The Service at This Chicago Two Star is So Good It’s Immortalized in “The Bear”

"Chosen by “The Bear” as a stand-in for the best restaurant in the world and filmed in the actual Two-Star restaurant, precision flashes here in long montage sequences: forks are polished ad nauseum, water is poured around a table with sharp choreography, and even a “smudge” is bemoaned for an overlong period. Chief operating officer Amy Cordell notes, “The intensity, precision and behind-the-scenes pressure are all very real,” and she stage-manages a dining room as exacting in reality as in its prestige-drama portrayal, with every detail—from table measurements to decibel levels to the pace of the menu—meticulously controlled. Guests enter through a hallway that feels like a cave before moving into the Ma Room, inspired by the Japanese concept of negative space; inside, ingredients from the current menu hang from above while a first bite and welcome beverage are served. As guests continue into the dining room, there’s a noticeable shift in acoustics and energy thanks to sound-dampening materials—felt on the ceiling, carpets on the floor—so they can be fully present for a tasting menu of eight to ten elegant courses that progresses purposefully. “Everything we do begins with the question: How would we want to feel if we were the guest? … Our goal is to create an environment that feels both luxurious and familiar, allowing guests to relax, have fun and truly experience the moment.” In this highly sound-conscious room, the team listens closely and anticipates with uncanny precision—witness a table being surprised with a course of deep dish pizza after privately lamenting they’d missed trying it in town—prompting some to joke, “we have microphones under the tables.”" - The MICHELIN Guide