My First Year at Bon Appétit

Every Wednesday, Bon Appétit executive editor Sonia Chopra shares what’s going on at BA—the stories she’s loved reading, the recipes she’s been making, and more. If you sign up for our newsletter, you’ll get her letter before everyone else.

It’s hard to believe that as of this week, I’ve been writing to you for a full year. We’ve done a lot in the last 12 months: We’ve grown our team, launched new columns and series, and cooked through lots and lots of great recipes. And this week, we’re debuting something brand-new.

Please say hello to Food People, the new weekly podcast from Bon Appétit. Every Thursday, BA editorial director Amanda Shapiro will ask a fun or serious food question—what’s the best way to grill a chicken? Why would anyone open a restaurant during a pandemic? Do we really have to meal-prep?—chatting with our colleagues and friends from across the world of food to track down an answer. And, once a month, our editor-in-chief, Dawn Davis, will step in to interview a food person she admires.

I am so excited about launching this podcast and the opportunity we have to talk about cooking and food culture in a whole new format. Amanda and Dawn have an ear for stories that are fun, smart, and thoughtful, and I can’t wait to see where they take all of us listeners. The first ep drops today; subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss an episode.

Here are a few other things I’m loving across BA and Epicurious:

• I can’t stop thinking about these desserts: Vallery Lomas’s peach pie, Jocelyn Delk Adams’s cinnamon-roll pound cake, Sarah Jampel’s strawberry doughnut muffins
• I’ve also got vegetables on my mind: Christian Reynoso’s summer vegetable cassoulet, Bryant Terry’s bitter greens salad, Rawlston Williams’s curry vegetables
• And I clicked immediately on Hetty McKinnon’s recipe for egg salad with grilled broccoli and chili crisp over on Epicurious
• Love this essay about Hooters (and so much more) from writer Zainab Shah
• This week on Reverse Engineering: Chris makes Samin Nosrat’s ravioli verde
• I’ve never cooked with kare-kare sauce, and I’m long overdue!

I hope you love what you hear on Food People. Let me know what you think, and please send me your burning food questions at sonia@bonappetit.com.