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3 episodes with Amanda Hesser
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2 episodes with Amanda Hesser
Join thousands of other listeners on our Substack, The Foodletter! In this episode of That Was Delicious, host Brooke Eliason welcomes Amanda Hesser, an iconic food writer, cookbook author, and entrepreneur. Amanda shares her journey from growing up in a food-loving household to becoming a prominent figure in food media, co-founding Food52, and curating the beloved The Essential New York Times Cookbook. The conversation dives into her early experiences at the New York Times, the creation and vision behind Food52, and Amanda's reflections on the evolving relationship between food, community, and storytelling. Listeners will gain insight into Amanda's inspiring career, her thoughts on entrepreneurship, and her love for meaningful food traditions. Key Takeaways [02:23] Childhood Influence on Food Passion: Amanda's upbringing in a household that prioritized seasonal and homemade food profoundly shaped her love for cooking and her career in food. [06:35] The Legacy of Food Traditions: Amanda's mother's chocolate dump-it cake reflects her family's values of simplicity and creativity, inspiring both her personal and professional life. [11:52] Transition to Food Media: Amanda's pivot from studying finance to pursuing food writing in Europe was driven by her passion for food and willingness to explore unconventional paths. [27:55] Navigating Challenges of Entrepreneurship: Amanda reflects on the risks of leaving the New York Times and the importance of building lasting, meaningful brands like Food52. [28:15] The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Amanda spent five years compiling and testing recipes for this iconic cookbook, capturing over a century of American food culture. [37:25] The Creation of Food52: Amanda and her co-founder envisioned Food52 as a holistic community connecting people through food, blending media, commerce, and education. Notable Quotes (07:54) “My family's values around food—economy, creativity, and making the best of what you have—became part of who I am and shaped the business of Food52.” (37:31) “Food52 is a gathering place for everyone who believes the kitchen is at the heart of the home and food is the center of a well-lived life.” (46:32) “I would love to relive the meal Julia Child cooked—a rabbit braised in Dijon cream sauce—because I didn't fully absorb just how magnificent she was at the time.” Resources Visit the official Food52 website Get a copy of Amanda's cookbook, The Essential New York Times Cookbook Follow Food52 on Instagram Follow Female Foodie on Instagram
Good friends Liz Paley and Amanda Hesser join Libby to discuss their recent completion of The Great Saunter - a walk that covers the entire island of Manhattan in one day. The Great Saunter is a daylong walk that explores Manhattan's 32-mile shoreline, visiting more than 20 parks and promenades of Manhattan. Liz and Amanda talk about the history of the Great Saunter and the organization behind it, Shorewalkers. Liz and Amanda share their training strategies, the importance of walking at a comfortable pace, and getting the best night of sleep ever after it was over. Snacks and bathroom breaks along the route are also discussed - a very important topic! They also discuss the benefits of walking in a city like New York, including the opportunity to discover new neighborhoods, restaurants, and shops that you'd never see in a taxi or on a subway. Keep in touch: https://www.thismorningwalk.com/ Instagram: @thismorningwalk Alex Instagram: @alex_elle Libby Instagram: @parkhere Blind Nil Instagram: @blindnilaudio Please direct business inquiries to: blindnilaudio@magnolia.com Music Credits: Valante / Ramo / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Un voyage immobile, un monde et sa culture à portée de bouche, des plats de l'arrière arrière-grand-mère cuisinés à l'heure du robot à tout faire, un témoignage de vie, une mémoire, un cadeau. Voilà tout ce à quoi sert un livre de cuisine : c'est dire ! Pourtant, à l'heure des réseaux sociaux, des recettes minutes en vidéo, de la cuisine à tout va, de la cuisine livrée à domicile, le livre de cuisine aurait-il fait de vieux os ? Quelle place lui reste-t-il ? D'autant qu'en ce début de XXIème siècle, la pièce « cuisine » semble disparaître progressivement des plans des architectes pour ne rester qu'un coin dans un espace commun.Objets de collection, voyage par procuration, trésors en héritage ? En plein Salon du livre à Paris, dans Le goût du monde nous hissons le livre de cuisine sur le devant de la scène, depuis l'un des temples du livre de cuisine à Paris : la librairie gourmande. Avec sa propriétaire Deborah Dupont Daguet, autrice également, son dernier livre « Le petit manuel pour savoir cuisiner » a paru aux éditions First. La librairie gourmande est située au 92/96 rue Montmartre à Paris, 2ème. Sur Facebook et X et sa complice Estérelle Payany, journaliste, critique gastronomique au magazine Télérama, chercheuse et autrice, son dernier livre « Midi Moins cher » a paru aux éditions alternatives. Dans cette émission, nous avons parlé de bien des livres, parmi lesquels :- « Cotonou » de Georgiana Viou de Ducasse 2019.- « Good Afrique » de la cheffe Anto Cocagne et Aline Princet – Mango 2018.- « Goûts d'Algérie » de Anissa et Hanane Abdelli – Éditions Mango 2023.- « Mafé, gombo Yassa » de Alexandre Bella Ola – First 2019.- « La cuisine c'est plus que des recettes » de Alain Chapel – Éditions Robert Laffont- « Simple » de Ottolenghi – Hachette cuisine.- « The essentials, New york Times » de Amanda Hesser.- « Le grand livre de la cuisine juive » de Claudia Rodden.- « Le grand livre des livres de cuisine : 50 livres de gastronomie à lire au moins une fois dans sa vie » de Yves Camdeborde et Laurent Séminel, éditions Hoebecke 2023.- « Tiens, manges ! Tu aimes » de Koula Panagiota, Panagiot Kophidou, Marie Bescond Kophides et Cypris Kophides, aux éditions de l'Épure.- « La ferme de la Ruchotte » de Jacky Durand et Fred Ménager. Éditions Épure 2024.- « Ginette Mathiot je sais cuisiner – La cuisine » de Françoise Bernard.- Musique Buyelele de Freddy Massamba. Album Trancestral. En images :
