The biggest news about The Bear isn’t Jeremy Allen White’s underwear ads for Calvin Klein. On Sunday, January 7, the FX show’s stars celebrated after winning three Golden Globes including for best television series — musical or comedy.

For Chicago’s restaurant industry, everyday stresses — dealing with COVID, rising prices, and a volatile market, for example — don’t always make for laugh-out-loud moments. Some struggle to watch the show, feeling it makes light of their lives. Actor Lionel Boyce realizes that. Boyce, who portrays pastry chef Marcus Brooks, addressed restaurant workers while accepting the award on behalf of the team who worked on the Chicago-based television show.

“Thank you to the entire restaurant community,” Boyce said while on stage. “You know, we played these characters for a couple of hours a day for a couple of months out of the year, but this is y’all’s reality — the highs and the lows. So thank you for embracing us.”

Beyond that win, White won for best actor in a TV comedy. It’s his second Golden Globe. Ayo Edebiri, who plays chef Sydney Adamu, won best actress in a TV comedy. The two are also up for individual Emmys, along with Ebon Moss-Bacharch (Richie Jerimovich). The show has a total of eight nominations and they’ll find out their fates during the show on MLK Day, Monday, January 15.

While no one from The Bear mentioned Chicago on Sunday night during the ceremony, Boyce’s words earned him credibility on social media from more than a few Chicago restaurant workers. Outside the food world, locals noted that it was a rare Sunday win for a bear in Chicago. That’s a football joke.

The Bear’s third season should soon commence filming around Chicago. Meanwhile, the media going crazy for White’s shirtless photos. Can folks develop well-defined abs with an Italian beef diet? Perhaps that’s fodder for the upcoming season.