{{Short description|American YouTuber and chef}} {{Use American English|date=June 2021}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Andrew Rea | birth_name = Andrew Douglas Rea | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1987<!--year WP:CALCulated from Downes, Larry source-->|09|02}}<ref>{{cite AV media | people =Andrew Rea | title =Livestream #1 {{!}} Basics with Babish | medium =video | publisher =Binging with Babish | via=YouTube | location =New York | date =October 27, 2017 | url =https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLW-o5UTWKU&t=2791 |quote=I'm a Virgo, I'm not a Libra. September 2nd.}}</ref> | birth_place = Mendon, New York | other_names = Babish | alma_mater = Hofstra University | occupation = YouTuber, cook, author | years_active = 2016–present | known_for = Binging with Babish | website = {{URL|https://babi.sh/}} | module = }}
'''Andrew Douglas Rea''' (born September 2, 1987; {{IPAc-en|ɹ|eɪ}} {{respell|RAY}}), also known by the pseudonym '''Babish''', is an American YouTuber, cook, and author. He is best known for founding the YouTube channel ''Binging with Babish'' and for creating and presenting its shows ''Binging with Babish'' and ''Basics with Babish''. Rea has authored three cookbooks based on the series and has appeared as a guest in several other programs.
==Early life== Rea was born September 2, 1987, in Mendon, New York, to parents Annie and Douglas Rea, and raised in Rochester, New York. He has an older brother, David, who appeared in ''Being With Babish''. His nephew, Christopher, made an appearance in one of his videos portraying a younger version of himself. He is of Italian, Jewish, Polish, and Welsh descent. Rea's mother, who died when he was 11, taught him how to cook from a young age, including stew and cookies.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Weiss|first=Josh|date=October 21, 2019|title='Binging With Babish' Creator Dishes On New Cookbook, Chilling With Jon Favreau, And Our Fascination With Food In Media |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshweiss/2019/10/21/binging-with-babish-creator-dishes-on-new-cookbook-chilling-with-jon-favreau-and-our-fascination-with-food-in-media/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101025710/https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshweiss/2019/10/21/binging-with-babish-creator-dishes-on-new-cookbook-chilling-with-jon-favreau-and-our-fascination-with-food-in-media/|archive-date=2020-11-01|access-date=2021-06-03|website=Forbes}}</ref> As a teen, he began cooking again, and would make stews to "feel closer to her."<ref name=McGurk/> In 2009, Rea graduated with a BA in Film Studies from Hofstra University,<ref name=Mashed>{{cite web |last1=Sommers |first1=Michael |title=The Untold Truth Of Andrew Rea |url=https://www.mashed.com/288607/the-untold-truth-of-andrew-rea/ |website=Mashed.com |access-date=June 28, 2021 |date=December 3, 2020}}</ref> and later worked as a visual effects artist for SwitchFX Inc.<ref name="NW">{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/binging-babish-cooking-show-food-tv-movies-youtube-628020|title="Binging with Babish" Faithfully Recreates TV and Film Recipes for an Online Audience| last=Shaffer| first=Claire| date=June 21, 2017|work=Newsweek|access-date=December 1, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media | people =Andrew Rea | title =Binging with Babish: Banana Pudding Pizza from Doug | medium =video | publisher =Binging with Babish | location=New York | date =September 18, 2018 | via=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcJS3nQjhqM }}</ref>
==Career== Rea's oldest friend is middle school teacher Rashid Duroseau. Together, they created a documentary titled "Water-Proof" about restoring New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.<ref>{{Cite AV media|people=Andrew Rea|date=April 26, 2019|title=Surprising Rashid {{!}} Being with Babish|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DApDGZ1AkFw|access-date=July 6, 2021|via=Youtube|medium=video|publisher=Babish Culinary Universe}}</ref>
Rea created the ''Binging with Babish'' YouTube channel on August 21, 2006<ref name="About">{{cite AV media| people = Rea, Andrew| title = Babish Culinary Universe| medium = video| publisher = YouTube| location = New York City| date = |url=https://www.youtube.com/user/bgfilms/about }}</ref> with the name inspired by ''The West Wing'' character Oliver Babish.<ref name="Eater">{{cite web|url=https://www.eater.com/2017/5/5/15537754/binging-with-babish-youtube-series|title='Binging With Babish' Turns Dishes From TV Shows Into Real Food|first=Chris|last=Fuhrmeister|date=May 5, 2017|work=Eater.com|access-date=December 1, 2017}}</ref> Three videos unrelated to ''Binging with Babish'' were uploaded to the account, two in 2007 and one in 2010.
