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Molly Baz

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Molly Baz
Born (1988-05-09) May 9, 1988 (age 36)
NationalityAmerican
EducationSkidmore College
Occupation(s)Cook, recipe developer, and food writer
Notable workCook This Book, More Is More
Websitemollybaz.com

Molly Baz (née Lundquist-Baz; born May 9, 1988) is an American cook, recipe developer, and food writer. She was a senior food editor at Bon Appétit magazine and appeared frequently in videos for the magazine's YouTube channel before leaving in 2020. Baz has published two cookbooks, Cook This Book (2021) and More Is More (2023), both of which are New York Times Best Sellers.

Early life and education

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Baz was born on May 9, 1988.[1][2] She is from Rhinebeck, New York.[3] She was educated at Poughkeepsie Day School where she graduated in 2006.[4] She then studied art history at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, graduating in 2010.[5][6][7] She discovered her love of cooking while studying abroad in Florence, Italy.[5] In her senior year at Skidmore, she and her classmate hosted biweekly dinners that were prepared with local ingredients and open to the local Saratoga Springs community.[3]

Career

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Early career (2008–2014)

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Wanting to work as a chef without attending culinary school, Baz worked as a line cook in restaurants in Boston and New York City[5][8] from 2008 to 2014,[9] including at the now-closed Picholine in Lincoln Square.[10] She took a break between jobs in 2011 to go on a road trip in the southern United States with her father, who is a photographer, and visit barbecue establishments and learn from barbecue pitmasters.[11][12][13] While in New York in 2013, she co-founded a catering company named Rustic Supper.[8][10]

Time at Bon Appétit (2015–2020)

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Baz worked as a recipe tester for Condé Nast's Epicurious starting in 2015 before moving to Bon Appétit, where in 2018 she was Senior Associate Food Editor.[5][8] After Bon Appétit increased its focus on video content in 2016, Baz also presented on the magazine's YouTube channel with Andy Baraghani, Sohla El-Waylly, Priya Krishna, Brad Leone, and Claire Saffitz.[14] One video series, Making Perfect, had Baz and other staff of the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen cook "perfect" versions of meals such as pizza or a Thanksgiving dinner.[15][16] According to food website Eater, fans on YouTube praised Baz for her "casual relatability, her thoroughly explained recipes, and her attention to detail."[10] With Baraghani and musicians Cupcakke and Ella Mai, Baz held cooking demonstrations at the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco in 2019.[17][18]

In June 2020, Bon Appétit editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport resigned after a photo of him in brownface garnered criticism. The resignation also came as employees, including assistant food editor Sohla El-Waylly, publicly accused the magazine and its parent company Condé Nast of discriminating against employees of color.[19] After El-Waylly, Krishna, and Rick Martinez, all people of color, announced their departure from the magazine's video content in August, Baz wrote on Instagram that she would no longer appear in videos for the magazine.[19][20][21][22] She departed the publication in October.[23][24]

After Bon Appétit (2020–present)

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In November 2020, Baz started a food media subscription service on Patreon named Recipe Club through which she offered weekly recipes and other content.[23][24][25] According to Business Insider, after one month of business, Recipe Club had gained "several thousand" subscribers.[23] Baz chose a subscription business model for Recipe Club so she could keep developing recipes and prevent herself from "going dark" before publishing her cookbook in early 2021.[23] Also in December, Baz and Bon Appétit colleague Carla Lalli Music began a livestreamed video series on the Instagram Live platform, titled You Got Snack'd.[25][26]

Baz published a cookbook, titled Cook This Book, on April 20, 2021, through the Clarkson Potter imprint.[20] The book was critically and commercially successful, becoming a New York Times Best Seller.[27] Food52 and Taste of Home named the book as one of the best cookbooks of 2021.[28][29] A review by Publishers Weekly described the book as "an exciting crash course in cooking fundamentals."[30] Describing the book as "downright rebellious" at times, Anne Valdespino of The Mercury News wrote that the book's title "smacks" of activist Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book and highlighted its "unconventional format", "slangy lingo", and "well placed cuss words."[31]

In 2022, it was announced that Baz would appear as a guest judge on the Discovery+ streaming series The Julia Child Challenge, created by the Food Network.[32][33] Baz published a second cookbook, More Is More, with Clarkson Potter in October 2023.[10][34] Library Journal reviewer Sarah Tansley recommended the book, writing that it offers "plenty of instruction for beginners and spunky flair and big flavor for all kitchens",[35] and Wired magazine's Joe Ray later named it as one of nineteen best cookbooks for the year.[36] In 2024, a Times Square billboard advertisement for lactation cookies, which featured Baz with a pregnant belly and breasts that were partially covered with the cookies, was removed by the billboard's owner after it determined it had violated its "guidelines on acceptable content."[2] A week later the ad was put up on another billboard in Times Square.[37]

Personal life

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Baz and her husband Ben Willett moved from New York City to Altadena, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, California, in 2020.[38][39]

