But during the nationwide racial reckoning
following the police killing of George Floyd,
she was among members of the test kitchen
who accused the channel’s owner, Conde Nast,
of discriminatory compensation and other
practices. A Conde Nast representative said race
wasn’t a factor in setting pay.
El-Waylly departed Bon Appetit in August after
failed negotiations.
Her new show is her own, pushing her to deploy
her talent, charm and encyclopedic culinary
chops to solve challenges.
“My creativity comes from being put in difficult
situations,” El-Waylly said during a break in
shooting an upcoming episode.
The series riffs on a game show, with a spinning
wheel that determines which challenge El-
Waylly will take on.
In the second episode, in which she relies only
on items purchased at a bodega to create a
tasting menu, El-Waylly pours hot water over
potato chips to rinse off the fat and make a
mashed potato-esque puree. She expects it to
“be gross.” But as she tastes it, a look of sheer
satisfaction comes over her face.
Leaving Bon Appetit for an independent
YouTube channel could be considered risky, but
the payoffs were noticeable almost immediately.
The three months it took to create the whole
“Stump Sohla” series was about how long it
would take to produce one Bon Appetit video,
El-Waylly said, given the hurdles of working at a
large company with corporate red tape.
Now, she says, “you can just have an idea and go
with it while you’re still excited.”