In 2016, Rea was depressed and living with a friend in Queens, New York.<ref name="McGurk">{{cite web |last1=McGurk |first1=Stuart |title=Andrew Rea: the YouTube chef cooking up a storm |url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/may/01/andrew-rea-the-youtube-chef-cooking-up-a-storm |website=the Guardian |access-date=August 20, 2022 |language=en |date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> He decided to purchase $4000 of camera equipment with the intent of beginning to film again, but the kitchen was the only room large enough to film in the small apartment.<ref name="McGurk"/> Rea filmed himself making a smoothie, and the tripod's placement cut off his face—which went on to be his signature filming style.<ref name="McGurk"/> He began contemplating creating an online cooking show.<ref name="McGurk"/> The first episode of ''Binging with Babish'' aired on February 10, 2016, inspired by an episode of ''Parks and Recreation'' that featured a burger cook-off.<ref name="McGurk"/><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP_nWuLYpJw |title=Binging with Babish: Parks & Rec Burger Cookoff |date=February 10, 2016 |last=Rea |first=Andrew |type=video |publisher=YouTube}}</ref> Once his channel hit one million subscribers, he asked his good friend Sawyer Carter Jacobs (an attorney formerly employed for Condé Nast) to become his business partner.<ref name=McGurk/>
Rea noticed that a portion of his audience only cared about the cooking, independent of the themed content, as well as the fact that 80% of his audience were males between the ages of 18 and 35.<ref name=McGurk/> On October 11, 2017, he uploaded the first episode of ''Basics With Babish'', a new series dedicated to basic recipes aimed at amateur home chefs.<ref>{{cite web |title=INTRODUCTION/TOOLS |url=https://basicswithbabish.co/basicsepisodes/2017/10/11/introductiontools |website=Basics With Babish |date=October 11, 2017 |publisher=Binge Entertainment, LLC |access-date=June 28, 2021}}</ref> As people cooked at home more during the COVID-19 pandemic and sought out more cooking content online, Rea's subscriber count increased from 5 million to 8 million in a few months.<ref name="McGurk"/> In response to the increased viewership, Rea increased his weekly output from one-and-a-half to two videos a week, sometimes working as many as 90 hours a week. He maintained that schedule for a year-and-a-half, until he suffered from burnout. As his viewership slowed, despite his determination to reach 10 million subscribers, he fell into a depression. His viewers noticed, leaving comments to that effect on his videos, and his fiancée, Jess Opon, along with his business partner staged an intervention, encouraging him to work more realistic hours and stop "obsessing" over his engagement numbers.<ref name="McGurk"/> Heeding their advice, he returned to a one-video-a-week schedule, and began the Babish Culinary Universe, inviting other collaborators to work on the channel, including Sohla El-Waylly, Alvin Zhou, Kendall Beach and Rick Martinez.<ref name="McGurk"/>
Rea has published two cookbooks based upon ''Binging With Babish''. ''Eat What You Watch'', published in 2017 by Dovetail Communications, contains recipes from the show's first season.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rea |first1=Andrew |title=Eat what you watch : a cookbook for movie lovers |date=2017 |publisher=Dovetail |location=Brooklyn, New York |isbn=978-0998739953 }}</ref> ''Binging with Babish'', published in 2019 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, includes 100 recipes from various seasons of the show and a foreword by Jon Favreau, of whom Rea is a fan.<ref name=100recipes>{{cite book |last1=Rea |first1=Andrew |title=Binging with Babish : 100 recipes recreated from your favorite movies and TV shows |date=2019 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |location=New York City |isbn=978-1328589897 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I5KzDwAAQBAJ&q=1328589897}}</ref> The book was a ''New York Times'' Best Seller.<ref name=100recipes/> A third cookbook with recipes from the ''Basics with Babish'' series was published by Simon & Schuster in October 2023.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rea |first1=Andrew |title=Basics with Babish: Recipes for Screwing Up, Trying Again, and Hitting It Out of the Park |date=2023 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=Brooklyn, New York |isbn=978-1982167530 }}</ref>
In 2021, Rea announced on an episode of ''Binging With Babish'' that he would be launching a cookware line. Intended to be a "high quality line of products with a price point palatable for everyday chefs", the line includes Babish-branded knives, bowls, measuring spoons, and other basic kitchen tools.<ref>{{cite web |title=Babish Cookware |url=https://www.bingingwithbabish.com/cookware |website=Binging With Babish |publisher=Binge Entertainment, LLC |access-date=June 28, 2021}}</ref>