Un voyage immobile, un monde et sa culture à portée de bouche, des plats de l'arrière arrière-grand-mère cuisinés à l'heure du robot à tout faire, un témoignage de vie, une mémoire, un cadeau. Voilà tout ce à quoi sert un livre de cuisine : c'est dire ! Pourtant, à l'heure des réseaux sociaux, des recettes minutes en vidéo, de la cuisine à tout va, de la cuisine livrée à domicile, le livre de cuisine aurait-il fait de vieux os ? Quelle place lui reste-t-il ? D'autant qu'en ce début de XXIème siècle, la pièce « cuisine » semble disparaître progressivement des plans des architectes pour ne rester qu'un coin dans un espace commun.Objets de collection, voyage par procuration, trésors en héritage ? En plein Salon du livre à Paris, dans Le goût du monde nous hissons le livre de cuisine sur le devant de la scène, depuis l'un des temples du livre de cuisine à Paris : la librairie gourmande. Avec sa propriétaire Deborah Dupont Daguet, autrice également, son dernier livre « Le petit manuel pour savoir cuisiner » a paru aux éditions First. La librairie gourmande est située au 92/96 rue Montmartre à Paris, 2ème. Sur Facebook et X et sa complice Estérelle Payany, journaliste, critique gastronomique au magazine Télérama, chercheuse et autrice, son dernier livre « Midi Moins cher » a paru aux éditions alternatives. Dans cette émission, nous avons parlé de bien des livres, parmi lesquels :- « Cotonou » de Georgiana Viou de Ducasse 2019.- « Good Afrique » de la cheffe Anto Cocagne et Aline Princet – Mango 2018.- « Goûts d'Algérie » de Anissa et Hanane Abdelli – Éditions Mango 2023.- « Mafé, gombo Yassa » de Alexandre Bella Ola – First 2019.- « La cuisine c'est plus que des recettes » de Alain Chapel – Éditions Robert Laffont- « Simple » de Ottolenghi – Hachette cuisine.- « The essentials, New york Times » de Amanda Hesser.- « Le grand livre de la cuisine juive » de Claudia Rodden.- « Le grand livre des livres de cuisine : 50 livres de gastronomie à lire au moins une fois dans sa vie » de Yves Camdeborde et Laurent Séminel, éditions Hoebecke 2023.- « Tiens, manges ! Tu aimes » de Koula Panagiota, Panagiot Kophidou, Marie Bescond Kophides et Cypris Kophides, aux éditions de l'Épure.- « La ferme de la Ruchotte » de Jacky Durand et Fred Ménager. Éditions Épure 2024.- « Ginette Mathiot je sais cuisiner – La cuisine » de Françoise Bernard.- Musique Buyelele de Freddy Massamba. Album Trancestral. En images :
Amanda Hesser founded one of my favorite food and lifestyle brands, Food52. It's one of my go-to sources for recipe and gift inspiration… and what's crazy is that building that hugely successful company is just a small part of Amanda's life story.She was also a food writer and editor at the New York Times for many years, and she's written cookbooks and a memoir called Cooking for Mr. Latte which I just love.Today Amanda and I talk about what she's into right now (padel, anyone?), what she's out on (do sweatshirts really need to be cropped above the belly button?), and the time she may or may not have taken her kids on a prison tour on one of their birthdays.We also get into:* The recent habits that have been improving both our day-to-day lives (mine is a lot more superficial)* Amanda's ideal sneaker* How we dress when working from home* Her brilliantly simple go-to meal when she doesn't feel like cookingLinks: * Food52* Food52's Instagram* Amanda's Instagram* Rachel Comey jeans* Adidas Women's Ultraboost shoesInterested in my weekly "complete meal" recipe newsletter? Head over to whattocook.substack.com to sign up. Get full access to What To Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking at whattocook.substack.com/subscribe
While at the Hot Luck Festival in Austin, TX, this spring, Andrew sat down with Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel, chef and co-owner of Birdie's, one of the restaurants of the moment (it was recently named "restaurant of the year" by Food & Wine). In addition to describing her own path, which took her from Texas to Chicago to New York and back to Texas, Tracy details the progressive business and service model at Birdie's, which allow for a range of benefits for the team and for her and her husband-business partner, Arjav Ezekiel.This episode is brought to you in part by meez, the recipe operating system for culinary professionals. Try out their free basic version today.Andrew's NEW book The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food is now ON SALE! Read the book Publishers Weekly calls "masterful."If you are in NYC, please come see Andrew in conversation with Food 52 founder Amanda Hesser at P&T Knitwear in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, November 14 at 7pm. Secure your spot now!If you're in Houston, Texas, join us for a lunch celebrating the publication of The Dish at Bludorn restaurant on Thursday, November 16 at 11:45am. Make your reservation now!And Andrew will be at Kendall College in Chicago this Friday, discussing The Dish with Beverly Kim (one of the chefs featured in the book) and Jon Templin (one of the farmers featured in the book). If you'd like to attend, we'd love to see you. You also must RSVP.Since 2019, Andrew Talks to Chefs has been a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related news.
