The Rise and Fall of the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 มิ.ย. 2024
- Just a little botulism, as a treat.
0:00 Pandemic Media
2:10 Welcome to The Kitchen
6:27 (Home) Cooked Meals
8:30 If You Can't Take The Heat....
13:03 The Brad Leone Botulism Detour
13:48 The Relaunch
14:56 Where Are They Now
Background music:
• 15 Minutes of royalty ...
End slate:
• Look Who's Inside Agai...
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Bon Appétit is a monthly American food and entertaining magazine, that typically contains recipes, entertaining ideas, restaurant recommendations, and wine reviews. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York and has been in publication since 1956. Bon Appétit has been recognized for increasing its online presence in recent years through the use of social media, publishing recipes on their website, and maintaining a popular TH-cam channel. - บันเทิง
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carla and molly getting wine drunk with cows while making mozzarella in italy will forever be one of my favorite covid memories
For me it's Carla and Molly standing in the middle of Manhattan in the height of summer, threatening people to choose crispy mashed potatoes over smooth mashed potatoes.... sigh.
For me it’s when they did that thanksgiving series and they spent a whole episode making liquid mashed potatoes. I’ll never get over how runny those potatoes were
I stayed up till 4am watching that video only to remember i had an exam that day 😂
the best series
@@bjrnsrensen8456those potatoes haunt me. I’ve yet to make mashed potatoes without dying laughing at their effed up interpretation of what an appropriate mashed potato side dish for Thanksgiving would be lmao.
This was so upsetting to see when the story first broke, all of those videos r so tainted now. It's sad to see a group of ppl bring you so much joy and then realize half of them are absolutely miserable.
The sad thing is that i dont watch bon apetit even though the new ppl(poc or not) probably have well deserved pay and benefits now. So i voluntarily miss on ppl that might be as engaging as the old crew or even better just cuz of the brand name
@@nicu227 absolutely it completely ruined the wholesome heartwarming vibe that I got every time I watched BA. Now I can't even look at a Gourmet Makes thumbnail without thinking about racism scandals and inequality. It feels wrong to give them another view and support the company that promoted such actions.
Not really.
Oh yes, I remember when this came out as someone who religiously watched their videos it was devastating
I was devastated when it all came out. BA had seemedsuch a cosy, safe space that fueled my love of cooking. What a disappointment.
When the BA test kitchen members left in 2020 for new projects, I had a hard time getting into them and I could never put my finger on why. The way you described the test kitchen as a sitcom-like environment really captures what was missing for me in the new solo content the chefs made when they left.
Sohla saying she doesnt understand brads popularity doesnt make any sense to me. People werent watching these videos just for the cooking people were watching for their personalities and brad has a great one.
It only makes sense from a perspective of entitlement. She's a very entitled person who believes that success was owed to her and couldn't comprehend that people who had been there longer and with more talent got ahead of her.
@@stevekjr9563 Exactly
@@stevekjr9563 Yea I personally never really liked her videos. She was just kinda boring to me similar to Chris but he made up for that by doing his super taster vids that made it interesting because he was doign somethign other than just cooking. Sure she might have been a better cook than the rest of them but by golly was she boring.
she mentioned his race when dissing him too which is counterproductive towards her whole issue with the company
yeah kinda messed up she threw brad u der the bus like that just because she didnt understand why he was so popular. he has a great personality and is fun in front of a camera. she seems like a great person but she comes off as petty with that remark.
Yup the energy of the OG BA test KItchen is unmatched. Remember the episode where they went to Carla's house (I think) and cooked thanksgiving meal there together? That was heartwarming and epic. I used to watch that repeatedly.
Where they took turns with the oven? It was Claire's mom's house! :)
it sucks because that sincere friendly energy could have been recovered as there clearly was real kinship and the issue was near entirely with managerial racist/elitist garbage (which from a company operating alongside Vogue shouldnt have been so shocking to most.)
they really could have saved everything and maintained the amazing energy they fostered by just payig fairly but decided being racist and inequitable was more important. blows my mind and breaks my heart. really sucks to think something great could have been saved but management just couldnt help themselves
Yessss omgggg that was so special...sad to kno there wont be moments like that anymore but while it existed it was a hell of a ride
@@Rodviet yes! Oh my bad for not remembering that but that was super duper fun specially when they get to complete the thanksgiving spread and ate together.
I will never forget that episode and the joy it brought me
It's so telling that Claire on her channel isn't doing crazy challenges as on BA test kitchen. They were fun to watch because she's so funny and charismatic but you could really tell that she was so stressed to nail it every time 😢
And now her channel is the chillest, coziest ever! I love her whole vibe
Omg, I missed Claire! I watched the channel mostly just for her. What's her own channel name, I'd love to subscribe!
@@taraelisy1707 Claire Saffitz x Dessert Person
@@taraelisy1707 her channel is well on the list of 'You-Tube can make me fall asleep' channels and I say that as a good thing. Shes just a treasure and my god, so damn talented.
She suffered sooo much in a lot of the Gourmet Makes videos, I remember a few where she would literally remake the recipes like 10 times, take weeks to get them right, she would cry and beg the staff to let her give up but they always made her finish them
This is coming from a “big dumb white guy” but brads show was popular because it was good and brad is extremely likable.
The recipes were pretty good too; I made several of them. (Also, it's not actually his recipe, but I got Samin Nosrat's focaccia recipe from the video she did with Brad and that focaccia is my entire life and soul)
The actual cooking didn't matter, it was the personalities that got views. Brad and Claire were like the perfect sitcom actors. Brad with just about anybody was always entertaining to watch. Sohla calling Brad 'a big dumb white guy' is a racist remark, straight up. My least favorite folks were Sohla and Chris Morocco, followed closely by Andy. But Andy had his place, and was especially good with Molly busting his chops.
