Meet the NJ Potter Who Makes the Tableware Featured on 'The Bear'

Jono Pandolfi, whose tableware appears on Hulu's "The Bear," works on a piece at his studio in Union City, NJ

Jono Pandolfi, whose tableware appears on The Bear, works on a piece at his Union City studio. Photo: Courtesy of Jono Pandolfi Designs/Spencer Wells

It takes research to create authentic television and movies, and the props team for Hulu’s The Bear did its homework. The minimalist, handmade ceramics of North Jersey’s own Jono Pandolfi feature prominently in the fine-dining restaurant where the later seasons take place, and for good reason. The Jersey City resident’s tableware is used in some 800 restaurants around the globe, including some of the most elevated fine-dining establishments in New York City, from Jean Georges’s Nougatine to Lilia to Gramercy Tavern.

“They knew that we were a cult brand, and it felt accurate [to use our products],” Pandolfi explains. “It felt like a huge accomplishment.”

Pandolfi’s plates, bowls and serving dishes have a rustic yet refined aesthetic thanks to the natural clay exterior and smooth-glazed interior, with colors ranging from pale pink to green-and-yellow ombre. They are also solidly built, yet still elegant, making them perfect for everyday use. Known to foodies for years, the work became instantly recognizable when it took the center of the table—literally—on the hit show.

Food-topped tableware from Jono Pandolfi Designs in Union City, NJ

Plates, bowls and serving dishes from Jono Pandolfi Designs are used at restaurants around the globe. Photo: Courtesy of Mosaic/Gab Bonghi

Interest in the brand increased, retail sales bumped up “a whole lot,” and media inquiries came pouring in. But, while he was happy to be involved in a big television production—his team actually worked with the props department to pick the right pieces—the biggest satisfaction came from existing fans and friends.

“The coolest thing was that, on social media, so many people would say, ‘Oh my God, we knew it was your stuff when we saw it!’” he says, adding that trained eyes will also spot his pieces on tables in shows such as Billions and Succession.

The Bear follows the character Carmine “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) as he prepares to open a fine-dining restaurant after returning home to Chicago to work at his family’s Italian beef-sandwich spot following the death of his brother. Culinary-world icons, including Pandolfi’s longtime friend Will Guidara, consulted on the show, so it was only fitting that the creators worked with Pandolfi. His ceramics graced the tables of Eleven Madison Park, after all, where Guidara was once the general manager.

Pandolfi has run his ceramics business out of the Yardley Building in Union City, with views of the towering West Side of Manhattan, since 2008. He started with 400 square feet and now operates out of 30,000 square feet. His team of about 40 employees “form, fire and ship” 1,200 pieces a day.

“I stumbled onto something special when I decided to sell to restaurants,” says Pandolfi. “It’s a good market to be in…I love making pottery that people use.”

During the pandemic, the company pivoted to retail sales, which makes up about 40 percent of the business.

You could say business is going well. You could say Jono Pandolfi feels creatively fulfilled. And you could say New Jersey has been good for Jono Pandolfi Designs.

On a recent day at Pandolfi’s huge, sun-dappled pottery studio, employees were having a communal lunch. The makers who mold, glaze and ship earthenware plates and platters sat together at long tables near the kitchen, some talking, some on their phones. The space buzzed with the kind of energy only found in places where people make things with their hands and are generally happy to be there.

“What brought me to Jersey was the quality of life that was offered and promised,” says Pandolfi, who moved to the Hamilton Park neighborhood in Jersey City in 2008 and is raising two daughters there with his wife. “It has come through on that promise.”

He says he loves how “community oriented” Jersey City is and counts the restaurants Corto and Razza (which both use his work) and Liberty State Park as some of his favorite places.

Those who order his ceramics for their restaurants consider them to be much more than just vessels to contain food (though they are built for extended use and are dishwasher and microwave safe). At the newly revamped Princeton University Art Museum, director James Steward chose Pandolfi’s work to decorate the tables at the museum’s restaurant, Mosaic.

“The intended look and feel of the restaurant was to privilege texture, finish and color,” Steward explained in an email, adding that the appearance of everything in the restaurant should “reinforce the same creativity” in the galleries. “Once I saw the color options and felt how good the cups and mugs felt in the hand, that was it.”

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