Bon Appétit started as a sophisticated legacy media brand that features mostly recipes, wine reviews, and entertaining food ideas. But in the past few years, they have established themselves as an ensemble of chefs who bare themselves on video while cooking a variety of dishes from all over the world. Their YouTube channel covers a wide range of content, from the simple cake recipes to the recreation of the works of famous chefs just through taste, smell, and touch.
Their YouTube fame was a surprise to everyone. None of the chefs came to the company thinking they could be famous. But thanks to their authentic (and sometimes clumsy) personas in front of the camera, many fans are drawn to Bon Appétit’s YouTube channel. People appreciate that the chefs are making mistakes, spilling sauces on the counters, and enjoying workplace chitchats every now and then. By not removing the parts that show the chefs’ real emotions somehow made them relatable. If you want to see these raw interactions, start by getting to know their chefs-turned-Youtube-stars.
Claire Saffitz
If you are interested in making pop tarts at home, you will love Claire’s videos. Claire is a pastry chef who recreates your favorite snacks such as Doritos, Tater Tots, and Warheads. With her show, Gourmet Makes, she spends three to four days to elevate the snack staples. She breaks down the snack and makes sure that she gets its dimensions to the millimeter. She also tries to follow the ingredients—or at least its convenient counterparts—that are reflected on the back of the packaging. She goes through the process of trial and error to get the right consistency, texture, and taste of the real snack.
Brad Leone
Fermenting ingredients is Brad’s specialty. In his show, It’s Alive, he demonstrates how to culture and ferment different things such as beer, kimchi, and butter. He’ll take you on a journey on how your produce and food staples are grown and made by visiting agricultural and food processing farms. If you like things easy, you will enjoy his videos. He teaches everything most simply and joyously. An episode will not end without you laughing out loud.
Chris Morocco
Like a real estate agent trying to find the best mortgage rates for their clients, Chris does everything to recreate a dish. Chris takes on the challenge of recreating celebrity dishes, from taste, touch, to smell, on his show, Reverse Engineering. The challenge starts with a blindfolded Chris examining a dish and noting all the ingredients that are on it. He then has two days to recreate it with accuracy in ingredients, taste, technique, and appearance. So if you have a competitive spirit and like to take on challenges, you will love Chris’s show so much.
Carla Lalli Music
Do you want to know if your favorite celebrities can cook or at least follow instructions? With Carla’s show, Back-to-Back Chef, you’d see them either struggle or succeed in completing the assigned dish in 15 minutes. In the show, she’ll teach the celebrity how to cook a certain dish. But the catch is that the celebrity and Carla are working back-to-back in different stations. It’s a bit tough, but celebrities, such as Natalie Portman, Troye Sivan, and the Try Guys, have already risen to the challenge.
The list does not stop there. Bon Appétit’s chefs and staff have created a digital content haven for foodies. Maybe after reading this article, you want to make a gourmet Ferrero Rocher; Claire can help you with that.