Unlike her
Loved the "full team" series they did: thanksgiving and pizza. They were incredible.
Any of the team-up efforts were absolute faves for me. All those personalities interacting together were great..
My two al time favorite no doubt
Yes yes yes yes yes
Sohla is EVERYWHERE now. And honestly, great for her! She was the one who started to publicly call out BA and inspired other to do the same. She’s been in multiple channels, done multiple shows and she’s coming up with a cookbook! She’s fierce and a force to be reckon with.
I still love Claire and I watch her videos regularly. Her recipes are my go-to and she has two books now. :)
What is she doing these days? She kinda disappeared from Babish's channel.
@@societycrumbles she sometimes does videos for NYT Cooking with her husband, but she has had video series in Food52, Food Network (I think lol) and History Channel! Her first cookbook is coming later this year.
@@SrJohnnyCat Thanks! I haven't been keeping up with BA people sine the start of the pandemic. I'm happy she's doing good!
I’m glad she was the one who become a shining start from the fall of BA. I diiiid really like Claire but she just seemed /so/ Connecticut
@@societycrumblesshe uploads regularly to her own TH-cam channel
You almost forget Claire was a part of Bon Appetit, she's formed her own powerhouse brand at this point. She's come very far.
She was gonna win no matter what, she's an ivy league educated nepo baby; not that this isn't the case with almost all of BA staff. As a pretty serious home cook I thought she was the most laughable of all of them, very obvious her professional cooking experience was limited and exaggerated af
@@jamesd4991 how is she a nepo baby?
@@jamesd4991 Her dad's a doctor and her mom's a teacher but like, is that really nepotism because they had money to send her to the school of her choice?
@@jamesd4991 idk about calling her a nepo baby but she was/is privileged due to being white, that's for sure
@@jamesd4991 Having well-off parents (and being white) and thus being able to have a good education than someone without well-off parents and having better chances at a good job because of it is not nepotism. It's privilege. And there's nothing shameful about using your privilege as long as you acknowledge that it's there.
Nepotism would be if daddy called condé nast up and said "You hire my daughter because we're such good friends" and condé nast goes "sure, friendo"... I was intruiged so I searched and there's no evidence of that whatsoever. There's plenty of people with well-off parents that fail, too.
You might think her "skill was laughable" but she's good enough at marketing herself to draw viewers and sell a book. That's a skill. Gosh.
I get Sohla's issues with not being paid well, and having problems with Chris, and everything else with BA, but her issue with Brad's show is like astounding to me, and at least from what was said in this video (I haven't read the article, maybe she has more substance to her issues there), "he's a big dumb white guy and I don't know why his videos get so many views" is a crazy take. It seems like it's just *trying* to stir the pot with her coworker. I've found him to be a highly entertaining, funny guy to watch work and I'm pretty sure that's why other people watch him too. I'm glad she's doing well, but it just sticks out as a cheap shot in what would otherwise be a large group of very solid issues to have with BA and their staff
I didn’t read the article either, but if that comment was in context, it’s completely inappropriate. Replace “white” with any minority’s description and she would be fired (or should be).
I feel like Sohla's perspective is mostly from being a professional at her line of work as a chef and presenting these skills and not(wanting?) to see that this alone isn't enough entertainment for a platform like YT (and especially on a YT channel like BA where Brads content was kinda the basis for why people visited the channel so often). If you look at the full quote fom the article you can see how important professionalism is to her and how much she is frustrated with the trope of white dumb men can do dumb things where they should be professional:
“The fact is Brad’s show did do very well,” she says, referring to Brad Leone, one of the first stars of the Test Kitchen, who hosts It’s Alive With Brad. “For some reason, people like watching a big dumb white guy. But why? What does that say about the audience? Why do you want to watch this incompetent white man when we have one in the fucking Oval Office?” (if interested, read the article: www.vulture.com/article/sohla-el-waylly-profile.html )
I can only imagine how frustrating it must feel when your own expertise and your professionalism (which you (seemingly) want to be mainly recognized for) are overshadowed by someone who doesn't seem to be on par in this regard and even gets praised for when they do something wrong or unprofessional. The question "What does that say about the audience?" appears to me then quite ignorant towards that not everybody wanting to see pure professionalism and the entertainment value of relatable silliness.
In any case I hope that she has found the audience she wants and that she gets the recognition she deserves.
100% agree. Felt mean hearted and unproductive at best.
i mean... he gave people cooking advice that could've resulted in botulism. twice. so I think "big dumb white guy" is pretty accurate.
@@oliverbilava818right but that was after the the fallout and everyone leaving. And looking at this video seems to be his only mistake besides not quitting immediately but holding off for a bit. Seems a little out of nowhere. Wether he’s dumb or not, he’s entertaining, and probably brought more viewers to their channel and other shows than anybody. Genuinely curious what warranted this.
I really miss the days of Claire, Brad and Chris all together in the kitchen
Same here. 😢😢😢😢
I don’t like Chris though.
Me too. Now Claire and Brad have their own channels and Chris stayed with the company, which turned me off to him.
I didn't much care for Brad. That frat boy ambiance did nothing for me.
Me too. Calling him a “big, dumb, white guy” isn’t racist at all either. 🙄
Hunziker's editing, especially the funny little captions and animated /moving words that he would overlay on the screen to punctuate (and sometimes translate) Leone's speech patterns and hand gestures were at least 50% of why Leone's stuff got a lot of views.
