It takes a village to publish a magazine—and website and app and Youtube channel and more. Phew! Today we’re introducing you to Bon Appétit’s senior culinary producer Mallary Santucci, who gets our recipes ready for their closeups.
Bon Appétit: Hey Mallary! How would you describe your job to someone you’re sitting next to on a plane?
Mallary Santucci: I always say “I make food for TV” because that’s the simplest explanation. But really, I handle all culinary logistics behind the scenes to make food appear on camera for our YouTube and social channels (like Instagram and TikTok). It’s a lot of project management: anything from buying groceries, to writing recipe prep lists, to sketching out a production schedule for culinary stylists and producers I basically get food hair- and makeup-ready for camera!
What’s a typical day like for you at Bon Appétit? Or does a typical day even exist?
No! And that’s the best part of my job. Some days I am shopping at the farmers market or a specialty grocery store. Other days I am making a spreadsheet about recipe ingredients or writing what we call a run of show. Sometimes, I’m in front of the camera (though you’ll only see my hands!). It’s managed chaos at all times and I love that. My favorite days are when I am searching for specific ingredients. It’s like a city-wide scavenger hunt.
What’s on your shoot schedule for this week and/or next?
This week, I prepped and then shot an episode of Taste Panel for Epicurious while overseeing another team on a new show in the Test Kitchen with our food director Chris Morocco. Next week we are filming Bake Club, which we do every month. Then I’m shopping and prepping for French Fundamentals with chef Alexia Duchêne. It’s always a balance of shooting one thing and simultaneously preparing for the next shoot coming down the pipeline.
What are your favorite types of assignments to work on?
I love the shoots that are culinary heavy. I have a knack for logistics and organization, which helps with my role, but my background is in restaurants, and cooking is the fun part of my work. It’s cheesy but: I want to help people learn to cook. I want the average person at home to feel confident making dinner for their friends and family—and have fun doing it.
How about an assignment that was particularly challenging or taught you something new?
We did a shoot with chef Dominique Crenn that was definitely challenging! And so fun and interesting. She does a lot of molecular gastronomy, which is not my area of expertise. I was able to play with new ingredients and techniques, and it challenged me to learn a style of cooking I otherwise had not worked with.
Though they may not know it, our readers have seen your adept hands many times! What’s a video where your hands star that you’re particularly proud of?
This is so funny! My hands appear on camera all the time and my friends and family will send me a video and ask, “Is this you?” Usually yes! In this salsa taste test, it was even the manicure from my wedding.
How does someone break into this part of the food industry? Any advice?
Honestly, there’s no one “right” way to break into this (or any) industry. A lot of people go to culinary school and get into food media or the restaurant industry that way. But I never went to culinary school; I went to college for art and education. As soon as I graduated, I knew I wanted to work in food. It took a few years to make it happen—I moved to NY, worked in an unrelated field, left NY, taught abroad, traveled.
