New York, It’s so intense. And everyone is especially dedicated because you do have to work ridiculous hours to just make a living here. There’s more like a hustle culture, which I’m into.
I’ve worked on, it’s very organized—and there’s someone for every job. I have the easiest job there, because I just show up when they ask me to show up, and I eat some food, and I leave. That feels incredibly chill. But for the History Channel, I’m a producer for that show. So I’m involved with preproduction, post-production, the prep, picking up props, and setting up the set. And it’s a very small crew, but it’s super fun, because all of us have our hands on everything. And it gets incredibly stressful. It’s like 14-hour days. But they’re both really fun in totally different ways. It can really vary how hectic it gets. What’s the biggest challenge you face with your shows?
just doing all that stuff, that we didn’t have time to really test the dishes before opening. A lot of it was happening…by the seat of our pants. Everything was a challenge.
I’m always thinking about what the audience is gonna think. Especially when I’m a producer, and I want to make sure everyone feels represented—and that we’re doing our due diligence, doing the best research we can. It’s especially challenging with a show about history, because there are so many different opinions about the same thing, depending on whose perspective you’re coming from. We try our best to come up with something that hopefully the majority of people will be happy with.
What did you enjoy the most about it?
What do you enjoy the most about hosting or producing?
It’s one of those things where what’s fun is how hard it is. That’s also what’s terrible. We felt a lot of accomplishment with what we were able to do with that space, completely on our own, without designers and without a crew. Most places both my husband and I have opened….you have a huge crew with people who are specialized in all these things. And we really were figuring it all out on our own. We designed the menu, so we feel very proud of all of it. And it was a very nice cut because we didn’t have investors; we could create exactly what we wanted. So that was the most enjoyable part, the freedom.
My least favorite parts are the parts on camera. I actually think the best part is the before and after, pre- and postproduction where you get to be very creative and work collaboratively with a lot of people. And you get to do research—I think that’s very fun. On camera, it’s fun, but that part’s pretty easy—you’re just talking. A lot of times, I’m just reading off the screen. I think the part before where you’re getting creative is very fun.
How do you define success? I think that’s changed for me over the years. When I first started out, it was really that I wanted creative freedom. When you are a line cook, you make someone else’s food. So, all I could think about was being able to create something that came from my point of view. Now that I’m older, I just want stability. I really enjoy having health insurance. Those boring things feel a lot more important. And now when I look back at 15 years ago, I think it’s crazy the way we were living. I really appreciate having health insurance and being able to afford groceries and things like that. What got you into the show biz? You know, it was never something I was interested in doing. I was always interested in being a restaurant owner. When the restaurant closed, I was very, directionless, and I kind of went with the flow. I think that flow was a good thing, because all of these opportunities found me. I was really lucky. The History Channel reached out to me. The Big Brunch [on HBO], reached out to me. I just tried lots of different things and I did my best with everything. And it all kind of worked out. I guess I had a really specific plan of what I wanted to do in this industry [when I was younger]. And when I let it go, it actually got a little better.
Do you prefer home cooking or eating out? Totally depends on my mood and the dish. Here in New York, I don’t really make pizza at home – I’d rather go and have it out because any place I go is gonna make it better than me. And then there are certain foods I grew up eating, like parathas, I’d rather have the one I make. So it varies depending on mood and dish, but all of it’s great. It’s 50/50, just like baking and cooking. You can follow Sohla El-Waylly at @sohla
Sohla El-Waylly was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended the University of California, Irvine, where she studied Economics and worked at the Cheesecake Factory on the side. She went on to attend the Culinary Institute of America in New York in 2008. Since then, Chef Sohla has worked in many New York City restaurants and eventually worked for Bon Appétit, where she regularly appeared on the magazine’s YouTube Channel. With her husband, Hisham El-Waylly, she opened a restaurant in Brooklyn called Hail Mary which closed in 2017.
How hectic would you say it gets when you’re shooting new episodes? They’re all different. Because all the productions I get to work on are quite different. The Big Brunch has the biggest crew
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