''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
Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast, and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan.
The company's med ...
, it is headquartered at the
One World Trade Center
One World Trade Center (also known as One World Trade, One WTC, and formerly Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Me ...
in
Manhattan, New York
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. stat ...
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
channel.
History
Early history (1956-2010)
''Bon Appétit'' was started in 1956 as a liquor store giveaway and was first published as a bimonthly magazine in December of that year in Chicago.
It was acquired by M. Frank Jones of
Kansas City, Missouri in 1965.
[ Jones was owner, editor, and publisher until 1970, when he sold the magazine to the ]Pillsbury Company
The Pillsbury Company is a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company that was one of the world's largest producers of grain and other foodstuffs until it was bought by General Mills in 2001. General Mills brands consist of Annie's, Betty Crocker, Nat ...
, who in turn sold it to Knapp Communications in 1975. Jones remained the editor of the magazine through both of these transfers. Knapp Communications also owned and published '' Architectural Digest'', which was edited by Paige Rense
Paige Rense, also known as Paige Rense Noland (May 4, 1929 – January 1, 2021) was an American writer and editor who served as editor-in-chief of ''Architectural Digest'' magazine from 1975 until 2010. She founded the Arthur Rense Prize poetry ...
. Jones recruited Rense to restructure ''Bon Appétit''. She converted the magazine from a giveaway into a subscription-based, monthly magazine, as it remains today. Rense became the editor-in-chief in 1976. Condé Nast Publications, the current owners, purchased Knapp Communications in 1993. ''Bon Appétit's'' sister publication was '' Gourmet'', before the latter was discontinued in October 2009.
Move to New York (2010-2019)
The magazine's headquarters was moved from Los Angeles to New York City in early 2011. Concurrent with the move, Barbara Fairchild, the editor since 2000, was succeeded by editor Adam Rapoport
Adam Rapoport (born 1969) is an American former magazine editor. After serving as a Style Editor at '' GQ'', Rapoport was the editor-in-chief of '' Bon Appétit'' magazine from 2010 until his resignation in 2020.
Early life and education
Rapo ...
, who was previously the Style Editor at Condé Nast's '' GQ'' magazine. Prior to joining ''GQ'', Rapoport edited the restaurant section at '' Time Out New York'' and worked as an editor and writer for the James Beard Foundation's publications office.
In 2011, ''Bon Appétit'' launched the "Bite me" advertising campaign, which had an estimated $500,000 budget that included print and online ads, billboards, posters, and sweepstakes. The ad campaign came after a period of "sluggish performance" following its sibling magazine ''Gourmets cancellation in 2009, during which a limited number of readers and advertisers shifted to ''Bon Appétit''. During the same period, other food magazines, such as '' Every Day With Rachael Ray'' and '' Food Network Magazine'' thrived. ''Bon Appétit'' sold 632 ad pages in 2012, which was a one percent increase from 625 ad pages sold in 2009 but a decline of 27 percent from the 867 ad pages sold in 2008. Condé Nast reported 1,452,953 paid subscriptions and 88,516 single copies in 2012 for the period ending November 2012. The median age of its audience was 48.4, of which 74% were female.
In August 2014, Condé Nast combined ''Bon Appétit'' and '' Epicurious'' into a single digital food platform led by Pamela Drucker Mann, ''Bon Appétit'' Senior Vice President and Publisher. Adam Rapoport was named Editorial Director of ''Epicurious''.
Starting in the late 2010s, ''Bon Appétit'' was noted for increasing their web presence through the use of social media, their website, and their YouTube channel. From 2018 to 2019, ''Bon Appétit'' saw a 40 percent increase in video revenue and a 64 percent increase in subscriptions generated from digital channels such as social media plugs, podcasts, and newsletters. The company worked to leverage the popularity of ''Bon Appétit's'' YouTube and streaming channels towards increasing magazine readership. This included the November 2019 edition of the magazine, which had eight separate covers featuring the staff of the ''Bon Appétit'' Test Kitchen seen on the channels. As well, advertiser interest increased, with many companies being drawn to the connections the shows’ hosts have with their audience. These companies included Goose Island Beer, The Mushroom Council, Mitsubishi
The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries.
Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 187 ...
, Kerrygold and Glossier
Emily Weiss (born March 22, 1985) is an American businesswoman. She is the founder and former CEO of the cosmetics company Glossier and the blog ''Into the Gloss''. She was featured in the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 list in 2015. In 2019, she was i ...
.
Racism allegations and fallout (2020-present)
On June 8, 2020, Adam Rapoport
Adam Rapoport (born 1969) is an American former magazine editor. After serving as a Style Editor at '' GQ'', Rapoport was the editor-in-chief of '' Bon Appétit'' magazine from 2010 until his resignation in 2020.
