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Sohla El-Waylly
Born
Nusrath Sohla Muzib

1984 or 1985 (age 39–40) [1][2]
Los Angeles, California U.S.
Alma materThe Culinary Institute of America
Occupation(s)American chef, YouTube personality
SpouseHisham "Ham" El-Waylly
Culinary career
Previous restaurant(s)
    • Hail Mary, Brooklyn
Television show(s)
Websitewww.hellosohla.com

Sohla El-Waylly (née Nusrath Sohla Muzib[3][4]) is a Bengali-American chef, restaurateur, author, and YouTube personality. She currently creates recipes and hosts web video series for History and the New York Times Cooking YouTube channel. She also serves as a judge on the culinary reality competition "The Big Brunch."

Her first cookbook, Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook,[5] was released in October 2023.

Previously, she was an assistant food editor at Bon Appétit, where she appeared in videos produced for the magazine's YouTube channel. Later, she produced videos with Food52 and Andrew Rea on the Babish Culinary Universe YouTube channel.

Early life and education

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Sohla Muzib (Bengali: সোহলা মুজিব) was raised in Los Angeles in a Bangladeshi-American family who owned a Baskin-Robbins store.[6] She continued in the restaurant industry by working for Outback Steakhouse.

She went to University of California, Irvine, where she studied economics and worked at a Cheesecake Factory on the side.[7]

Beginning in 2008, El-Waylly attended The Culinary Institute of America (CIA).[3] She says that while at CIA, she was sexually harassed by a dean, and when she spoke up a female dean told her, "That's what happens in the real world. You better get used to it."[7]

Career

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After graduating, El-Waylly worked at restaurants in New York City such as Atera, which has two Michelin stars, and Del Posto, owned by Joe Bastianich.[8]

In March 2016, El-Waylly and her husband opened a diner called Hail Mary in Brooklyn, which attracted favorable reviews.[9][10] However, an early review from Scott Lynch for Quick Bites also stated, "I worry about Hail Mary because it's an ambitious, almost special-occasion restaurant wrapped inside a burger-and-shake joint."[10] The restaurant closed after 11 months, which El-Waylly attributed in part to opening Hail Mary without other investors, and in part to the expectations of white customers.[8] In a 2017 interview with GQ, El-Waylly explained that she perceived customers as often entering Hail Mary expecting "foreign or exotic ingredients" because of the owners' cultural backgrounds; she stated "There would have been more leeway allowed in the food shrouded by illusion of 'authenticity'...There are white chefs that can pull from different cultures without explanation, but us making white food always needs a thesis behind it."[8] El-Waylly worked at Serious Eats as a culinary editor through most of 2018 and joined Bon Appétit magazine in August 2019. At Bon Appétit, she worked as an assistant food editor and appeared regularly on the magazine's popular YouTube channel.[11][12]

In June 2020, a photo of Bon Appétit editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport in brownface resurfaced online and sparked widespread criticism.[13] During an emergency company-wide Zoom meeting, El-Waylly called for Rapoport to step down.[2] She then publicly accused the magazine of discriminating towards employees of color, claiming they were subject to lesser pay than their non-minority counterparts. Rapoport resigned the same day.[14][15] In August 2020, El-Waylly announced on her Instagram that she would no longer appear in videos on the magazine's YouTube channel due to continued lack of progress by Condé Nast Entertainment in resolving the issues that had arisen, though she would continue to contribute recipes and articles to the magazine and website. Soon after, she announced she had completely severed ties with Bon Appétit.[16]

On September 23, 2020, a new series titled Stump Sohla was announced, which would be hosted on Andrew Rea's Babish Culinary Universe YouTube channel. The show premiered the next day.[17] El-Waylly said she decided to work with Rea because she would have more creative control and direct cut of the video revenue. "I just really don't want to be a prop," she said in an interview with New York magazine.[7] Rea and El-Waylly ended their collaboration in early 2021. El-Waylly also began a weekly column with Food52 called "Off-Script with Sohla" and started writing a cookbook.[7]