Absolutely! I'm a low level editor myself, and the main reason I watched that content was Hunziker's editing style.
this! so true
@@conblurgh -- And there were certainly other video creators that emulated Hunziker's style after these BA videos became popular. But it sounds like BA tried to screw him over as well.
Wourder
@@SgtPowell Delaney 😡😤
The wildest thing I remember about the whole BA situation was that after it happened I was in the middle of a series of podcasts that was all about the situation that happened, with interviews with former BA staff, both on camera and off, and it just never got finished because the company doing the podcast had their own issues with racism come to light right in the middle of the series.
replyall right? that was insane...I had been binge listening to the podcast and made it to THAT episode, it was so weird. I tried listening after but couldn't, I might go back.
@@allbutperfect YES!
@she’s all but perfect Omg yes 😭
I stumbled into their show for their abandoned company numbers turn into şəx lines episode from a comment in a viral tiktok and just had to binge their stuff from the beginning
And when I got to that present leading to BA the vibes just got rancid and i just couldn't keep listening 😔
I’m completely on the outside of the BA situation-I never got into watching Test Kitchen. I came very, very close to starting to listen to replyall, and I remember hearing about the BA situation while seeing replyall go up in flames. It was a strange experience.
It was so sad suddenly getting blindsided by replyall. I used to binge that like crazy. And then all of a sudden like
Brad just launched his channel and it's been great. Love how he's been highlighting locals in various communities, and had highlighted a really awesome music director in New Orleans in one of his last videos.
What's his channel called?
@@leemaher4257 youtube.com/@bradleone?si=AtWQg9lgEl2Rbgw8
what's his channel?
@@leemaher4257his name
@@sunnyorange180his name
I understand that Sohla was upset and angry with her situation and rightfully so, but her comment about Brad seemed to be unwarranted especially since the only “negative” info on Brad brought up in this video was the possibility of unsafe cooking methods. Brad’s videos not being her cup of tea is fine but obviously she’s in the minority with that opinion cause his videos did very well and there was no need to call him a “big dumb white guy”.
@2017 Ens PULIDO AYALA JULIO CESAR Such is the social landscape in the 2020s. It seems to be perfectly fine to bash on white people for being white but (rightly) it's viewed as heinous to do the same to anyone of color. Just no double standards please. Racism is racism
BRAD'S FINALLY GOT HIS OWN CHANNEL NOW!
@2017 Ens PULIDO AYALA JULIO CESAR I agree tbh the irony is that this all happened over racism but she said racist things about him and no one batted an eye, guess the PC jargon only applies for POCs and it's sad, people were so focused on POCs they didn't stop to think hmm calling someone a big dumb white guy was just as low. Guess as long as brad's doing well it's ok that she is too but wow what a sh*tshow
It really just comes off as bitter
I mean...he literally is a big dumb white guy. That's his wholeass brand. Lol
I was a huge BA fan pre pandemic and I remember when the news broke that everything was falling apart it almost hurt too much to actually learn the details of what was going on (especially since this was all going down during the pandemic which was obviously a very depressing time) so this is the first time I’m actually learning the details of everything that went down lol
Same. Exactly the same.
@@Pironesia glad to know I’m not alone on this 😭
Me too
Same
i followed the chefs until 2021 i think ,
we get told is all fine and dandy because of an career oportunity some have gotten today, what i see is so many moments no money can buy being lost over money matters
wat is lost , caring is lost period
what i mean is brad showing the staff his picture he took when going on chocolate cruise of that humble family and seeing the raction of clair over the tiny dog
and so on ,
so the moral of the story is .the succes of seeing people care about each other fails when PC culture takes out the how come my video presence didnt get me money sledgehammer.
*Claire actually has two cookbooks out and both are stellar*
the lemon bundt cake will knock you out
just made my fourth edition of that cake, which I always replace the lemons with limes. the soak/glaze is amazing.
I made that a few years ago and it was sooo good with greek yogurt. This inspired me to make it again!
I have her books but never made it. I was going to make brown butter pound cake, but lemon bundt sounds divine. Thanks
Just FYI for Rick, he also has a show with Babish, it's called Pruebalo and it's amazing.
He also moved back to Mexico and bought a House in Mazatlan iirc, and hes been renovating it along with his new dog Choco which he adopted :)
Rick is so damn good. I love mexican food and he does an incredible job of showing traditional and lesser known (at least to me) recipes and techniques
I laughed when she said “i think he has a house in Reno?” Cuz his caption was saying reno like renovation lol
@@morganlehman123 LMAO
Today I learned 😅
My comfort vids are Brad and Claire make SourDoughnuts parts 1-3. Gaby unfortunately had some bad things to say about Sohlah's treatment of her in the kitchen, and Sohlah just couldn't let it go that Brad was so popular. Really soured me on her, tbh. I am glad everyone's found their place tho, what a crazy ride it was!
could you tell me where gaby said this about sohla? i havent kept up with BA (except claire) since it all fell apart and im just hearing about this part now. ty!
@@whatwhatwhattttttfirst time I heard about this too, but a quick google and you can see they had a big back-and-forth back in 2021.
Agreed. Standing up to and holding accountable the upper management was the right thing to do. Shitalking on the fellow staff in a very personal way was not. I've seen her on a lot of different things and I don't find her recipes, technique, or presentation to be in a league that justifies attacking the character and competency of anyone else. I also find her response to what Gabby had to say about her quite ironic. Just below the surface of that false persona she displays that all the wokies love to fawn over, she oviously has a monstrous, narcissistic ego.
@@brt5273 i agree with you on this, the upper management needed reforming. and from what i vaguely remember, she (sohla) was supposed to be doing an entry-level job (assistant food editor, i think) but because of her former restaurant experience, she felt like she wasn't compensated enough for the work she was doing but the she read the job description and still applied so this was just one of the things i didn't get. it also felt like she was disregarding the other poc working for batk at that time (andy and gaby).