Early life and education
Rapo ...
resigned as editor-in-chief after a photo of him in brownface was posted by food and wine writer Tammie Teclemariam on Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and sparked widespread criticism. Rapoport also received criticism after food editor Sohla El-Waylly
Sohla El-Waylly ( née Muzib) is an American chef, restaurateur, and YouTube personality. She was an assistant food editor at '' Bon Appétit'', where she appeared in videos produced for the magazine's YouTube channel, and also produced videos ...
accused the magazine of discriminating against employees of color
The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered " white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the ...
, claiming they were subject to lesser pay than their non-minority counterparts. Amanda Shapiro took on the role of interim editor-in-chief soon after. In an interview with ''Business Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German pub ...
'', Rapoport's former assistant Ryan Walker-Hartshorn, who is black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
, revealed that she had not been given a pay raise in almost 3 years with the company and was subject to numerous racist remarks and microaggressions, with a number of other employees of color agreeing that there was a "'toxic' culture of microaggression and exclusion" at the company. Vice President and Head of Programming and Lifestyle at Condé Nast, Matt Duckor, apologized and later resigned after past tweets seen as racist and homophobic were revealed, as well as accusations of being complicit or directly responsible for the pay disparities at the company. In August 2020, two months after the initial fallout, several members of the Test Kitchen announced they would not be returning to film videos for the ''Bon Appétit'' YouTube channel due to a continued lack of progress in resolving issues at Condé Nast Entertainment. Additionally, Walker-Hartshorn and Jesse Sparks, the only two black editorial staff members at ''Bon Appétit'', quit on the same day. Dawn Davis, a black woman, was named the new editor-in-chief on August 27, effective November 2, 2020. This followed the announcements of Sonia Chopra as the new executive editor and Marcus Samuelsson as a brand adviser and guest editor.
Condé Nast employees, including all ''Bon Appétit'' employees, formed a union in September 2022.
YouTube channel
History
Beginnings and success (2012-2020)
In 2012, ''Bon Appétit'' launched a YouTube channel primarily featuring traditional "hands-and-pans" cooking tutorials.
On October 21, 2016, the first episode of ''It's Alive with Brad'' debuted. The series began with videos of Brad Leone
Brad Samuel Leone (born May 16, 1985) is an American chef and YouTube personality. He is known for his appearances in videos produced by ''Bon Appétit'' for its YouTube channel, most notably as the host of ''It's Alive with Brad'' and its spino ...
, the Test Kitchen Manager at the time, in the ''Bon Appétit'' Test Kitchen demonstrating recipes for foods with microbial food cultures, but later moved on to more general recipes as well as outdoor segments at agricultural and food processing sites, including a cocoa
Cocoa may refer to:
Chocolate
* Chocolate
* ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree
* Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao''
* Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...
farm, a sea salt
Sea salt is salt that is produced by the evaporation of seawater. It is used as a seasoning in foods, cooking, cosmetics and for preserving food. It is also called bay salt, solar salt, or simply salt. Like mined rock salt, production of sea s ...
harvesting facility, and a sausage factory. The series features a casual, unproduced style and comedic editing. The series was edited by Matt Hunziker and filmed and produced by Vincent Cross until Cross's departure in early 2019 to fellow cooking YouTube channel, ''Binging with Babish
''Babish Culinary Universe'' (''BCU''; ), formerly ''Binging with Babish'', is a YouTube cooking channel created by American cook and filmmaker Andrew Rea (alias Oliver Babish) that recreates recipes featured in film, television, and video ga ...
''. It was subsequently filmed, produced, and edited by Hunziker, whose style has been credited with shaping the aesthetic of the entire ''Bon Appétit'' YouTube channel, including shaky cam-style filming, frequent cameos by non-featured chefs, and a focus on kitchen mistakes.
In July 2017, ''Gourmet Makes'' with Claire Saffitz
Claire Saffitz (born 1986) is an American food writer, chef, and YouTube personality. Until mid-2020, she was a contributing editor at '' Bon Appétit'' magazine and starred in several series on the ''Bon Appétit'' YouTube channel, including ...
debuted, in which Saffitz attempted to recreate or elevate popular snack foods such as Doritos
Doritos () is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced since 1964 by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The original Doritos were not flavored. The first flavor was Toasted Corn, released in 1966, followed by Taco ...
, Twinkies
A Twinkie is an American snack cake, described as "golden sponge cake with a creamy filling". It was formerly made and distributed by Hostess Brands. The brand is currently owned by Hostess Brands, Inc. (), having been formerly owned by private ...
, and Gushers
Fruit Gushers (also simply Gushers) are a Betty Crocker-branded fruit snack introduced in 1991. They are soft and chewy with a fruity-juice center.
History
Fruit Gushers (sometimes simply "Gushers") were introduced in 1991 as a Betty Crocker ...
