Disney+ hosted an exclusive UK premiere event for FX’s critically acclaimed series THE BEAR Season Two, at The Refinery Citypoint. This follows the show’s receipt of six Emmy nominations last week.

The second season launches on Disney+ TODAY, 19th July. To celebrate, guests were treated to an exclusive peek at the first four episodes. They sampled a special menu curated by Taste Film in collaboration with the head chef at The Refinery Citypoint.

Event attendees included Great British Bake-Off finalist Maxy Mali and OFM Award-winning chef Sertaç Dirik, MOB Kitchen’s Ben Lippett, PAPI Restaurant’s Matthew Scott, and local food connoisseur influencers London Food Babes, Verna Gao, Emily Roz, No Meat Disco and Johnny Morillo.

FX’s THE BEAR launches exclusively on Disney+ in the UK and Ireland on 19 July, with all episodes dropping at once. Season two follows Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri) and Richard “Richie” Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they work to transform their grimy sandwich joint into a next-level spot. As they strip the restaurant down to its bones, the crew undertakes transformational journeys of their own, each forced to confront the past and reckon with who they want to be in the future.

Guests at the launch event were treated to a culinary journey that took them deep into the heart of Chicago, where the show is set. The experience, hosted by Taste Film, was introduced by Ebon Moss-Bachrach (who plays Richie in the series) in a video message recorded especially for attendees.

Taste Film’s immersive menu began with a ‘Chicago Fizz’ cocktail, followed by a twist on the ‘Original Berf of Chicagoland’, a gag that appears in the show’s first episode when Richie (Moss-Bachrach) accidentally misprints a series of company t-shirts. The canapé included parmesan popcorn, pulled mushroom brisket, pickle, wholegrain mustard bread and vegetable gravy, and was topped off with a second specially-created drink, the ‘Fast Boats Mojito’.

Alongside the second episode, audience members enjoyed a dish inspired by a conversation between Carmy (Jeremy Allen-White) and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), two of the show’s leads – steak tagliata served with fennel, cherry tomatoes and cherry vinegar dressing. The show-stopping main was served alongside episode three, a ‘Tour De Chicago’ including pea tortellini with watercress veloute and parmesan, risotto short rib, and mushroom ramen topped with a beetroot stained egg and king oyster mushroom. By sampling this trio of smaller dishes, guests were given an insight into the menu development progress, with characters testing out various dishes for themselves on screen.

Finally, episode four, which focuses on the journey of fan-favourite pastry chef Marcus (Lionel Boyce), was accompanied by a deliciously nutty dessert. The ‘Deconstructed Snickers Surprise’ involved a panna cotta with vanilla and mint layers with a chocolate sauce and hazelnut praline over the top, mimicking the dessert Marcus is taught to make by Luca (Will Poulter).

Discussing the experience, Leonie Cooper (Time Out London) said “it was so great to see Sertaç (Dirik) here, he’s so much like Carmy.” Sertaç Dirik added, “such a great evening, I would have come even without the cocktails!” Meanwhile, Sam Jones, a popular Instagram and TikTok chef who cooks under the name No Meat Disco said, “this was unreal, we got served the most delicious food!”

In addition to White, Edebiri and Moss-Bachrach, the half-hour series also stars Abby Elliott, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas and Matty Matheson, with Edwin Lee Gibson, Oliver Platt and newcomer Molly Gordon in recurring roles.

FX’s “The Bear” was created by Christopher Storer (“Ramy,” “Eighth Grade”), who acts as executive producer alongside Joanna Calo (“BoJack Horseman,” “Undone”), Hiro Murai (“Atlanta,” “Station Eleven”) of Super Frog, Josh Senior and Matty Matheson, with Tyson Bidner (“Ramy”) serving as producer. The series is produced by FX Productions.