@@elerizone6426 The issue with Sohla is she was hired to do a behind-the-scenes job just like some of the people on the show. Due to her restaurant experience, people on the show sought her expertise which she shared with them as a personality. Even though some behind-the-scenes staff were then put on TH-cam, she was never compensated. They screwed her over and other people acknowledged it. Christina Chaey also had the same issue.
I literally SCREAMED at the Heidi clip, cause Season 12 is about the only thing I remember from lockdown 😭
Honestly “fuck you fuck you fuck your fuck you im gonna worry about Heidi” is perfect pandemic motto
SAME
You screamed at a screen...why?
@@dannywhite132 Ask those soccer fans
If you ever decide to make Rick's cookies, complete the entire recipe& then freeze the batter (mix in the chocolate/toffee first) for as long as you can stand to wait before baking them. It's an absolute game changer!
GREAT VIDEO!!
Esp appreciate the Trixie clip!!
💚🌈🌸🌈💚
i always make a double batch, freeze half the batter, and bake half!! best of both worlds, and then you can have cookies whenever you want!!
These cookies are THE BEST!!! Hard-ish to make but definitely worth it!
Almost all cookies should spend some time in the fridge/freezer. It really encourages the flavors to develop.
@@CRneu for having baked all my life, this was news to me& I'm so glad I know now!!
I worked for a school as a sous chef that was run by Bon Appetite. During my review I was told I was “A vital part of the success at this school” I wasn’t paid salary but hourly. At this point I asked to be put on salary, a month later I was written up for not wearing a hat, none of the chef/sous chef I’ve ever worked with in this company wore, and also written up because the Chef left out butter to get soft to make garlic bread. I was fired for said write ups and when I contacted HR about the situation I was told by the HR Lady she told me and I Quote “If you try and sue us our lawyers will just delay the courts until you run out of money” fuck that company, I would never work for them again ever. the HR lady was named Patricia Araujo-Dosier.
Corporate culture at its worst. Unfortunately way too common.
That sounds like a huge L on your part. Why would you ever want to move from an hourly wage where you're getting paid for overtime to a salary where you don't get paid extra for working anything over 40 hours? Sounds like you're a liar.
@@yojimbosatoshi Awww you’re so adorable!! How’s that minimum wage job plus overtime working out for you at the end of the year? $40,000? How much overtime do you think you get working at a school? At my job now I make way more on salary than I ever did at any job working hourly. Here’s a pro tip when you ask for salary, you don’t ask for less than you think you would get with overtime. Here’s one more for free, people on salary act like it sucks because they don’t want morons like you to try and take their job. Good luck in life Jimbo, you’re gonna need it!!
@@jlotrujillo you work in a school, bro. You probably make 43k and they pay half your insurance. Working in a culinary school is about as impressive as working in a retirement home. Have fun teaching freshmen how to make hollandaise for the next 20 years. Loser.
@@jlotrujillo There's a lot of depth to talking hourly vs salary over the comments section on TH-cam, but neither is better than the other. In my industry working salary is often worse than hourly.
You didn’t talk about how Sohla bullied Gaby.
Sohla always acted like she was too cool for school. It pisses me off so much how people worship her.
I don’t really have a horse in this race but Claire is so correct. Sometimes you do something in a professional kitchen and can never re creating it at home.
Another brilliant video as always also shoutout to your background music choices
OMG I can't believe you brought race into this
The snack after school analogy was so on point, I watched Bon Appétit videos after school for years, it actually fell apart not long after I finished school in 2018
I'm sure some people have already mentioned it, but the most damning moment I witnessed before this story broke was the live recorded 92nd St panel aired in Feb 2020 featuring the BA test kitchen chefs and Rapaport. And Rapaport, live in front of a theater full of people, called Priya "Sohla," even though she was sitting right next to him and Sohla was sitting on his other side two seats down. How do you not know who your own employees are. Definitely gave me pause. I was not surprised when the news broke.
Lmao
I have worked with people for years and still stumble over their names. It happens.
😂😂😂
I remember that exact incident, too, when it happened. People _definitely_ commented on it, rightly or not, at the time.
@M but first, watch out for dog poo. Its one thing to erect a defense for being a clod, another to defend cloddiness itself. The standard and type of evidence in this court of public opinion varies widely, but a person in a leadership role will be judged more firmly, especially in a public forum like that. Paying attention does take energy.
I was there for Claire and Brad. Both their shows individually and their appearances in each other's videos. When it broke up there was no more of that comradery that I watched it for. That's why when everyone had separate channels I never really sought them out again. I also didn't care to learn the knew cast
I was in my 11 year as an EMT in my emergency department when rumblings of the pandemic started to manifest in late February where none of my fellow nurses/doctors could even conceive the shit that was about to hit the fan. 2020 and early 2021 were so traumatic on so many of us. Watching so many young patients die, physical assault from patients getting even worse, I decided to walk away from the medical field all together. Such a weird time and it’s so interesting hearing the POV from people who actually got to stay at home.
❤❤❤
My sister was a post person, her life never changed at all.
Well she started to wear a mask but that was it
I worked as a carer for elderly, saw a lot of death, felt a mixture of gratitude for keeping my job and being financially stable, but also faced a lot of trauma on the job
Yeah, but YOU are one of the *few* people allowed to claim this as legitimate "trauma." 'Few' as in relative to the size of the U.S. and the number of people who lost loved ones and suffered themselves. There are few people who truly know what it was to have experienced "trauma" due to the pandemic.