. ''Gourmet Makes'' consistently trended on YouTube and developed a cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic ...
on social media. Saffitz's work has been described as taking "junk food staples and...elevating them from their humble processed beginnings into wonders of gastronomy
Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...
."
The loose and personality-driven style of ''It's Alive'', along with ''Gourmet Makes'', are noted as contrasting the "curated ndposh" brand of ''Bon Appétit'' and were described by ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' as having "changed the way Condé Nast approaches online video." As a result, in February 2019, ''Bon Appétit'' launched three new series on a streaming channel which took a more personality driven approach to their content: ''Bon Appétit’s Baking School'', a spin-off
Spin-off may refer to:
*Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work
*Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity
* Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...
of ''It’s Alive'' titled ''It’s Alive: Going Places'', and ''Making Perfect''. ''Bon Appétit’s Baking School'' was presented by Saffitz and taught the basics of baking a cake in a five-part series. The first season of ''It’s Alive: Going Places'' followed Leone as he traveled Central Texas
Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas surrounding Austin and roughly bordered by San Saba to Bryan and San Marcos to Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part of the Texas Hill Country and corresponds to a p ...
, and was followed by a second season in June 2019 which followed Leone in Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...
.
The first season of ''Making Perfect'' starred Andy Baraghani, Molly Baz
Molly Baz (née Lundquist-Baz; born 1987 or 1988) is an American cook, recipe developer, and food writer. She was a senior food editor at ''Bon Appétit'' magazine and appeared frequently in videos for the magazine's YouTube channel before leav ...
, Brad Leone, Chris Morocco
Christopher Morocco (born February 26, 1980) is an American chef and YouTube personality. He is the test kitchen director at ''Bon Appétit'' and is known for his appearances in videos produced for the magazine's YouTube channel, most notably a ...
, Carla Lalli Music, and Claire Saffitz, and focused on making the perfect pizza. It was followed by a second season in October 2019, with the additions of Christina Chaey and Rick Martinez. The second season focused on making the perfect Thanksgiving dinner.
Resignations and restructuring (2020-present)
After the resignation of editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport in June 2020 and the subsequent fallout regarding inequitable pay for staff and contributors of color
The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered " white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the ...
, the channel became inactive and all members of the Test Kitchen stopped filming videos. Two months later, Rick Martinez, Sohla El-Waylly, and Priya Krishna announced they would be permanently leaving the ''Bon Appétit'' YouTube channel due to a continued lack of progress in resolving issues at Condé Nast Entertainment. Molly Baz, Gaby Melian, Carla Lalli Music, and Amiel Stanek made similar announcements soon after, followed by Claire Saffitz in October 2020. Later that month, the channel relaunched with a video helmed by the new leadership of Dawn Davis, Sonia Chopra, and Marcus Samuelsson, announcing seven new hosts: DeVonn Francis, Tiana “Tee” Gee, Melissa Miranda, Samantha Seneviratne, Christian “Chrissy” Tracey, Harold Villarosa, Rawlston Williams and Claudette Zepeda as well as the return of Brad Leone, Chris Morocco and Andy Baraghani.
Productions
The entire lineup of on-camera staff and contributors at ''Bon Appétit'' appear in the series ''From The Test Kitchen'', which features more traditionally structured instructional recipe videos, as well as ''Test Kitchen Talks'', with videos of the chefs competing in cooking challenges and answering common cooking questions. Several other series feature the individual chefs. Chris Morocco stars in ''Reverse Engineering'', in which he attempts to reverse engineer
Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...
a recipe by a celebrity chef
A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television ...
from taste, touch, and smell alone. Carla Lalli Music starred in ''Back-to-Back Chef'', in which she cooked along with and instructed a celebrity in preparing a dish while facing away from each other and using only verbal instructions. The series' guests included Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...
, Antoni Porowski
Antoni Janusz Porowski (born March 14, 1984) is a Canadian television personality, cook, actor, model and author. He is the food and wine expert on the Netflix series '' Queer Eye'' (2018–present).
Early life
Porowski was born in Montreal, ...
, Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp ...
, Miz Cracker, Braun Strowman and more. Additionally, chefs Bobby Flay, Daniel Boulud, and Gordon Ramsay
Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a to ...
have guest hosted the series.
''Bon Appétit'' has filmed several collaborations with other notable YouTube channels, including '' First We Feast'' and ''Binging with Babish
''Babish Culinary Universe'' (''BCU''; ), formerly ''Binging with Babish'', is a YouTube cooking channel created by American cook and filmmaker Andrew Rea (alias Oliver Babish) that recreates recipes featured in film, television, and video ga ...
