy in season 3, please."[15][16][17]
Boursin is a so-called "Gournay cheese" invented by Norman cheese maker François Boursin in 1957.[18] It's a soft, creamy, spreadable cow's milk cheese—not dissimilar from mascarpone, goat's milk chèvre, or Brie—that was "inspired by the common French party treat called fromage frais."[19] The original flavor is garlic-and-fines herbes.[18] Chef Lefevbre recommends the cracked black pepper flavor of Boursin for an omelette.[20] Lacking Boursin, scallion-blend cream cheese from a bagel shop is a viable substitute.[21] Sydney used what were likely sour-cream-and-onion-flavor Ruffles-brand potato chips, since she mentioned using chips that have "ridges," but any crumbled-up potato chip would work.[21] One food writer commented that the use of crumbled potato chips recalled the use of potato in tortilla española.[22]
1⁄2 head cauliflower chopped into small florets 10 ribs celery diced 5 carrots diced 2 large bell peppers 1 cup sliced green pitted olives 4 serrano peppers sliced
"Omelette" received critical acclaim. Marah Eakin of Vulture gave the episode a perfect 5 star out of 5 rating and wrote, "The Bear has always been about personal development and clearing out all the mess left over from years of neglect, be it greasy oven hoods or childhood trauma. Perhaps The Bear's future lies not just in further excavation of that idea but also in figuring out how to use those old bricks to build something new, whether it's functional adulthood, a thriving career, or a successful relationship."[29]
A.J. Daulerio of Decider wrote, "I guess Nat decided that Richie was the best option to captain the front of the house. I love the transformation, but this guy was stealing electricity a month ago. They should let him bus tables for a few nights first."[30] Arnav Srivastava of The Review Geek gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The final stepping stone to the finale was all about the little details. This episode really gave viewers an opportunity to critique the characters and their decisions, such as what may be behind Carmen's inclinations."[31] Karl R De Mesa from Show Snob wrote, "Carmy brings out a gift for her. It's a new chef’s whites double-breasted jacket with her initials on them. The rest of the episode is a beautiful cut-to-cut of the prep chaos and will that goes on behind every kitchen five minutes to opening. What an appetizer for the season finale."[32]
Rafa Boladeras of MovieWeb named the episode as the sixth best of the season, writing "the most important moment in the whole episode is the conversation between Carmy and Sydney under the table, about how they're a team, and they wouldn't want to do this without the other. This talk is as emotionally open and sincere as they come, or at least for two people who aren't a couple, just friends and co-workers. Also, an omelette on TV has never looked as delicious as the one Sydney cooks for Natalie."[33] Jasmine Blu of TV Fanatic named the episode as the sixth best of the season, writing "The penultimate episode of the season perfectly set things up for the intense finale as it subtly put the spotlight on some key aspects of what would arise. Carmy missing the call from the Fridge guy and routinely being distracted, for example."[34]
Retrospective reviews
In 2024, The Hollywood Reporter placed "Omelette" at 18 on a ranked list of 28 episodes produced to that point.[35] ScreenRant ranked "Omelette" 9th out of the 28 episodes produced through the end of season three, on account of the episode's "compassionate" portraits of Sydney and Carmy, and scenes that suggest that the two chefs were "destined" to meet.[36]
In 2025, Vulture ranked "Omelette" as 21st-best out of 38 episodes of The Bear, describing it as "more of an appetizer teasing the season two finale than a whole meal on its own."[37]Esquire magazine listed "Omelette" at number 7 on its 2025 list of top 10 best episodes from the first three seasons of The Bear, based on the appeal of "the true heart of the episode...Carmy and Sydney meeting as equals in a gorgeous one-take scene of them screwing—screwing a table together, mind you, though the metaphor is obvious. In a show where everyone screams about what's eating them up, it's refreshing and even exciting to see them whisper under the furniture for once."[38]
↑ Kindelsperger, Nick (July 29, 2020). "20 Best Italian Beefs". Chicago Tribune (Part 1 of 2). pp.5–1. Retrieved October 5, 2025. & "Beef" (Part 2 of 2). pp.5–11.
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