Every summer show needs one: a handsome chef with dreamy eyes who’s juggling a complicated relationship with two women — one who’s familiar, and one who shakes up his world — while unsuccessfully striving to earn a Michelin star for his restaurant.
In terms of artistic archetype, Gabriel from Emily in Paris and Carmy from The Bear might be the same chef. Granted, in many ways, they couldn’t be more different. Spoilers ahead for Emily in Paris Season 4.
Choose Your Fighter
Just like The Bear’s eponymous restaurant, Gabriel’s L’esprit de Gigi hopes to cook up a Michelin star. Both chefs pull out all the stops to make it happen. Carmy creates a list of “non-negotiables,” including a menu that changes every day, while Gabriel reluctantly enlists the help of a temperamental pastry chef who’s obsessed with trompe l’oeils.
The chefs both have some personal stuff to work through — or not work through, in Carmy’s case. His pursuit of excellence led him to damage his fledgling relationship with his childhood crush. It might also send Sydney (his partner and potential true love, depending on who you ask) off to find a more stable work environment.
Gabriel also has two very important women in his life. There’s Camille, his ex-girlfriend with whom he plans to welcome a child — although she later learns she wasn’t actually pregnant. Then Emily, the spunky American neighbor he’s long had feelings for and finally pursues a relationship with in Season 4.
Unlike Carmy, however, Gabriel seems to have achieved a healthy work-life balance, even taking Emily on a romantic date where they exchange an adorable “I love you.”
Carmy, Take Notes
The latest installments of both The Bear and Emily in Paris see these bids for a Michelin star come to naught. Carmy learns that the Chicago Tribune has given The Bear a mixed review, and while that doesn’t preclude him from getting a star, it certainly doesn’t bode well.
Gabriel, meanwhile, learns that the Michelin inspector who gave him a good chance of being starred was a fraud. After looking vaguely concerned for a moment, he switches gears, relishing the opportunity to fire his pastry chef, then treating his entire restaurant to champagne.
“It was too much pressure ... I have everything I need,” he assures his loved ones. “I have a great restaurant. I have a smart, beautiful girlfriend, and a baby on the way. I’m the luckiest man alive.”
Granted, Gabriel doesn’t yet know about the baby situation — but still! His reaction to losing out a potential Michelin star should be a lesson to Carmy, whose culinary ambitions often get in the way of his happiness.
The contrasting approaches to chef life extend behind the scenes, too. To play Carmy, Jeremy Allen White went through weeks of culinary training and worked at several restaurants, including Michelin-starred Pasjoli in Santa Monica, California, per Entertainment Weekly.
Lucas Bravo, who plays Gabriel? “I don’t know how I prepare... I just prepare to be in love, and to find new places, and to fall in love even more with my city,” he recently told Screen Rant, likening the show to a “long vacation with the people you love.”
Granted, The Bear is known for its intense and authentic depiction of restaurants and the people who work in them, while Emily in Paris is more of an aspirational reality where bangs and a bold fit empower you to achieve your dreams.
But if Carmy needs a break in The Bear Season 4, perhaps staging at L’Esprit de Gigi will provide the change of perspective he needs.