This "collective trauma" nonsense is absolute bullshit. People had to stay home. That's it. We had to stay home and binge watch whatever and do more of our shopping online. I mean, this person is talking about sleeping all damn day and then going for a walk. That's not "trauma." Jee. Zus.
You can lay claim to actual trauma by virtue of your profession being in the throes of a distinctly awful, disrespectful, unhinged reaction by, oh...almost ALL of American society.
Please don't think anything we've been through while living our lives online and at home even comes close to what you experienced.
I feel like life during the early pandemic is hardly talked about for those who had a job where they couldn’t stay at home on lockdown. It makes me feel irrationally angry when I see people refer to it as “when we were all stuck inside”, because we all weren’t.
Yeah there were basically 2 pandemic experiences. People who had to work everyday and deal with all the craziness, such as EMTs like yourself. And the others who got paid to stay home and apparently get really obsessed with random TH-cam video creators. These experiences are not the same and certainly not equal.
Rick, Sohla, and Claire were my absolute favorites. When the story broke, I was gutted because like you and a lot of folks, I would binge their videos.
Molly is really annoying and over salts everything she cooks.
@@sebeckley does no remember the Molly egg? Just a sad egg cooked slowly over a bath of olive oil.
@@shenquanruiwife69 glad to know that people still remember "the egg meme"
Why are people being mean to Molly in these comments?
@@chelsmeister I don't know 😅
CHRISTINA CHAEY, the one east Asian person in the cast also put out a statement how she was paid pennies, and was told to cook in the background for optics. She had many solo appearances and brought a Korean POV to the cast. Thanks for leaving her out.
I love the OG BA group. I mostly remember when Brad and Claire made donuts, it was a 3 parter and worth a watch.
My most fond memomory was when Clarie made Skittles from scratch and weirdly enough when Clara made a joke about Corona beans.
It’s so bizarre how they fell off so quickly - I used to watch Bob appettit nearly every day and rewatch videos all the time starting in 2019 until this controversy. Then I just followed Claire to her own channel and Sohla, Pryia and Carla - bom appettit just disappeared from my TH-cam
I think the reason why it didn't go in an insane tailspin is because you'd have to go to several different outlets to piece together the story. I remember many, many videos during 2021/ early 2022 of people commenting what happened and no one was able to answer the questions. It's not that we forgot, we just didn't know.
BA's Thanksgiving series is the holy grail. I've watched Andy & Brad cook turkeys so many times 😂
i love everything about this video! the intro took me back to those times when the test kitchen was one of the only things i looked forward to during the pandemic. the ending as well is very conclusive and i'm happy they are doing well! thank you for this!
The BA Kitchen's Thanksgiving turkey has been my go-to recipe since it aired. Ive had 2 different people say its the best turkey they ever tasted.
when the story initially broke out it was infuriating and also heartbreaking. I'm just glad that the breakout stars of the test kitchen have gone on to do really well for themselves outside of this.
first video ive seen from u and its fantastic! u covered everything really well and i greatly appreciate the ''where are they now'' segment.
i never really got into bon apetit myself but my mom absolutely loved it and seemed so disappointed when everything fell apart and i can definitely see why now.
I was an essential worker, because calling us expendable was to dark. I was a meat cutter at Publix (a supermarket), and watching my customers degrade in to crazy savages was soul crushing. By late 2021 finding an escape from retail. Finally in July of 2022 I accepted a position with a boat builder. So silver lining for my Covid story is I was lucky enough not to get it after I had the vaccine, so very mild, and I got a great new job.
I loved the BA test kitchen videos, and still follow a lot of the people on their various platforms. Rick also has a show on the Babish Culinary Universe.
Thanks for an interesting, and thought provoking video.
Highly recommend Priyas New York times videos. She is regularly highlighting the unseen food makers in New York City, and it's always interesting and makes you think about your food in a new way (which I think is cool). Definitely worth checking out!
I agree! She was never my favorite on BA but I love her in that new series!
I love Prius’s dad 😂
Priya is awesome.
This is all so relatable, as I’m sure it is for most of your audience. Jenna and Julien were my Test Kitchen during this time, in terms of comfort watching.
Instead of Rick Martinez’s toffee cookie video, I have seen Julien’s Aries Kitchen video of him making whipped dalgona coffee an ungodly number of times. Huge shout out
I don’t know why, but something about that video where Brad and Claire make sourdough bread gives me LIFE I don’t know how many times I re-watched it
Sometimes, some videos just hug you like a warm blanket that you never want to let go.
you mean seeing people care about each other
I’m glad someone documented and collected all this into one video, thank you.
I was SUPER into BA back in the day, because it just made me really happy. I unsubbed after the scandal broke out and because of pretty much all my faves left.
I used to get so excited whenever they uploaded cause their vids were so comforting and they (as a group) had so much chemistry and the ironic part is they actually were a pretty diverse group with many different backgrounds so it makes it even worse that it was performative. Also the editing made them 10 times more entertaining. But after everything that happened I can’t watch the videos idk why it just kinda make me sad.
You know...a lot of actors who play friends or partners in film and TV had terrible relationships off-screen. I take the perormances for what tney are and if I enjoy them I continue to do so regardless of the real life issues. Of course you have your own feelings but I hope that anyone experiencing a negative response isn't doing so out of social expectations.
why erase Andy B from the series? he was absolutely one of the core cast, and I Ioved the Persian recipes he brought in several times. the pasta e ceci one he did was also so comforting.
The Brad botulism thing was a bit overstated IMHO, The biggest concern with stuff like botulism and listeria is in industrial food setting like food production facilities and commercial kitchens. The risk to individuals at home is pretty low in general.
