The Bon Appetit Test Kitchen was the Conde Nast-owned video YouTube channel that defined personality-driven food content from roughly 2016 to 2020, centered around the working kitchen of Bon Appetit magazine and a recurring on-camera cast including Brad Leone (Its Alive!), Claire Saffitz (Gourmet Makes), Carla Lalli Music, Andy Baraghani, Molly Baz, Sohla El-Waylly, Priya Krishna, Chris Morocco, and Christina Chaey. The channels rapid rise was followed by a June 2020 racial pay disparity scandal that triggered the departure of editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport and most of the on-camera cast, fundamentally reshaping food YouTube.
TL;DR
- Conde Nast-owned food YouTube channel built around the working test kitchen of Bon Appetit magazine
- Peak era 2016 to 2020 with personality-driven series including Its Alive! (Brad Leone) and Gourmet Makes (Claire Saffitz)
- June 2020 racial pay disparity scandal triggered the departure of editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport and most of the on-camera cast
- Mass departures included Claire Saffitz, Sohla El-Waylly, Priya Krishna, Molly Baz, Andy Baraghani, Christina Chaey, and eventually Brad Leone
- Channel continues with a new cast but never recovered the cultural relevance of the 2018 to 2020 peak
Key facts about the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen
| Parent company | Conde Nast (Bon Appetit magazine) |
| YouTube channel launched | 2014 to 2016 (video content) |
| Peak era | 2016 to 2020 |
| Defining series | Its Alive! (Brad Leone), Gourmet Makes (Claire Saffitz), Reverse Engineering, Back-to-Back |
| 2020 turning point | June 2020 racial pay disparity scandal |
| Editor-in-chief 2010 to 2020 | Adam Rapoport (resigned June 2020) |
| Headquarters | New York City, USA |
Origins and the dramaturgical rise
The Bon Appetit Test Kitchen had existed as a physical space within Conde Nasts New York offices for decades, used to develop recipes for the print magazine. The YouTube channel that built its global cultural reach launched in the mid-2010s as a video extension of the editorial brand. The defining editorial choice came when production began following individual editors and chefs through the kitchen, treating the underlying personalities as characters rather than as anonymous recipe developers.
The breakthrough series Its Alive! with Brad Leone, launched October 2016, was filmed by following Brad through his actual job as test kitchen manager exploring fermentation, fungi, sustainable hunting, and similar long-format experiments. Editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport described the first episode of the series as not a show but just following Brad where he was supposed to be working, an editorial framing that captured the channels distinctive feel.
Bon Appetit Test Kitchen career timeline
- 2014 to 2016 Bon Appetit YouTube channel develops video content extending the print brand into video
- October 2016 Its Alive! with Brad Leone launches, becomes the channels first defining series
- 2017 to 2018 Gourmet Makes with Claire Saffitz launches, where Claire reverse-engineers gourmet versions of popular snack foods, becoming one of the channels most-watched series
- 2018 to 2019 Channel cast expands with regular roles for Carla Lalli Music, Andy Baraghani, Molly Baz, Sohla El-Waylly, Priya Krishna, Christina Chaey, Chris Morocco, and Matt Hunziker; the cast become low-key YouTube celebrities
- March 2020 Pandemic forces remote production; cast films from home in a Test Kitchen Talks At Home series
- June 2020 Racial pay disparity scandal breaks: reports that white editors received video compensation while non-white editors did not; a brownface photo of editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport surfaces; Rapoport resigns; mass cast departures begin
- 2020 to 2022 Cast departures include Claire Saffitz (mid-2020), Molly Baz (October 2020), Andy Baraghani (August 2021), Sohla El-Waylly, Priya Krishna, Christina Chaey (September 2022)
- ~2022 Brad Leone leaves the channel after Its Alive! winds down; Christina Chaey leads Conde Nast Union organizing efforts
- 2023 to 2024 Channel rebuilds with new cast but does not recover the cultural relevance of the 2018 to 2020 peak
- 2025 to 2026 Channel continues operating with a new cast under Conde Nasts ongoing food editorial structure
BA Test Kitchen signature style and editorial approach
The Bon Appetit Test Kitchen editorial signature, at its peak, was personality-driven cooking content built around following actual editors through their actual jobs. Each series identified one or two cast members and built recurring formats around their on-camera dynamics: Brad Leones enthusiastic experimentation with fermentation in Its Alive!, Claire Saffitzs structured suffering as she reverse-engineered Cheez-Its and Skittles in Gourmet Makes, Sohla El-Waylly stumping the rest of the team in Stump Sohla. The result was content that operated more like a workplace sitcom than like traditional cooking instruction.
