Bon Appétit
Cafe · Plainsboro
100 Main St, Princeton, NJ 08540
Highlights
Forestal Village cafe: BLT, Spaniard, Bon Appe Salad
Forestal Village cafe: BLT, Spaniard, Bon Appe Salad
"A riff on Caesar that pairs a thick, blender‑whipped, not‑quite‑Caesar dressing with fat tomato slices, parmesan shavings, and fresh herbs; simple to make yet showstopping in presentation. Eating it can get messy—the tomato juices and dressing slide around the plate—so be prepared with a napkin, but the creamy, salty dressing is a perfect foil for summer’s sweet, acidic tomatoes." - Kat Thompson
"Work published in this influential food magazine contributed to her reputation as a developer of low-effort, high-reward recipes and supported the momentum leading to her cookbook release." - Morgan Goldberg
"A major food magazine and its test kitchen were embroiled in controversy after allegations of racism and race-based pay disparities surfaced: several nonwhite staffers were released from video contracts, an assistant food editor and chef publicly revealed that only white editors were paid for video appearances, and a viral tally highlighted how often that chef appeared on-screen unpaid. The scandal culminated in the editor-in-chief’s resignation following exposure of offensive costume photos. The publication has since hired a new editor-in-chief and pledged anti-racism training and to resolve pay inequities across departments, but it has not yet announced concrete plans for its video channel." - Jaya Saxena
"After months of internal chaos and staff upheaval, the food magazine has faced a public reckoning over racism, pay inequity, and a toxic workplace culture that sparked high-profile resignations and the loss of much of its popular Test Kitchen video talent. The previous editor-in-chief, Adam Rapoport, stepped down after a photo surfaced of him and his wife mocking Puerto Ricans (with disputed allegations of brownface), and staffers including Sohla El-Waylly revealed that she—unlike many white colleagues—was not compensated for appearing in the widely viewed Test Kitchen videos. Priya Krishna, Rick Martinez, and El-Waylly stopped appearing after protracted contract negotiations they described as “torturous and dehumanizing,” and six Test Kitchen stars in total have announced they will no longer produce videos for the publication’s nearly six-million-subscriber YouTube channel. The magazine’s only two Black editorial staff also resigned, citing ongoing failure to recognize or fairly value their contributions. In response, Condé Nast posted an apology pledging to prioritize candidates of color for the top editorial role, implement anti-racism training, and resolve pay inequities, and subsequently appointed Dawn Davis as editor-in-chief (with Sonia Chopra named executive editor). Davis, a veteran publishing executive who founded and leads the 37 Ink imprint at Simon & Schuster, launched the Inkwell Book Club, previously ran Amistad Press at HarperCollins (overseeing titles such as Edward P. Jones’s Pulitzer-winning The Known World), and is the author of If You Can Stand the Heat; she says she plans to use her extensive Rolodex to elevate marginalized voices while overseeing print, digital, social, and video output and to reshape the title into a culturally minded, fun food magazine that does not operate in a vacuum." - Elazar Sontag
"After a resurfaced Halloween photo of the editor-in-chief and his wife triggered his resignation, numerous current and former staffers came forward describing a longstanding, systemic culture of racial inequity and exclusion at the magazine. Allegations include treating people of color as second-class—denying equal opportunities, excluding them from informal networks and the famed test kitchen, tokenizing BIPOC staff in videos without pay or on-air contracts, and pigeonholing contributors into narrow cultural roles. Specific accounts cite Ryan Walker-Hartshorn being given personal errands (including cleaning golf clubs), receiving a stagnant low base salary and being dismissed when requesting a raise; Sohla El-Waylly being asked to appear on camera as a diversity signal without proper compensation until she publicly pushed back (after which an addendum was offered); and contributors describing appropriation and misrepresentation of non-American cuisines. In response, the masthead issued an apology acknowledging a white-centric viewpoint and tokenization, and pledged measures such as prioritizing people of color for leadership hires, anti-racism training, pay-equity reviews, hiring more freelancers of color, and structural changes to how content and recipes are developed." - Jenny G. Zhang
Mina Labib
Individual Contributor
MARISOL CUEVAS
Tom F
Bobby Shahideh
Aparna r
Jimbo Oooo
Eric Johnson
