Sohla El-Waylly, Food Wizard
New York magazine|October 12-25, 2020
After leaving Bon Appétit’s Test Kitchen, the chef now has her own show—where she’s paid fairly for her fantastic creations.
E. Alex Jung
Sohla El-Waylly, Food Wizard

SOHLA?” THE VIDEO begins. “Do you have a minute?” The stars of Bon Appétit’s Test Kitchen have so many questions, and Sohla El-Waylly is like their own human Alexa: Sohla, how do you temper chocolate? Sohla, how do you pronounce turmeric? Sohla, what’s a dosa? El-Waylly appears on command—busy, patient, with a neatly cut bob—to answer. The fan-made Sohla supercuts (there are many) did what Bon Appétit failed to do: reframe the narrative so that the background actor might actually be the star. “The Test Kitchen is really fun as long as you play your role, and I didn’t like the role I was put in,” El-Waylly says. “It became increasingly frustrating to become a sidekick to people with significantly less experience than me.”

This story is from the October 12-25, 2020 edition of New York magazine.

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This story is from the October 12-25, 2020 edition of New York magazine.

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