El-Waylly hosts a web series for the American TV network History titled Ancient Recipes with Sohla.[18] She also hosts a show for the New York Times Cooking YouTube channel titled Mystery Menu.[19] She is also a judge on the HBO Max culinary reality competition The Big Brunch, along with Dan Levy and Will Guidara.[20]

On October 31, 2023, El-Waylly released her first cookbook titled, Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook.[21]

Personal life

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El-Waylly lives in New York City with her husband, fellow chef Hisham "Ham" El-Waylly.[22][3][23] They met while they were both attending the Culinary Institute of America.[24] In September 2023, they announced the birth of their first child.[25]

References

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  1. ^ Burke, Caroline (June 8, 2020). "Sohla El-Waylly: Bon Appetit Editor Speaks Out About Alleged Racism & Discrimination". Heavy.com. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Baer, Stephanie. "The Editor Of Bon Appétit Is Resigning After A Photo Of Him In Brownface Resurfaced". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Costantino, D.J. (January 2017). "Rising Star Chef Ham & Sohla El-Waylly of Hail Mary - Biography". StarChefs. Archived from the original on January 5, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  4. ^ Racine, Patti (October 6, 2010). "'Veggies and Vino' a perfect pairing". recordonline.com. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  5. ^ "Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly: 9780593320464 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  6. ^ Hussain, Shah Faiyaz (July 10, 2021). "Bangladeshi origin chef rocks YouTube". The Financial Express. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d Jung, E. Alex (October 14, 2020). "Sohla El-Waylly Goes Solo". Vulture.
  8. ^ a b c Shah, Khushbu (April 25, 2017). "What Happens When a Brown Chef Cooks White Food?". GQ. New York City. Archived from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  9. ^ "The Feed: An 'Un-Serious' Diner in Brooklyn". Wall Street Journal. May 17, 2016. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on January 27, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Nell, Casey (February 14, 2017). "Ambitious Gourmet 'Diner' Hail Mary Closes In Greenpoint". Gothamist. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  11. ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (April 21, 2020). "How Bon Appétit's wildly popular YouTube channel is making videos in quarantine". Vox. Archived from the original on April 29, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  12. ^ Beggs, Alex (August 3, 2019). "What My Dream Grocery Store Looks Like". Bon Appétit. Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  13. ^ "Instagram post by Adam Rapoport • Jun 8, 2020 at 11:21pm UTC". Instagram. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  14. ^ Alexandra Steigrad (June 8, 2020). "Bon Appétit editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport called to resign over brownface photo". New York Post. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  15. ^ Severson, Kim (June 8, 2020). "Bon Appétit Editor Adam Rapoport Resigns". The New York Times. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  16. ^ Premack, Rachel. "3 of Bon Appétit's Test Kitchen stars of color are departing the video channel after failed contract negotiations". Business Insider. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  17. ^ Hayes, Dade (September 23, 2020). "Sohla El-Waylly, Chef Known For Bon Appétit Video Cameos, Gets A Show Of Her Own On Binging With Babish". Deadline. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  18. ^ "Ancient Recipes with Sohla". History Channel.
  19. ^ Sifton, Sam (July 4, 2021). "What to Cook This Week". The New York Times.
  20. ^ Gomez, Patrick (September 8, 2022). "Dan Levy previews his heartwarming new reality show 'The Big Brunch'". EW.com. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  21. ^ "Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly: 9780593320464 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  22. ^ "The Feed: An 'Un-Serious' Diner in Brooklyn". Wall Street Journal. May 17, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  23. ^ "Greenpoint's Hail Mary is a Cheeky Multicultural Riff on the American Diner". May 19, 2016.
  24. ^ Kennedy, Alicia (February 10, 2017). "The Couple Behind Greenpoint Diner Hail Mary Draws Zero Lines Between Home and Work". Edible Brooklyn. Archived from the original on April 21, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  25. ^ "Instagram".
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