It was at the famed Greenbrier Food Writers Symposium where I first met Amanda Hesser; we both were presenters. She 
was quite young— in her mid 20s — but had already completed her first successful book “The Cook and the Gardener.”
Since then, I’ve watched Amanda’s career soar — as an author, reporting for the New York Times, as an entrepreneur co-founding Food52 and playing herself in Julie & Julia. Gourmet even named her one of the 50 most influential women in food.
Her popular site — that brings together cooks to exchange recipes and ideas and to support each other in the kitchen — won both the James Beard Awards’ Publication of the Year and the IACP’s Best Culinary Website.
What’s next on her full plate? Preparing for her annual NYC holiday popup where Food52 hosts classes, demos, and tastings and sells food products (December 4 to 7, 168 Bowery, New York).
I ran into Amanda recently at the SHARE event and asked if she’d answer some Guest Foodie questions.What follows are her responses.
– bonnie
Which food product or gadget would you never give up? There are so many (I’m greedy about my favorite things!) but I’m going to say my bread knife. Nothing can replace its serrated edge for certain tasks, like slicing tomatoes or halving a sandwich. And how 
would we be able to enjoy a toasted bagel without a bread knife to split it in two?
What do you like to serve when you entertain? I’m not an hors d’oeuvres maker. I’m an hors d’ouevres plater. I gravitate toward foods like radishes with butter and salt, sliced salumi, and roasted almonds. This approach is all about the shopping, making sure you gather up the best ingredients to serve, and then all you have to do is dig around your cabinets for a handsome dish or two for plating. For dessert, I like to make pie. Pies can be baked in advance, and I’ve never met anyone who isn’t delighted to eat a slice of pie. And if I did meet such an odd person, he wouldn’t be my friend.
Describe your “last meal?” I’d have toast and eggs, fresh squeezed orange juice, and a great latte. If a good solid breakfast prepares you for the day, it must also prepare you for the afterlife.
What food is your secret guilty pleasure? I don’t feel guilty about food, but if you’re asking what food I like from 7-11, it’s Fritos.
What is your go-to neighborhood restaurant? We don’t have a go-to in our neighborhood. I have a knack for living in restaurant deserts. First it was the Upper West Side (back when it was dining Siberia) and now Brooklyn Heights, where there seems to be a ban on good food. But a Shake Shack moved into an adjacent neighborhood (Downtown Brooklyn) a few years ago and that’s definitely become a welcome standby.
What is one food product most people don’t know about, but should? Pomi chopped tomatoes. They come in a carton rather than a can, and have great flavor — we use them all the time for amatriciana and Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce.
Describe your worst kitchen disaster and how (if possible) you saved it: When our kids turned 5, I thought it would be a great idea to have a pizza making party at home. The kids would each get a ball of dough to shape and could then decorate it with the toppings. But I mis-measured the dough ingredients, and what I thought would be a shapable dough turned out to be dough soup. Flour came to the rescue but mid-party I had to shape all the kids’ pizzas in production line fashion and it wasn’t nearly as interactive as I’d hoped. Yet it turns out that kids are pretty happy however their pizza is made, as long as they get to eat it.
Who was your most influential mentor? Nancy Harmon Jenkins not only guided me as a writer, but she also helped me land my first agent and job at the New York Times.
To follow Amanda on Twitter, click here.
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