The Cast Of The Bear Tell Us Their Favorite Family Meal

If there's one resonant theme running through the entirety of all five seasons of "The Bear," it's about finding, creating, and holding on to your family, whether through blood or choice. The final season is no exception, with Luca (Will Poulter) even telling Marcus (Lionel Boyce) that while he's worked in some of the best restaurants with the best chefs, "The Bear has something none of those other places have." When Marcus asks him what that is, Luca responds simply, "Family." We also see the core cast enjoying their "family meal" of Sydney's (Ayo Edebiri) Coca-Cola braised ribs before dinner service, while Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) names her fried Brussels sprouts dish "Family Meal" before sending it out with the rest of the prix fixe menu.

With all that rich history and context in mind, we spoke exclusively with the cast of "The Bear" about what a family meal means to them. Read below, and think about what your own personal family meal might be.

Although the internet loves to talk about Ayo Edebiri's connection to Ireland (based on a joke she made on a press tour), her mother is actually from Barbados, and Edebiri grew up in a culturally rich and diverse area of Boston. It would make sense that when she hears "family meal," she naturally thinks of the food of her youth.

Edebiri, who plays Sydney, explains that her mother "makes cou-cou and flying fish, but she makes it with red snapper usually here. So that's one that's definitely home." If you've never heard of the cou-cou and flying fish combination, it's the national dish of Barbados, and features cornmeal and okra with a delicious vegetable stew and fish.

Additionally, Edebiri nods to her Boston neighborhood. She says, "Pho is such a comfort food for me. And it reminds me of the neighborhood I grew up specifically in Boston. There were a lot of Vietnamese refugees. ... And so I really love Vietnamese food, as well." If you want to indulge in Edebiri's nostalgic meal, make sure you know how to eat pho properly.

As we learn over and over again in "The Bear," sometimes your family is the one you create. For Brian Koppelman, who plays family friend Nicolas "The Computer" Marshall, it's his wife's cooking that defines the family meal. He says, "She's a really wonderful cook, and there are some dishes that she makes that the whole family love. She makes an incredible, like, watermelon salad with feta and mint and olive oil ... all summer long we eat it."

But that's not all — Koppelman's wife has the main course covered, too. He continues, mentioning another of Amy's specialties: "A pasta dish too, that has peas and bacon and ricotta. That just feels like our family." Both of these dishes sound ideal for a big family party or holiday cookout, so fingers crossed for an invite.

Oliver Platt, who plays the cantankerous yet kind Uncle Jimmy, went straight to the most family-oriented meal of all: Thanksgiving. It makes sense that when you think about a "family meal," you would think of one where everyone you love is gathered together. But for Platt, the best part of the meal isn't the first, or even the main (or dessert) course.

He explains, "My family likes family meals a lot. ... I love Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving's so great." For him, the leftovers are the best part. "When you're cooking, you're thinking about leftovers. You know what I mean? You cook more. ... So much stuff gets better in the fridge. Stuffing in particular." If you're looking for some suggestions on how to use your own Thanksgiving leftovers, you can always try turning that turkey carcass into homemade stock, and also don't forget to enhance your stuffing so it's the best it can be in the first place. When you reach into the cold fridge with that spoon, you're going to thank us.

As pastry chef Luca, you might expect Will Poulter to think of something sugary or sweet when recalling a family dish. However, his response makes sense as a tribute to his origins. Poulter says, "This is a very British answer, but my mum is famous for her Sunday roast, as a lot of mums and dads up and down the country are in the UK. My mum's roast beef with all the traditional, like, trimmings, it's hard to beat. It's the thing that brought us all together [and] that taught me that food can be a love language. Nothing beats it."

When we asked if Poulter might be thinking about making his own version of the Sunday roast to carry on his mum's tradition, he vehemently denied any interest in doing a roast himself. "I know I'll never be able to get on my mum's level and I also don't want her to stop," he says with a laugh. If you're interested in creating a Sunday roast for yourself, however, you'll want to grab a meat of your choice, some vegetables, and potatoes. And don't forget the Yorkshire puddings, either.

Sometimes the thing that comes to mind when we think of a "family meal" is one of our earliest memories. For Sarah Ramos, who plays the refined expediter Jessica, her personal preferences run perhaps a bit more simple than her onscreen counterpart. Ramos says quickly, "The first thing that comes to my mind is, like, cereal. ... I love sugar cereal."

When we asked if she had a specific cereal preference, she was happy to elaborate. Ramos continues, "It might have started with a Frosted Flake, a Lucky Charm, but I've graduated to Froot Loops with marshmallows." It does seem as though American breakfasts are particularly sweet, but there is something about that first sugary crunch that will take you back to Saturday morning cartoons and pajamas at the house you grew up in. Personally, we didn't know that Froot Loops had added marshmallows, but we're interested in doing our own taste test.

Finally, we had to end with the lead actor of "The Bear," Jeremy Allen White, who plays Carmen. White's character brought all of these disparate characters together, and is the glue holding the restaurant family together. Interestingly, his answer about a meal that reminds him of family touches on both his real-life family and restaurants.

White says, "I grew up in Carroll Gardens, here in Brooklyn, and I think there was something about a red sauce and a pasta and meatballs ... that always felt like home or felt warm. There were a couple of really great restaurants around that we would go to, like just old red tablecloth, like red sauce spots. ... [That] always makes me think of, like, home and growing up, and family."

When we asked if there was anything that specifically made him think of his "The Bear" family, he mentioned that he used the Frankies Spuntino cookbook (an Italian restaurant also located in Carroll Gardens) in preparation for the show. He specifically said there were some pasta dishes he cooked that would always remind him of his time on set. Luckily, we can go back and watch five seasons of "The Bear" to remind us of these characters and their remarkable restaurant family without having to prep the kitchen.