The USA averages less than 100 cases a year.
Uh, idk why you omitted Andy Baraghani, a persian, who was also a part of the OG team with his own series, but if youre doing a follow up its be nice to include him. his content was one of the first times Id ever seen someone teach persian food on a popular channel, and even was what drew me and my family to BA in the first place because we were so excited (we're persian). I havent looked into it in a while, but i think he was in a gray area as someone paid for his appearances, but people argue all the time if persian iranians are white or not (we're not - fair skinned is not the same as white, but many of us could be considered "white passing" where someone may assume we're italien or something. + the US has changed our classification to limit our political impact. At different times in my life during different presidencies I was classified as caucasian and asian on various immigration and college apps lmao) i digress, but please include him :(
Many people in America think middle eastern, west asian, Balkan, and caucus groups are white.
Why? Because "white" is a nebulous, ever shifting ideal that doesn't exist. At this point, if you aren't obviously and stereotypically a different race, you're white.
Aw I'm glad you pointed this out! Andy was one of my favorites! I'd love to know what he's up to now.
Seems like an odd omission, he just won a James Beard award for crying out loud, he seems to be doing pretty great after the Bon Appetit years.
This video misses a lot. For one Gabby’s later claims show that she didn’t quit the company in solidarity of Sohla. She was never interested in being a TH-cam persona. Gabby almost never hosted a show and would only on occasion make guest appearances. Honestly I feel like she was forced out. Unfortunately she was one who suffered from the implosion.
Secondly I disagree that Sohla was the biggest winner from this. That title goes solely to Claire who had the biggest following during the shows run and after as she was able to change her show to something that she actually vibes with. Molly would be next and would probably be closer to Claire if she actually posted more and actually wanted the money, but she is well off so she doesn’t need to. I would put Sohla close behind and finally Carla.
Andy blocked an article written by a woman about Antony Porowski because he had beef with him. When called out about it he then half-heartedly apologized but took zero responsibility for his actions that perpetuated inequity in the BA test kitchen all while benefiting from said inequalities.
i miss brads video's all of his stuff was so out of the box and cool
No, but Brad series was very entertaining. I couldn't care less about fermentation shit, but I still watched all his videos. That Alaskan Malamute energy. It's unfair for her to say that about him when he didn't do anything wrong to her (he seemed to think highly of her too, and I always thought they get along well). She radiated that 'top scorer who couldn't understand why someone scored higher than her' energy at this point.
Agreed. Those comments just made her look salty (and racist) but wait, you supposedly can’t be racist towards white people!
@@cody2470 you can't.
@@spacebar9733 it was a racist comment.
@@cody2470 okay lol
@@cody2470engaging with moron trolls is never a good idea lol
This time of bon appetit and youtube holds a VERY special place in my heart. Nothing could replace it and replace them. Its so sad that this was what was going on behind the scenes. I wish they make a channel of their own all together with similar content
This was always something I wondered about but I don’t think I was in a headspace at the time to really want to immerse myself in the “drama” or track down the information myself. But I always remember watching a video, probably from Claire, being like “a lot of us needed to leave but you may see some have stayed. That doesn’t mean they are supporters but not everyone has the luxury of leaving so don’t send them hate.” I’m sure it wasn’t those words but it was basically the essence I got from it that has stayed with me. Knowing what happened at BA has always been something I felt I needed a little closure on still because it niggles the back of my brain from time to time. I know we’re never owed clear answers in situations like this since it doesn’t “truly” impact our life but I can’t help but want to have enough info to kind of put that chapter of my video consuming life to bed so to speak.
Kayla, your channel is my favorite. You always come thru with put-together analyses of shows and media that no one else is talking about in the same way. Love it.
You have such a great voice for videos like this. The way you speak is kinda relaxing but it’s also really engaging and animated which means it doesn’t make you tune out, so it’s great to have on while you are also doing something else because you get to wind down but you don’t miss anything and have to go back.
It hurts me that Brad's career is now in such a dark spot, he was my favourite from the crew.
yeah, it's alive was my favourite series from BA. Somehow, it seems fitting that his main controversy was just him being kind of a dumbass
He just posted he's going to be uploqding regularly on his TH-cam channel, i think he just needed a break from the shit show that was BA
Brads doing fine. He bought a farm in Connecticut. He’ll survive.
Idgi he always seemed like such a dickhead to me
Don’t think he’s in a really dark spot or anything, looks like he’ll be transitioning to his own content creation soon, but yeah idk if he’ll be about to recapture that same peak from the test Kitchen
I do think the BA channel has taken a hit in views; the Claire vids were in the millions. Theres nothing on there doing those kinds of numbers. I also remember a big flashpoint at the time being the big Thanksgiving series of episodes. I believe Christina Chaey was the only person of colour involved, and found out she was the only person not being paid AT ALL for those episodes.
Nah, Rick and Andy were in there, too.
I used to go through and scroll the vids to see the discrepancy in views. they definitely took a hit… even if they get relatively good views, theyre still just a fraction of what they used to get
I feel like the editing was some of the most incredible that I've ever seen on BA videos. Like seeing Claire Saffitz on other channels doesn't seem the same :(
It wasn't just the editing the chemistry between these people was great.
This was a great explanation, thank you! I came in to this super late. I discovered all of these chefs through their own YT channels, and then realized they worked together at some point. This is a great catch up for all the drama!
