“Honestly, we’re not buying anything cool,” says Matty Matheson, showing me a photo of his kitchen fridge over Zoom. He’s been spending time away from home while filming the second season of The Bear—he plays the loveable restaurant mechanic Neil Fak—that premiered this week. “I just think as a whole, my fridge is mid as fuck,” he says.
The chef might be known for his outlandish YouTube videos, irreverent (sweary) energy, and indulgent recipes—a vibe he’s spun off into restaurants, cookbooks, and clothing lines—but his own fridge tells a different story. It’s a microcosm of the small-town supermarket near his home in rural Ontario, Canada, which Matheson shares with his wife Trish Spencer and their three kids, MacArthur, Rizzo, and Ozzy. “There’s no Whole Foods here, there’s no Erewhon,” he says. Matheson’s weekly staples aren’t fancy, and they’re nearly always the same week-to-week. “There’s no fucking around,” he says.
Matheson pinches his phone screen and zooms in on the fluorescently lit fridge to prove the point. It’s packed with store-bought staples such as table cream (a 15% cream-milk blend), thick-cut bacon for full English breakfasts, yellow cooking onions, and multiple pounds of unsalted butter—plus some random stowaways that could have been in there for literal years. He lingers on a couple bottles of Champagne peering out from the back of the fridge. “What the fuck are those for?” He asks. “We’re certainly not drinking Champagne anytime soon.” (Matheson’s been sober since 2013.)
From a tub of Hellman’s mayonnaise to a big pot of leftover congee to a jar of spicy giardenira inspired by The Bear—here’s what’s in Matheson’s fridge.
Four pounds of butter, a tub of cream cheese, and a bottle of table cream
We’re a dairy-heavy family. The kids love making cookies, cupcakes, or pancakes with my wife, Trish. And I have Folgers coffee with cream when I’m home. Folgers is good when it’s creamy. Ever since we left Toronto for a small town, all I want is a real cup of joe.
Leftover congee
I make a lot of congee, with rice, chicken stock, ginger, and garlic and keep the leftovers in the fridge. The kids eat it plain (life’s too tough; they need a little softness), but Trish and I will add a fried egg with chili crisp.
Red pepper jelly
I buy red pepper jelly whenever I’m at the store, thinking I’m going to make baked Brie. Trish will be like, “What are you doing?” I’m like, “I’m going to eat it this time!” And she’s like, “No, you’re not.” But my mom bought it when I was growing up—probably because it seemed kind of fancy or something—so it reminds me of her.
Orange juice
We always have Tropicana. Our youngest daughter slams juice. She’ll shake her empty cup at me and be like, “Where’s my juicy?” She’s a juicy monster. We dilute it with water, and she knows. But I’m not giving a kid goddamn straight juice—she’ll be running through the walls.
Giardiniera
I’ve spent so much time in Chicago filming The Bear that now I need a little jar of Marconi Giardiniera with me at home too. I’ll put it on a mortadella sandwich, a tuna melt, hot dogs, and cheeseburgers.
Nonalcoholic beer
At the very back of the fridge we have two Champagne bottles that have probably been in there for years. No idea what that’s about. I’ve been sober since 2013, so I’m certainly not drinking Champagne anytime soon. But I’ll buy Heineken or Peroni 0.0%, and if it’s really nice out, I might have one sitting in a lawn chair or at dinner.
Yellow onions
Without onions I think a lot of food would be pretty shit. They create a robust depth of flavor like nothing else on planet Earth. I use them in spaghetti, curry, soup, fajitas—literally everything. Hell, I’d put onions in toothpaste.
Thick-cut bacon
Trish makes a hot breakfast every single weekday for the kids. And on Sundays I make a full English breakfast, so we buy an absurd amount of thick-cut bacon. It’s good for us. We’re strong and thick in the Matheson house.
Mayonnaise
I’m a Hellman’s guy. I don’t fuck with Miracle Whip or any of that nonsense. I use mayo to make tuna melts—I’m a big fan—or BLTs in the summer, when tomato season is happening.
Calabrian chili
I love Calabrian chili paste. I’ll spread it on a little sandwich, throw it into a salad, or stir it into pasta with a little anchovy.
Salsa
During the pandemic Trish and I started making big sheet trays of nachos with sour cream and supermarket salsa. I’m also about canned black olives for nachos. It’s the weirdest thing, but I think it makes sense.