The dramaturgical approach distinguished BA from competitor publisher-owned food channels including Tasty and Epicurious. Where Tasty optimized for top-down recipe clips and Epicurious focused on chef-focused educational content, BA built character-driven serial content that audiences followed for the people involved rather than the underlying recipes. The model worked spectacularly well from 2018 to 2020 before the editorial breakdown.
Notable work: Its Alive!, Gourmet Makes, and the 2020 scandal
Its Alive! with Brad Leone ran from October 2016 through 2022, with 31 episodes across multiple seasons exploring fermentation, foraging, and slow-food techniques. The series was central enough to the channels identity that Brad Leones eventual departure represented a significant editorial loss. Gourmet Makes with Claire Saffitz, which launched in 2017 and ran through 2020, followed Claire as she reverse-engineered famous snack foods including Cheez-Its, Twinkies, Doritos, and Skittles. The format combined comedic suffering with genuine pastry technique and became one of the most-watched food series on YouTube.
The June 2020 collapse came rapidly. A brownface photo of editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport from 2004 surfaced on social media. Concurrent reporting revealed that white editors received compensation for video appearances while non-white editors did not. Rapoport resigned within days. Cast members including Sohla El-Waylly and Priya Krishna publicly stated they had been paid significantly less than white colleagues for the same on-camera work. The mass departures that followed left the channel without most of its defining personalities.
Awards and recognition
- 2016 to 2020 Its Alive! with Brad Leone and Gourmet Makes with Claire Saffitz become defining YouTube food series
- 2018 to 2020 Channel cast become low-key YouTube celebrities with merchandise, public appearances, and book deals
- 2019 Brad Leone appears on Hot Ones, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and other mainstream TV
- 2020 Racial pay disparity scandal becomes one of the most-discussed editorial breakdowns in food media
Impact and cultural relevance
The Bon Appetit Test Kitchen at its peak was one of the most influential YouTube food channels of all time, defining the personality-driven series format that competitors have struggled to replicate. The cast that departed after 2020 went on to substantial individual careers, with Claire Saffitz launching Dessert Person, Sohla El-Waylly hosting Mystery Menu and Stump Sohla, Molly Baz launching her own publishing and merchandise brand, Priya Krishna becoming a New York Times staff writer, and others taking similarly significant editorial roles.
The 2020 racial pay disparity scandal became a defining moment in food media accountability, often referenced when discussing how editorial brands handle diversity, compensation, and on-camera labor. Christina Chaey and Matt Hunziker helped organize the Conde Nast Union in 2022, with Chaey specifically citing the BA Test Kitchen 2020 collapse as the impetus. The episode is studied as a creator-economy case for how editorial-brand reputations can collapse rapidly when the underlying labor practices contradict the brands public values.
Bon Appetit Test Kitchen FAQ
What was the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen?
The Bon Appetit Test Kitchen was the Conde Nast-owned YouTube channel built around the working kitchen of Bon Appetit magazine, peaking from 2016 to 2020 with personality-driven series including Its Alive! with Brad Leone and Gourmet Makes with Claire Saffitz.
What happened to the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen?
In June 2020, a racial pay disparity scandal broke. White editors had received video compensation while non-white editors had not. Editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport resigned after a brownface photo from 2004 surfaced. Most of the on-camera cast departed over the following months, fundamentally reshaping the channel.
Who was Brad Leone on Bon Appetit?
Brad Leone was the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen manager and host of Its Alive! with Brad, the fermentation-and-foraging series that ran from October 2016 through 2022. Brad eventually left the channel after the post-2020 reorganizations.
What was Gourmet Makes?
Gourmet Makes was Claire Saffitzs YouTube series where she reverse-engineered famous snack foods including Cheez-Its, Twinkies, Doritos, and Skittles into gourmet versions. The series ran from 2017 to 2020 and was one of the most-watched food series on YouTube during that period.
Where are the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen cast now?
The cast went on to substantial individual careers: Claire Saffitz launched Dessert Person, Sohla El-Waylly hosts Mystery Menu and Stump Sohla, Molly Baz launched her own publishing brand, Priya Krishna became a New York Times staff writer, and Andy Baraghani published a cookbook. Brad Leone, the last of the core cast to leave, eventually departed around 2022.
What is next for the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen
The Bon Appetit YouTube channel continues to operate with a new cast under Conde Nasts ongoing food editorial structure. Follow on Instagram (@bonappetitmag).