The algorithm dug inside my brain for this suggested video 💀 This was such a wild experience. I have thought about how BA test kitchen was one of my staples during the shut down, and how their in kitchen videos as well as their home videos brought me a sense of comfort during that really confusing time. When every thing came out about the abuse and inequality behind the camera I remember being truly shocked and sort of just being like “well- can’t support this organization anymore but i love these people so what do i do” lol. it has been a pleasure to see majority of them go on and find their own successes which they very much deserve- thanks for creating this to really help punctuate and validate my experience!! lol
Having watched the channel extensively, Sohla was always getting pulled away from her work by hosts to help them on camera so not only was she not getting paid properly, she was being set back in her job by it. How many times did she have to work overtime to make up for that lost time? We'll never know.
all the chocolate tempering for Claire's segment😂😂 always going back to Sohla
@@amariigavriel I'm not sure how Claire wrote a cookbook without Sohla to figure everything out for her!
@@sebeckley i'm sorry but how Claire wrote a cookbook without Sohla??? All Sohla did was helping with tempering chocolate, and that's it. And i'm pretty sure Claire doesn't have that much if not any recipe in her book that involve tempering. You can praise Sohla, but don't downplay other people's skills just for it.
@RedShinki Claire consulted Sohla all the time, especially when she was stuck figuring out a "gourmet makes" recipe. I was being a little facetious because Claire can cook, but I watched her channel, and I don't find her particularly impressive.
@@sebeckley by your definition, then pretty much everyone in BA help Claire writing her book, because she ask everyone, not just Sohla, there's Chris, Brad, Andy, Rick, Gaby,... esp Rhoda. Asking for a 2nd opinions from your co-workers is totally normal, you get stuck, then you ask for help. No one knows everything. Even top chefs still learning from other ppl, doesn't make them less talented.
I really loved the ba series, I watched nearly all of the series and single videos that were put out, especially through the pandemic. I had a good phase where I was definitively unhealthily attached to them just because you could be. Going from loving these series to never watching any of them again was and is such an odd thing to me still. I was really excited to see this video pop up because it’s a feeling I still harbor and I’m so glad you were able to make this when you shared a similar attachment as I did, so it feels very genuine. I’m glad people are doing better and I watch Claire’s stuff still but
This video is so well put together! Nice work!
thank you so much for this! this is the video I didn't know (how much!) I needed
I am SO interested to hear your take on this. As usual the topic choice is *impeccable* and covering media phenomena that just sort of got absorbed into the collective brain fog.
you left out the alex delaney racist cake and gay slur controversy! things were so messy at one point
fsksksk what
I knew there was a reason he felt so off to me
I was so curious about what happened to him. I admittedly was a pretty big fan of his so hearing this hurts
Your video helped me remember just how much the BA Test Kitchen in 2018 and 2019 was a huge part of my TH-cam diet, thank you
This is such a cool video thank you for adding the closure section as well
I’m a really picky eater but I love cooking and baking content too!! Its something about seeing how other people can transform ingredients and make something really cool for me. Maybe I just like alchemy lmao
Sohla had to help Claire temper chocolate almost every time, and you could tell by how she would explain things about sugar crystal structure and whatnot that Sohla actually paid attention during the chemistry and physics classes she took at some point. She also had similarly erudite advice for all of the other people who would ask for her help, about a wide variety of topics.
So thank you for including footage of her teaching Claire how to temper chocolate, because it was perfect for this video.
Discovered your channel & this was one of the best analyses of the whole Test Kitchen drama. Instantly subscribed!
Wowwww I'd completely forgotten about Bon Apetite... they definitely carried the beginning of the pandemic for me. It was so sad to find out what was really going on behind the scenes, but I'm glad everyone seems to be doing well now
I'm so happy everything turned out better for the hosts that carried us when we needed it
god the memories. i was there when it all went down (like literally was watching their newest video just hours before the news broke). wasted many hours on the BA subreddit because the updates kept coming. they were such a comforting part of 2019 and early quarantine for me. even watching their past videos now doesn't feel the same
Glad to see we all still haven't recovered from the situation and are still making/watching videos about what happened.
thanks for sharing the info, I never could've realized that there were such a depressing things happening in the BA Test Kitchen, I'm not from the states and I don't follow lots of news outlet. I love the old cast and have been following them on YT for all their videos. It is really not the same with the absence of more than half of the original staff members. Anyway, its great to know that their previous videos brought joy to you as much as it did me.
I work for a hospital so I unfortunately remember all of Covid. I lost a lot of lovely patients. I would watch cooking shows to zone out and was really disappointed with BA. I’m glad everyone seems to be doing well.
This video jogs my memory about watching so much cooking content two years before 2020 and during the pandemic. BA was my favorite because of the wide cast of people that would pop in around Claire or Brad. But then I also loved watching when Cut would put out videos about 50 or 100 people trying to make a recipe from scratch, or the cheap vs mid price vs expensive way to make one dish. It was often really wild and hilarious, and then one day I just felt so over with all of that, especially after the situation with BA. I don't regret tuning in, it's just funny that I decided to stop.
Realizing how toxic their work enviroment was really opens my eyes to the fact that as viewers we can never know the entire situation. That goes for our favorite live streamers, influencers, or what have you. It looked like something enviable, and then the wool is pulled back and it's upsetting knowing what was happening behind the scenes. So much so that I can never really go back and watch that content the same way.
It's so interesting to see a full timeline of all this. I wasn't super into their test kitchen, just occasionally watched Gourmet Makes. It feels pretty icky to go back and watch some of the episodes. In hindsight it's really clear how stressed Claire was and how little fun she was having. So glad that most of them are onto better and brighter things.
An old BA Test Kitchen video resurfaced on my feed today and it led me here, so I want to thank you for this excellently made documentary. The original assemble of vibrant and stylish BA cast truly was something magical, and while I'm saddened by the fact that it's over, it's nice to know these talented chefs are out there creating their own stories.