==Personal life== In 2014, Rea married his high school sweetheart; they divorced in 2017.<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Binging with Babish Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WNMatxr7BE&ab_channel=WIRED |website=YouTube |publisher=WIRED |access-date=October 26, 2020}}</ref><ref name=Mashed /> Rea announced his engagement with ''Babish Culinary Universe'' producer Jess Opon in an Instagram post on May 13, 2021.<ref>{{Cite Instagram|postid=CO0MnwaDGmP|user=bingingwithbabish|title=Big day yesterday!|date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/bingingwithbabish/2572736795729750415|archive-date=December 26, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The two were married in ''Binging with Babish'' episode ''9 Million Subscriber Special'' by comedian and Universal Life Church-ordained minister Joel McHale.<ref>{{cite AV media|title=Binging with Babish 9 Million Subscriber Special: Kettle Corn from Community (feat. Joel McHale)|date= June 1, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGPqK_hHA28 |website=YouTube |publisher=Babish Culinary universe |access-date=2021-06-28}}</ref> In an October 2023 Reddit post, Rea confirmed that he and Jess Opon had split up in the summer of 2022.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rea |first1=Andrew |title=I want to open up about some things |url=https://reddit.com/r/bingingwithbabish/s/PKOJVRSsVd |website=Reddit |date=October 4, 2023 |access-date=11 October 2023}}</ref>
==Filmography== ===Online=== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2016–present | ''Binging With Babish'' | Presenter | Also creator |- | 2017–present | ''Basics With Babish'' | Presenter | Also creator |- | 2017–2018 | ''Sean in the Wild'' | Self – guest | 3 episodes |- | 2018–2019 | ''The Burger Show'' | Self – guest | 4 episodes |- | 2018 | ''Good Mythical Morning'' | Self – guest | 1 episode |- | 2018 | ''It's Alive! '' | Self | 2 episodes |- | 2019–present | ''Being With Babish'' | Self | Also creator |- | 2019 | ''Hot Ones'' | Self – guest | 1 episode |- | 2019 | ''Youtubers React'' | Self | 3 episodes |- | 2019 | ''You Suck at Cooking'' | Self | 1 episode |- | 2020 | ''Stump Sohla'' | Self | 10 episodes |- | 2020 | ''Build'' | Self – Guest | 1 episode |- |2023 |''The Adam Friedland Show'' |Self – Guest |1 episode |- |2023 |''Mythical Kitchen'' | Self – Guest |1 episode |}
===Television=== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2017 | ''The List'' | Self – guest | 1 episode |- | 2019 | ''The Chef Show'' | Self | 2 episodes |- | 2019 | ''Rachael Ray'' | Self | 1 episode |- | 2019 |'' CBS This Morning''<ref>{{Citation|title="Binging with Babish": How to recreate famous dishes from movies, TV| date=December 7, 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCsb9Tqq7no|language=en|access-date=2022-01-04}}</ref> | Self | 1 episode |- |2020 | ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' | Self – guest | 1 episode |- | 2021 |'' The Kelly Clarkson Show''<ref>{{cite episode| title = How To Make 'Game Of Thrones' Lemon Cakes With Andrew Rea Of 'Binging With Babish'| url = https://www.nbc.com/the-kelly-clarkson-show/video/how-to-make-game-of-thrones-lemon-cakes-with-andrew-rea-of-binging-with-babish/4290812| series = The Kelly Clarkson Show| series-link = The Kelly Clarkson Show| credits = | network = NBC| air-date = January 6, 2021| season = 2| number = | minutes = }}</ref> | Self – guest | 1 episode |- | 2021 |''Beat Bobby Flay'' | Self – guest judge | 1 episode |}
==Bibliography== * ''Eat What You Watch: A Cookbook for Movie Lovers'' (2017) {{isbn|978-0998739953}} * ''Binging with Babish: 100 Recipes Recreated from Your Favorite Movies and TV Shows'' (2019) {{isbn|978-1328589897}} * ''Basics with Babish: Recipes for Screwing Up, Trying Again, and Hitting It Out of the Park'' (2023) {{isbn|978-1982167530}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Sister project auto}} * [https://www.bingingwithbabish.com/about About] at Binging With Babish * [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9777488/ Andrew Rea] at IMDb
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rea, Andrew}} Category:People from Rochester, New York Category:American cookbook writers Category:Food and cooking YouTubers Category:Hofstra University alumni Category:The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication alumni Category:Chefs from New York City Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:YouTubers from New York (state) Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American people of Polish descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:21st-century food writers