References

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  1. ^ Bans, Lauren (October 5, 2023). "Molly Baz Built a Recipe Empire on Morty-D and Cae Sal". The Cut. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Gupta, Alisha Haridasani (May 10, 2024). "Too Racy for Times Square? An Ad for Lactation Cookies Is Replaced". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Bonanno, Felicia (February 8, 2010). "Skidmore students serve up a dining experience in their own living room". The Saratogian. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  4. ^ Haavie, Erikah (June 8, 2006). "Record 32 get diplomas at Poughkeepsie Day". Poughkeepsie Journal. p. 1B. Retrieved September 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c d Jacobson, Alex. "Molly Baz Makes Beans Craveable". Great Jones. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  6. ^ "All smiles on graduation day". Poughkeepsie Journal. June 8, 2006. p. 1A. Retrieved September 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "On the Record". Poughkeepsie Journal. June 28, 2010. p. 9. Retrieved September 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b c Premack, Rachel (October 26, 2020). "10 Bon Appétit Test Kitchen stars have left video amid a reckoning over how the company treats employees of color — here's the full list". Business Insider. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  9. ^ "Molly Baz - Senior Associate Food Editor - Bon Appetit". LinkedIn. Archived from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d McCarthy, Amy (October 11, 2023). "Welcome to Bazland". Eater. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  11. ^ "4,258 Miles Of Meat: Chef, Dad On A Quest For BBQ". NPR. January 18, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  12. ^ Grimes, Andrea (March 7, 2012). "Are These The Five Best Barbecue Joints In Texas?". Eater Austin. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  13. ^ "Adventures in BBQ". tumblr.com. Archived from the original on July 19, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  14. ^ Patalay, Ajesh (April 25, 2022). "Cooking with 'the internet boyfriend of our dreams'". Financial Times. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  15. ^ Suchodolski, Veronica (February 25, 2019). "'Bon Appétit' YouTube Series Expands Into a Streaming Service—But Will Its Audience Follow?". The New York Observer. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  16. ^ Jarema, Kerri (December 23, 2019). "Bon Appétit Is the Internet's Favorite Cooking Show—Here's What You Need To Know". Parade. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  17. ^ Hughes, Hilary (August 12, 2019). "Bon Appetit's Molly Baz & Andy Baraghani Dish on Cooking With CupcakKe & Ella Mai at Outside Lands". Billboard. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  18. ^ Mendoza, Mariecar (August 11, 2019). "CupcakKe brings shock and awe to Outside Lands". Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Severson, Kim (June 8, 2020). "Bon Appétit Editor Adam Rapoport Resigns". The New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  20. ^ a b Brehaut, Laura (October 23, 2021). "Cooking Lessons From the Lines of Fire". National Post. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  21. ^ Harris, Margot; Haasch, Palmer; Greenspan, Rachel E. "A new podcast is exploring the reckoning that happened at Bon Appétit. Here's how the publication ended up in hot water". Insider. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  22. ^ Crowley, Chris (August 12, 2020). "Six Bon Appétit Stars Have Now Exited the Test Kitchen". The Cut. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  23. ^ a b c d Stenberg, Mark (December 8, 2020). "A former Bon Appétit food editor's new subscription-based business is a blueprint for anyone wanting freedom, creative control, and thousands of subscribers in just a month". Business Insider. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  24. ^ a b Makalintal, Bettina (March 9, 2021). "Why Your Favorite Cooking Stars Are Launching Paid Subscriptions". Vice. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  25. ^ a b Stenberg, Mark (January 6, 2021). "How former Bon Appétit star Molly Baz manages a hectic day running her business, including a new Patreon that accrued thousands of subscribers in its first month". Business Insider. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  26. ^ Baz, Molly; Music, Carla Lalli (February 5, 2021). "Up your snack game with shrimp cocktail and charred broccoli". TODAY.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  27. ^ Puckett, Susan (July 7, 2021). "Cookbook review: A crash course in creative cooking". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  28. ^ Lee, Justine (December 6, 2021). "28 Best Cookbooks of 2021, According to Home Cooks & Pro Chefs". Food52. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  29. ^ Kaminski, Lisa. "21 Cookbooks to Add to Your 2021 Holiday Wish List". Taste of Home. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  30. ^ "Cook This Book: Techniques That Teach and Recipes to Repeat by Molly Baz". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  31. ^ Valdespino, Anne (May 11, 2021). "Why Molly Baz just might be the Abbie Hoffman of the culinary world". The Mercury News. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  32. ^ Dickie, George (June 12, 2022). "Cook and baking gets competitive in streaming series on Netflix, discovery+". Sioux City Journal. p. H10. Retrieved September 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ Maas, Jennifer (March 10, 2022). "How 'The Julia Child Challenge' Recreated the Food Icon and Her Kitchen". Variety. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  34. ^ "More Is More by Molly Baz: 9780593578841". Penguin Random House. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  35. ^ Tansley, Sarah (September 1, 2023). "More Is More: Get Loose in the Kitchen". Library Journal. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  36. ^ Ray, Joe (November 11, 2023). "Best Cookbooks of 2023". Wired. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  37. ^ Gupta, Alisha Haridasani (May 17, 2024). "Ad for Lactation Cookies Returns to Times Square". The New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  38. ^ McCarthy, Amy (October 11, 2023). "Welcome to Bazland". Eater.
  39. ^ Vadnal, Julie (September 15, 2022). "Molly Baz's Home Serves Up Good Meals, Epic Marble, and That Sweet California Lifestyle". Domino. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
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