Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Just A Dash’ On Netflix, Where ‘The Bear’ Star Matty Matheson Turns Chaos Into Great Meals

In the first two seasons of Matty Matheson’s Just A Dash, which ran on YouTube when Matheson was known as a gonzo chef and not a star and executive producer on The Bear, Matheson made great meals from a small kitchen in his old house, utilizing an electrified kitchen island to its maximum potential. Now, almost 5 years after the second season of Just A Dash ended on YouTube, Matheson, producer Michelle Rabin and his crew are back for a third season, with all three seasons now available on Netflix.

JUST A DASH: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: The camera pans back on the kitchen Matty Matheson used during the first two seasons of Just A Dash, and we see that it’s a framed photo of the kitchen, including the island with an electric burner on it.

The Gist:  Things are different in the post-Bear season of Just A Dash. Matheson and his family are in a new house. His sister decided to take the kitchen island to the dump. And Matheson’s wife, Trish Spencer, does not want the film crew tromping around her home making a mess anymore. Oh, and the pandemic is over. Oh, and another thing: His Bear co-star Ricky Staffieri is hanging around, for some reason.

When the crew shows up to start the new season, though, Matheson is barely awake, and walking around in an open robe, showing off his tattoo-covered beer belly. He thought the shooting schedule started the following week, and he’s still in vacation mode. And Trish is none too happy about it.

So Matheson does what any good chef does: He improvises. He waits for Trish to go out on errands, tells the camera guys to station themselves outside the kitchen windows, and he makes a massive breakfast burrito, using a couple of pounds of chorizo, about ten eggs, about a half a pound of cheese, and five tortillas. He also makes a “celery-forward” salsa for dipping.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Just A Dash started out life as a dump-and-stir-style cooking show, kind of like 30-Minute Meals with a lot more f-bombs. But in its third season, it’s morphed into something more akin to a rolling, reality TV version of the chaotic kitchen scenes in Matheson’s show The Bear.

Our Take: It’s not a stretch to say that Matty Matheson likes to cook in chaos. If anyone doubts that, just take a look at the new season of Just A Dash. We just described the first episode above; in the second episode, he tries to make a steakhouse-worthy meal while he and his crew work in a moving RV driven by Staffieri. They’re driving to the scrap yard to try to retrieve the kitchen island featured in the first two seasons. In the third episode, the island, saved from the compactor, is transported to a school where Matheson cooks for Career Day. In another episode, he tries to make deviled eggs and other finger foods from his airline seat, using the seatback tray in front of him as a counter.

Given the roster of writers displayed at the end of each episode, it’s not like this chaos is completely random. In fact, the general format of each episode is more or less the same: Matheson and company face an insane situation, he makes the food he planned on making, and then he celebrates when the food comes out as good as he expected it to come out.

It’s a format that could become irritating and repetitive if you’re not ready for Matheson’s “out there” style, though we’d say that three seasons of The Bear should prepare those who were not fans of Matheson’s YouTube presence. The third season alleviates some of the pent-up repetitiveness of the show’s pandemic episodes by taking the crew and the island to different places.

Matheson does manage to produce some mouth-watering meals under less-than-ideal circumstances, and having folks like Rabin, Staffieri, and the rest of the crew be on-camera helps keep the episodes from being wall-to-wall Matheson. But your enjoyment of the show will probably depend on whether you want to see Matheson be funny with his crew or if you actually want to see him cook.

Performance Worth Watching: Matheson still dominates every episode, despite the presence of everyone else on-camera. And while him saying things like “we’re gonna cut some fuckin’ onions” can wear you down after awhile, he’s also funny and self-deprecating, even when he’s praising his own cooking skills.

Sex And Skin: Well, there’s Matheson’s tattoo-covered bare torso in the first episode. That’s about it.

Parting Shot: Staffieri arrives at Matheson’s house, and mistakes a black-clad cameraman for a bodyguard. Matheson doesn’t correct him.

Sleeper Star: Michelle Rabin was introduced as a “food stylist” during the show’s first season, but she was there to be a foil for Matheson’s craziness, and now as a full-time producer, she’s really good at calling Matheson on his crap.

Most Pilot-y Line: Matheson loves to make a mess while he cooks, but the grosser aspect of his show is when he eats something and food clings to his mustache.

Our Call: STREAM IT. You might not learn how to cook the meals Matty Matheson makes on Just A Dash, but you’ll appreciate how well he can cook under self-imposed chaotic circumstances.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.