BA was my favorite magazine growing up and i was an avid youtube watcher throughout my teen years so naturally i fell in love with the test kitchen. the downfall of it was so heartbreaking and i miss it so much. i’m glad that the creators who didn’t get enough shine on the channel are doing well on their own though. still a diehard claire fan, and i’ve made a number of her recipes from dessert person
There are people who are charismatic on camera without trying to be, but often when they realize it it starts breaking the magic. Claire is an example of someone who managed to keep that magic, and I think it's because her mind stays solely focused on the recipe and the food.
Imagine: its 2018, you get a notification. BA Test Kitchen has uploaded a new video. Its Gourmet Makes. It lasts 34 minutes. Life is good.
Thank you for this update. I too loved B. A. and dropped my sub with it's fallout. So glad to hear most all are doing well. 👍
I was watching BA's channel from the start and was blown away by how thoroughly the episodes drew me in and let me forget the rest of the world. They were happy and fun and felt genuine. When it imploded, I was sad, of course, but Sohla was my favorite chef so learning how they screwed her really left with me a raze-it-to-the-ground attitude. I'm happy to see so many of them moved on to well-deserved success, but I still miss the camaraderie of the entire gang in the kitchen.
Sohla was also nasty to Gaby and minimized her experiences as a Latina immigrant, so I don't have a lot of sympathy for her.
I work in healthcare, so when I wasn't breaking down at work, I was stuck at home most of the time. It's unreal the degree to which cooking shows provided a degree of escape. When I would cook dinner at home, there would always be some sort of cooking video playing when I sat down to eat. It felt like I was in a restaurant rather than the turmoil of a pandemic and provided comfort from the persistence of the chaos outside. I give most of the credit to my stability throughout the pandemic to Bon Appetit, Joshua Weissman and binging with babish.
BA Test Kitchen was my go-to channel for years. I was heartbroken when everything came to light as suddenly my comfort shows were poisoned and it felt wrong tuning in, even rewatching old videos. Any video with a combination of Claire, Carla & / or Sohla were immediate favourites. Great video!
I haven't watched BA since it blew up and have always been curious about the details. Thanks for making this!
Watched all of this happen at the time. This is a fantastic summary and updates on some of the crew that I wasn't aware of. Thanks a bunch for this!
Wow watching this definitely brought up memories of me binge watching the BA Test Kitchen during the early days of the pandemic. Thanks to their videos, I learned how to make better eggs (sunny side up and scrambled) lol. Glad to see my favs were able to step away and soar on their own.
I LOVED Claire's series so much
Sohla was insane, imagine calling anyone a big dumb black or spanish guy. She honestly shouldve gotten fired, easily the weakest part of the crew.
exactly. she’s a hypocrite. being a brown person myself, i know quite a few “im a racial minority therefore you should all cater to me” people. sohla doesn’t grasp that she has an extremely boring camera presence and was not put in front of one often for that reason.
oh my gosh I watched that video a lot too. I loved every member of this era of bon appetite so much. They did and still do so much for me. it got huge so fast
Thank you for this video. I'm happy that Sohla is doing well.
them with the thanksgiving dinner group video was everything to me. it kept me well alive through the pandemic
It was great. I felt quite sad at the time they broke up. The best episode, in my opinion, was when Claire & Brad made donuts. Their interaction always had chemistry. Nothing lasts forever but what a gift The Test Kitchen was. Thank you for a wonderful video Kayla. Take care. 🕊
I absolutely LOVE Brad's videos. Anytime he works with questionable things he never tells you he's a professional and anyone who watches his videos should take everything with a grain of salt. You shit on him aggressively and unnecessarily.
As did the one who got props for calling him a "big dumb white guy" . I'm absolutely pro-equality for the pay scale but the fact that some people felt they were victims of racial discrimination doesn't justify similar displays by them toward associates that they felt superior to.
Imagine being so needlessly angry that you can't even enjoy brads objectively positive and enjoyable content because he is too "dude-bro" whatever that means. Unnecessarily exclusionary and petty.
@@brt5273 Imagine using similar adjectives to describe Sohla. It would seem disgusting, because it would be. Why is she allowed and even celebrated for this? She can go take a long walk off a short pier for all I care. And just for the record, Sohla, Brad's show is popular because he's likeable. She should try that, some time.
For what is is Claire did not have extensive experience as a pastry chef (ex. Her hesitation tempering chocolate early in the series)
She’s conspicuously intelligent and it’s so much fun to watch her troubleshoot. A very experienced pastry chef would nail some of those in two or three, and her 7-10 was much more interesting to watch.
Which is to say, get in the kitchen, have fun making mistakes… everyone can cook as good as any chef.
The troubleshooting and failures were absolutely necessary to create entertaining content. It's also why they decided choose more and more complicated sweets/junk food to reproduce, and why the goal shifted from "create a gourmet version that scratches the same itch as the original version" to "retro engineer and recreate the product". Tbh this is a pretty weird exercise but I think she gained a lot of experience from it.
Sadly it was all fake (like reality TV). If you watch the videos she made before getting her experimental show, you'll see she acts really professional and doesn't make mistakes. It's the power of writing.
Another great video, Kayla! I watched a ton of Bon Appetit during the early days of the pandemic, too, but fell off at some point. I heard some rumblings of the behind-the-scenes drama, but I didn't know about all of this 😬.
Great video, the test kitchen definitely helped during the pandemic, and I'm sad that it imploded upon itself. I'm glad to see everybody is doing well now. I am kinda surprised that you didn't talk about Alex Delany, I always thought that he was the catalyst to the mayhem that unfolded at Bon Appetit.
The Thanksgiving series were the best comfort watch. I still revisit when times are tough.