Brad Samuel Leone (born May 16, 1985) is an American chef and

YouTube personality A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...

. He is known for his appearances in videos produced by ''

Bon Appétit ''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 i ...

'' for its YouTube channel, most notably as the host of ''It's Alive with Brad'' and its spinoff series ''It's Alive: Goin' Places''.

Early life and education

Leone was born on May 16, 1985 in northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, near

Mountain Creek Mountain Creek is a ski resort in Vernon Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. It is located on New Jersey Route 94, from the George Washington Bridge. Mountain Creek contains of skiing area, night skiing, snowboarding, a ...

. He has described his professional background as being "kind of all over the place", having worked a variety of jobs both in and outside the food service industry, including as a

caterer Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major services be ...

, a

delicatessen Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...

worker, a kitchen chef for multiple restaurants, a

glazier A glazier is a tradesman responsible for cutting, installing, and removing glass (and materials used as substitutes for glass, such as some plastics).Elizabeth H. Oakes, ''Ferguson Career Resource Guide to Apprenticeship Programs'' ( Infobase: ...

, and a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

. At 26, Leone moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where he studied at the

Institute of Culinary Education The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) is a private for-profit culinary college in New York City. ICE is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC), and offers career training diploma programs in the cu ...

. Leone developed an interest in

fermentation Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...

after being given a

SCOBY Symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) is a culinary symbiotic fermentation culture ( starter) consisting of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), acetic acid bacteria (AAB), and yeast which arises in the preparation of sour foods and beverages s ...

. Leone is of Dutch, Irish, and Italian (Neapolitan) descent.

Work at ''Bon Appétit''

After graduating, Leone was hired as an intern at ''

'' as a test kitchen assistant, a role which required him to perform "all the shopping, all the cleaning and certainly all the dishes", leading him to describe his position as "a glorified

dishwashing Dishwashing, washing the dishes, doing the dishes, or washing up in Great Britain, is the process of cleaning cooking utensils, dishes, cutlery and other items to prevent foodborne illness. This is either achieved by hand in a sink using dis ...

job". He was later offered a full-time position at the magazine, eventually working his way up to Test Kitchen Manager. In 2016, amid an effort by ''Bon Appétit'' to increase its

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

presence, creative director Alex Grossman conceived of a

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

that would follow Leone in the magazine's test kitchen. The first video, which followed Leone making

kombucha Kombucha (also tea mushroom, tea fungus, or Manchurian mushroom when referring to the culture; Latin name ''Medusomyces gisevii'') is a fermented, lightly effervescent, sweetened black tea drink commonly consumed for its purported health ben ...

, was shot and subsequently shelved for eight months before camera operator Vincent Cross convinced the magazine to post the video. The video, which would become the first episode of ''It's Alive with Brad'', debuted on October 21, 2016 and now has over 3 million views. ''It's Alive with Brad'' developed into a regular series that follows Leone as he creates food with microbial food cultures, though later episodes additionally focus on more general recipes and on-location activities. The series stars Leone and is filmed, produced, and edited by Matt Hunziker. Cross previously filmed and produced the show until he left for Binging with Babish in February 2019. ''It's Alive'' has been praised for its comedic editing and for Leone's laid-back cooking style, having been described as "part cooking show, part travel show, part ''

Pop-Up Video ''Pop Up Video'' is a VH1 television show that shows music videos annotated via "pop-up" bubbles — officially called "info nuggets" — containing trivia and witticisms relating to the video in question. The show was created by Woody T ...

'' and part continuous

blooper reel A blooper is a short clip from a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms o ...

". The loose and personality-driven style of ''It's Alive'', along with ''Gourmet Makes'' starring

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 '' ...

, 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 re ...

'' as having "changed the way

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 media ...

approaches online video". In late 2018, Leone transitioned roles at ''Bon Appétit'', moving out of his role as Test Kitchen Manager to focus exclusively on creating videos. An ''It's Alive'' spin-off series, ''It's Alive: Goin' Places'', was launched in 2019 on ''Bon Appétits dedicated streaming channel; the first season follows Leone in

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 ph ...

, while the second season follows 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 stat ...

. That same year, Leone was nominated at the 11th

Shorty Awards The Shorty Awards (also known as “The Shortys”) honors the most innovative work globally in digital and social media by brands, agencies, nonprofits and creators. The Shortys’ mission is to celebrate, inspire and push the boundaries of exce ...

in the category "Best in Food" for his work on ''It's Alive''. Brad also appears in other ''Bon Appétit'' series, like ''Making Perfect'' and ''Test Kitchen Talks.''

Personal life

Leone, his partner Peggy, and their two sons resided in New Jersey until early 2021 when they moved to Connecticut.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leone, Brad 1985 births Living people American YouTubers Bon Appétit people Chefs from New Jersey Institute of Culinary Education alumni American male chefs People from Sussex County, New Jersey American people of Irish descent American people of Dutch descent American people of Italian descent