Key Takeaways
- Best Ever Food Review Show received a 2026 Daytime Emmy nomination.
- Sonny moved abroad at 24 and never looked back.
- Failed TV pilots helped him figure out YouTube.
- Running an independent channel lets him tell stories his way.
- His team has grown from three core roles to around 22 people.
- He has directed hundreds of videos while hosting them himself.
Best Ever Food Review Show has earned a 2026 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Culinary Cultural Series. Hosted by Sonny Side, the show follows food, culture, and the people behind them around the world. Its Vietnam-based team has grown to around 22 people. The awards ceremony is scheduled for Friday, October 30.
Who Is Sonny Side, the Host of Best Ever Food Review Show?
If you’ve watched Best Ever Food Review Show, you probably know Sonny Side. His real name is Will Sonbuchner, and he grew up in a small town in Central Minnesota. Today, he hosts one of YouTube’s best-known food and travel shows. The idea goes beyond simply trying dishes from different countries. The show explores the people, traditions, and stories behind the food.
YouTube has highlighted the show’s ambition to document food across every recognized country. That’s a pretty big goal, especially for a team working independently rather than through a traditional TV studio.
Is Best Ever Food Review Show Nominated for an Emmy?
Yes! Best Ever Food Review Show is nominated for a 2026 Daytime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Culinary Cultural Series category. Other nominees include Fork & Hammer and Lucky Chow. The ceremony is scheduled for Friday, October 30, at the Hollywood Palladium. The nomination marks an important moment for Sonny and his team. Their work on YouTube is now receiving recognition from a major television awards organization.
How Did Sonny Side Go From Minnesota to Vietnam?
Sonny’s journey didn’t begin with plans to become a food creator. At 24, he left Minnesota for South Korea, expecting to teach English for a year or two. He had previously tried to break into radio. However, he couldn’t land opportunities in major markets. Instead of waiting for the right career opportunity, he decided to travel and figure things out along the way. South Korea eventually became home for eight years. Around 2017, he moved to Vietnam and decided to give YouTube his full attention.
That decision changed the direction of his career. What started as a move abroad became the foundation for a show that would reach millions of viewers.
Why Did Sonny Side Choose YouTube Over Traditional TV?
For Sonny, YouTube offers something traditional television often can’t: creative freedom.
He actually got opportunities to shoot TV pilots for Food Network and Travel Channel. However, those projects never made it to television. Looking back, he considers that experience a turning point. The failed pilots taught him valuable lessons about production, storytelling, and running a show. He could then apply those lessons to his own channel. There’s another major advantage to working independently. Sonny gets to decide where the team travels and which stories they tell. He doesn’t have to wait for a network to approve every idea. That freedom is a big part of what makes the show different. The team can explore stories that might not fit a traditional television format.
How Big Is the Best Ever Food Review Show Team?
Best Ever Food Review Show has come a long way from its early days. Sonny started with three core roles: an editor, a producer, and a camera operator. The team grew gradually as the workload increased. At one point, he was hiring roughly one person every three months. Building the business wasn’t easy, though. Sonny says the show wasn’t profitable during its first couple of years. Growing a production team in Vietnam was something he hadn’t originally imagined.
Today, the operation has grown to around 22 people. That’s a significant change from the small crew that helped bring his early videos to life.
How Did Living in Korea and Vietnam Shape Sonny Side?
Living abroad has changed how Sonny sees the world. He believes those experiences have made him less judgmental and more thoughtful about how he approaches different subjects. That perspective matters when you’re telling stories about cultures outside your own. Food can involve traditions, beliefs, and histories that deserve to be treated with care. Sonny isn’t sure how much living in Vietnam has directly influenced the show’s style.
However, he recognizes that his experiences abroad have shaped his own outlook. And that personal perspective naturally plays a role in how he approaches the stories he tells.
How Has Best Ever Food Review Show Changed Since Its Early Videos?
The difference between the show’s early uploads and its newer episodes is pretty striking.
In the beginning, the videos were more focused on the food itself. Over time, the production became more ambitious. The team added cameras, improved its filming techniques, and started exploring stories in greater depth. Sonny says production has always been one of his strengths. He leaned into editing, camera work, and technology while continuing to develop his skills as a host. That combination helped the show evolve. It’s no longer just about tasting something interesting. The videos aim to give viewers a much richer sense of the experience, the place, and the people involved.
What Does Best Ever Food Review Show Explore Beyond Food?
Food might be the starting point, but there’s usually a much bigger story behind every dish. Sonny sees food as a way to understand the people and places that shape it. Geography influences which ingredients are available. History can introduce new cooking techniques and traditions. Colonization and migration can also leave their mark on local cuisines. Religion, creativity, and innovation all play a role, too.
Think about it: a single dish can tell you something about a country’s past, its traditions, and the people who live there today. That’s the approach Best Ever Food Review Show takes. The goal isn’t simply to show viewers what people eat. It’s to explore how that food came to be and what it means to the people who make it.
What Can Independent Creators Do Differently From Traditional TV?
Sonny believes independent creators bring something valuable to the table: a distinct point of view. Traditional television productions often involve several people making decisions about the final product. That can sometimes mean compromising on the original creative vision. Independent creators have more room to make their own choices. They can shape the tone, storytelling, and overall direction around what they want to say.
For Sonny, that independence is essential. He can build a show around his team’s perspective rather than trying to satisfy everyone’s expectations. It also helps give the content a recognizable identity. Viewers aren’t just watching a food show. They’re watching a particular team’s take on the world.
Why Does Sonny Side Want to Direct as Well as Host?
Sonny hasn’t always been interested in being the person standing in front of the camera. He also wants control over what happens behind it. Early in his career, television production companies approached him about working with them. However, they mainly wanted him as on-screen talent. That wasn’t the arrangement he wanted. Sonny was interested in directing, too, and wasn’t keen on giving up that creative control. He says he’s appeared in hundreds of videos and directed all of them.
That approach reflects a broader difference between YouTube and traditional television. In TV production, responsibilities are often divided between specialized roles. On YouTube, one person can take on several of them. For Sonny, being both host and director helps keep the show’s vision consistent from start to finish.
What Does the Emmy Nomination Mean to Sonny Side?
For Sonny, an Emmy nomination represents more than a moment of excitement. It’s a sign that the work his team has put into the show is receiving wider recognition. He recalls hearing the news while staying at his cabin in Minnesota. His first reaction was disbelief. The team had only set the Emmy goal that year. They decided to aim for it, put in the work, and see what happened. Now, the nomination gives them a reason to celebrate. Sonny also recognizes that a show’s success can’t be measured by views alone. Production quality, audience response, and critical recognition all matter. The nomination offers a different kind of validation. It recognizes the team’s work beyond its usual YouTube audience.
Final Thoughts
Sonny Side’s journey from Minnesota to Vietnam wasn’t exactly a straight path. He started out exploring career options, tried traditional television, and eventually found his footing on YouTube. Those early setbacks helped him build something of his own. Over time, Best Ever Food Review Show grew from a small operation into a team of around 22 people. The Emmy nomination is an exciting milestone for that journey. It also highlights how independent creators can build ambitious productions without following the traditional television route. The awards ceremony takes place on Friday, October 30. Now, Sonny and his team have the chance to see how their work fares on the big stage.
For creators building their own channels, there’s another lesson here: making great videos is only part of the equation. Getting those videos in front of the right audience matters, too. Platforms such as VeeFly offer YouTube promotion services that creators can explore as part of their growth strategy.
