Luca (The Bear)
Chef Luca is a fictional character on the FX Network television series The Bear. Played by Will Poulter beginning with the season two episode "Honeydew," Luca is a highly trained British chef who comes to Chicago to work and support his sister.
Biography
Luca is a "handsome, tattooed" professional chef with special skills in pastry. Carmy and Luca's tattoos were designed by the same tattoo artist, Benny Shields. He is similar to Carmy Berzatto in skill level, but Luca is much more sanguine and philosophical. He was Carmy's sous chef at one time.Introduced in the season two episode "Honeydew," Luca worked at Noma in Copenhagen and helped train Marcus Brooks in pastry. Poulter said that "Honeydew" director Ramy Youssef described the Marcus–Luca relationship to him as being like an unfolding lotus blossom.
His character reappeared in the season three finale, "Forever," which was set at the "funeral" for a fictional three-Michelin star Chicago restaurant called Ever, where both Carmy and Luca had once worked for Chef Andrea Terry. Working for Carmy at Ever was stressful, and Luca ultimately needed to "get away," but they developed a strong bond nonetheless. Luca told Sydney that he had come back to Chicago to check on his unnamed sister who lived there.
Chef Luca, who is experienced and talented enough to run his own restaurant, came in to stage at the Bear in season four, helping out Marcus at pastry in particular. He also supports Tina in her quest for speed and fluency with her assigned dishes, and according to culinary producer Courtney Storer, "He levels everyone up just with his presence. It's a feeling of reinforcement when another cook steps into the kitchen. You recalibrate. And her instincts are seen by Luca. Knowing that he believes she can do it makes her believe as well."
Media writers have speculated that Chef Luca will join the Bear crew full-time when Syd takes over as head chef of the Bear following the departure of Carmy.
Poulter
Poulter was a fan of season one of the series, and said "I basically asked to meet Christopher Storer|Chris, and I begged him to be in it." Poulter trained to play a chef by staging with Dave Beran at Pasjoli in Santa Monica, California. Jeremy Allen White, who plays Carmy Berzatto, staged at the same restaurant prior to season one. When talking about his training, he described the embarrassment of accidentally strewing meringue all over the kitchen, and having a sauce maltaise break after the physical labor of whisking it together in the first place. The producers also set him up with training at three London restaurants: "I worked at Black Axe Mangal, St. JOHN, and then I did half a shift at Trullo."Interviewed about his career in April 2025, Poulter said, "I love that show so much. The fact I get to be in it is crazy. When I'm on that set, I'm like, 'Oh, they've let a fan on set.' I literally feel like a competition winner."