'', with Sean Evans of '' Hot Ones'' and Andrew Rea of ''Binging with Babish'' appearing on multiple ''Bon Appétit'' series, and ''Bon Appétit'' personalities appearing on ''First We Feast'' and ''Binging with Babish's'' respective series. El-Waylly's first appearance on YouTube after the ''Bon Appétit'' YouTube channel became inactive was teaching Rea to temper chocolate, before eventually moving entirely to the '' Babish Culinary Universe'' with her own show titled ''Stump Sohla''. Several other guests have appeared on ''It's Alive'', including Elias Cairo of Olympia Provisions
Olympia Provisions (formerly Olympic Provisions) is an American meat and restaurant company that produces artisan charcuterie based out of Portland, Oregon.
Background and history
Founded in 2009 as Olympic Provisions, the company began as Ore ...
, chef Matty Matheson, chef Samin Nosrat
Samin Nosrat ( fa, ثمین نصرت, , born November 7, 1979) is an American chef, TV host, food writer and podcaster.
She is the author of the James Beard Award–winning, ''New York Times'' Bestselling cookbook '' Salt Fat Acid Heat'' and hos ...
, and musician Orville Peck.
Videos are produced by Condé Nast Entertainment and were filmed in the ''Bon Appétit'' Test Kitchen on the 35th floor of the One World Trade Center
One World Trade Center (also known as One World Trade, One WTC, and formerly Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Me ...
in Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
, where it is part of Condé Nast's headquarters. Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, videos were filmed at individual chefs' homes and other filming locations. ''Bon Appétit'' won the 2020 Webby Award for Food & Drink in the category Social and 2020 Webby Award and Webby People's Voice Award for Food & Drink in the category Web.
''Bon Appétit'' staff and contributors on YouTube channel
Current
Former
Podcasts
In 2014, ''Bon Appétit'' launched a podcast titled the ''Bon Appétit Foodcast''. The series was hosted by former editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport, and featured notable guests such as Ina Garten, Gordon Ramsay
Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a to ...
, and Mark Bittman. A number of the staff at ''Bon Appétit'' regularly appeared on the podcast to discuss their recently published recipes. On June 17, 2020, a final podcast was released, announcing that in light of the departure of Rapoport and the ensuing fall out, the podcast would have a new host and a new name, as well as feature a greater range of contributors and developers. On June 10, 2021, a new podcast was launched on the same podcast feed, titled ''Bon Appétit Healthyish''. The podcast was planned to be a six-episode miniseries hosted by Amanda Shapiro. After the six episodes, the podcast was again renamed on August 19, 2021, to ''Food People'', and was still hosted by Shapiro.
Best New Restaurants in America
Since 2009, ''Bon Appétits editors, including Andrew Knowlton, Senior Editor Julia Kramer, and Amiel Stanek, have put together a list of the "Best New Restaurants in America". The list is released annually at the end of August for the September issue, and begins with a 50-restaurant shortlist that is then narrowed down to "The Hot 10" list. The first two years, the list was not in a specific order. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food industry, no list was released in 2020. In September 2021, it was announced that there would not be any list for a second year in a row, with a "Heads of the Table" list released in its place. The list featured restaurants, chefs, and organizations that worked to benefit their communities and those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
.
Editors-in-chief
* James A. Shanahan (1956–1961)
* Alan Shearer (1961–1962)
* Charles Walters (1962–1963)
* Betty Paige (1963–1964)
* W. C. Carreras (1964)
* Floyd Sageser (1964–1965)
* M. Frank Jones (1965–1976)
* Paige Rense
Paige Rense, also known as Paige Rense Noland (May 4, 1929 – January 1, 2021) was an American writer and editor who served as editor-in-chief of ''Architectural Digest'' magazine from 1975 until 2010. She founded the Arthur Rense Prize poetry ...
(1976–1983)
* Marilou Vaughan (1983–1985)
* William J. Garry (1985–2000)
* Barbara Fairchild (2000–2010)
* Adam Rapoport
Adam Rapoport (born 1969) is an American former magazine editor. After serving as a Style Editor at '' GQ'', Rapoport was the editor-in-chief of '' Bon Appétit'' magazine from 2010 until his resignation in 2020.
Early life and education
Rapo ...
(2010–2020)
* Amanda Shapiro (2020) (Interim Editor)
* Dawn Davis (November 2020–Present)
See also
* Las Vegas Uncork'd
Las Vegas Uncork'd (also referred to as Vegas Uncork'd and Vegas Uncorked) was an annual culinary and wine event in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada. The concept was developed by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, their advertisin ...
* List of food and drink magazines
References
External links
''Bon Appétit'' online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bon Appetit
Bimonthly magazines published in the United States
Condé Nast magazines
Education-related YouTube channels
Food and drink magazines
Food and cooking YouTube channels
Magazines established in 1956
Magazines published in Chicago
Magazines published in Missouri
Magazines published in New York City
Monthly magazines published in the United States