In the early 1990s, as Amanda Hesser's college friends were interviewing for their first cubicle jobs, she chose a different path: one that led straight into the kitchens of Europe, where she cooked traditional recipes and learned the rhythm of the seasons from a crusty French gardener. By 24, she had landed a book deal and one of the most coveted jobs in journalism: writing about food for the New York Times. But over time she grew restless, and in 2008, gave up that dream job—and the stability that went with it—to become an entrepreneur. When her first business fizzled out, Amanda took a financial risk by pivoting again to launch a new company: Food52. Part food blog, part e-commerce site for all things kitchen and home, Food52 is now valued at roughly $100 million and achieved profitability for the first time in 2020—during the pandemic.
2:08 - Intro
5:15 - The car dealership fire
7:20 - Amanda’s teenage years
8:30 - Discovering an interest in food
10:18 - Graduating college
13:43 - Going to Europe
17:45 - Cooking school in France
22:09 - Pitching a cookbook
23:10 - Getting on the New York Times radar
26:12 - Landing the job
32:17 - Pissing some people off
36:49 - Starting the Essential New York Times Cookbook
39:56 - A business idea
44:52 - Leaving the Times
46:30 - Funding Seawinkle
50:30 - Transforming the idea
55:42 - What is Food52?
1:03:12 - Generating revenue
1:06:40 - Securing an investment
1:10:40 - Building content
1:14:36 - Alternatives to advertising
1:16:03 - Losing an investor
1:18:38 - Living with a problematic reputation
1:20:32 - Being frugal
1:21:42 - Supercharging growth
1:22:54 - Reaching profitability
1:25:55 - Looking to the future
1:27:07 - Reflecting on Amanda’s background
1:29:40 - Luck vs. hard work
Amanda Hesser
Food52
New York Times
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Bentley University
Weingarten, Germany
La Varenne, Cooking School, France
Anne Willan
Rick Flaste
The Cook and the Gardener
Ruth Reichl
Essential New York Times Cookbook
Food52 Store
