Yes, Chef! 5 Athletes Who’d Absolutely Crush It in The Bear Kitchen
Yes, chef! Season 4 of “The Bear” drops this Wednesday on Hulu, and we can’t wait to see our favorite restaurant back in action for some more drama. The culinary industry is far from easy, but who knew so many athletes also had serious knife skills? Turns out, they bring that same passion from the field and court straight to the chopping board.
Tobias Dorzon
Former NFL running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans, Tobias Dorzon, discovered a passion for cooking that surpassed his love for football. During his off-seasons, he attended culinary school in Washington, D.C., before relocating to Brazil to complete his studies. The transition to working in the restaurant industry was not easy, but he knew it was the right path for him. He’s owned everything from a private catering company, Victory Chefs, to his restaurant, Huncho House. He was even voted as the Restaurant Association of Maryland's 2024 Chef of the Year for his incredible blend of West African, Italian, and American flavors and techniques. While football wasn’t in the cards for him, he definitely made a name for himself in the kitchen!
Dawn Burrell
Dawn Burrell competing in “Top Chef: Portland” (David Moir/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty)
A chef who is an Olympian is iconic! Dawn Burrell competed in the long jump at the 2000 Summer Olympics but transitioned into cooking after tearing her ACL in 2001, leading her to retire from sports. She studied Culinary Arts at the Art Institute in Houston and went on to become an Executive Chef at Kulture. Burrell was even a finalist on Season 18 of “Top Chef: Portland,” comparing the competitive nature of the show to her life as an athlete, using those similarities to propel her to the top three. She was also a semifinalist for a James Beard Foundation award, which highlights her exceptional talent in the culinary field. Clearly, that level of drive and determination has stayed with her beyond the track!
Masako Morishita
Move over pom-poms! Masako Morishita was a cheerleader for the Washington Commanders for five years (she even became the captain), where her potluck contributions were some of the team's favorites. An immigrant from Japan, her family owned a bar and restaurant that is approaching nearly a century of business. Upon retiring from cheerleading, the overwhelmingly positive feedback from her teammates about her cooking guided her decision to pursue a culinary career. Now, she is the Executive Chef at Perry’s in Washington D.C. and received the 2024 James Beard Award for Emerging Chef. All it took was a “suitcase and a dream,” and she made it happen.
Alexandre Mazzia
Alexandre Mazzia serving dishes during a media conference in 2023 (Michel Euler/AP Photo)
He truly never left the game. Chef Alexandre Mazzia, once a towering 6’5” forward who played basketball for teams like the French National Team, now owns a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Marseille. With dishes centering around his roots from growing up in the Republic of Congo and later his home in France, his influence stretched so far that he was among the elite chefs serving athletes in the Olympic Village during the 2024 Paris Olympics. Not only that but Mazzia was also named one of the torchbearers at the games, truly allowing him to be part of the community where he found his start.
Cassie Yeung
She’s inspired us all to add some “green onion razzle dazzle” to our meals, but did you know that she got her start on the Barclays Center court? Cassie Yeung, also known as @Cassyeungmoney, was a member of the Brooklynettes dance team from 2016 to 2018 before she became a digital content creator. She quickly amassed 600k followers in less than three months by sharing different dishes from Asian cuisine and even competed on Gordon Ramsay’s “Next Level Chef.” Now, she has 4.1 million followers on TikTok and recently announced that her highly awaited cookbook, “Bad B*tch in the Kitch,” will be released on October 7th. We all needed this!
The pursuit of excellence isn’t confined to one field, and these athletes are living proof of it. Their lives may not be as stressful as Carmy’s, but it certainly took them a lot of work to get to where they are.