On the heels of his James Beard Foundation Award recognition as Outstanding Chef (in the nation), Rob Rubba visited New York City to discuss his career to date, and the life changes that led to his super-popular restaurant Oyster Oyster in Washington, D.C.This episode is brought to you in part by meez, the recipe operating system for culinary professionals. Try out their free basic version today.Andrew's NEW book The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food is now ON SALE! Read the book Publishers Weekly calls "masterful."And if you are in NYC, please come see Andrew in conversation with Food 52 founder Amanda Hesser at P&T Knitwear in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, November 14 at 7pm. Secure your spot now!If you're in Houston, Texas, join us for a lunch celebrating the publication of The Dish at Bludorn restaurant on Thursday, November 16 at 11:45am. Make your reservation now!Since 2019, Andrew Talks to Chefs has been a fully independent podcast and no longer affiliated with our former host network; please visit and bookmark our official website for all show updates, blog posts, personal and virtual appearances, and related news.
For our 30th episode, I am honored to be joined by the Amanda Hesser, Founder and Executive Chair at the Food52, the online culinary community. After working at the New York Times as a food reporter, writer and editor, and columnist, Ms. Hesser felt that she was missing something in her life – entrepreneurship. Shortly after leaving the New York Times, Ms. Hesser used an advance on a book that she was writing to launch Food52. Now, 14 years later, Ms. Hesser discusses with us how she built a customer experience, what she thinks the key to Food52's growth was, and what she would do differently if she were to start all over again. Stick around to the end to Ms. Hesser's biggest takeaways from her startup journey with Food52. Please subscribe to Studying Success to hear more from the best entrepreneurs and investors!Also check out our website at www.studyingsuccesspodcast.com.And follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube – @studyingsuccesspodcast
One presidential term goes down in history as serving borderline inedible food to the thousands of guests who dined there. What was on the menu, who was responsible, and the revenge theory behind it all. This episode of Burnt Toast was produced by Gabrielle Lewis and Kenzi Wilbur. Thanks also to Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, the founders of Food52— and to Laura Mayer and Andy Bowers at Panoply. Our ad and theme music is by Joshua Rule Dobson; All other music in this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions. Our logo is designed by Abbey Lossing. Please let us know what you think of the show—leave us a review on iTunes. Or get in touch: You can email us at burnttoast@food52.com.
This week, we talk to NY Mag food critic Adam Platt about criticism in an age that makes it easy for everyone with an internet connection to be a reviewer. Listen in for some salty conversation, his live evaluation of some food in the studio, and—because we couldn't help it—a dramatic Yelp reading or two. Burnt Toast is brought to you by Blue Apron. Blue Apron is the new service that delivers all the ingredients you need to make incredible meals at home. Discover a better way to cook. Visit BlueApron.com/TOAST to get your first two meals free. BlueApron.com/TOAST
Today's episode covers the topic of first food jobs—we chat with Lucky Peach co-founder Peter Meehan about how he got his start, how aspiring food writers might get theirs, and just how scrappy Amanda was before The New York Times.
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 around $300 million and achieved profitability for the first time during the pandemic.This episode was produced by Rachel Faulkner, with music by Ramtin ArabloueiEdited by Neva Grant, with research help from Daryth Gayles.You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at hibt@id.wondery.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Bloomberg News Finance Reporter Hannah Levitt and Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Analyst for US Regional Banks Herman Chan discuss how just over a year before Silicon Valley Bank's collapse threatened a generation of technology startups and their backers, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco appointed a more senior team of examiners to assess the firm. Okta CEO Todd McKinnon talks about the identity and access management business. Ken Hicks, CEO of Academy Sports and Outdoors, breaks down the company's earnings thoughts on the consumer. Bloomberg Markets Correspondent Kriti Gupta and Anthony DeRuijter, Senior Analyst at Third Bridge, discuss FedEx's earnings surprise and outlook going forward. Amanda Hesser, Founder and Co-CEO of Food52, talks about why food is the center of a well-lived life. And we Drive to the Close with George Schultze, Founder and CEO of Schultze Asset Management. Hosts: Carol Massar and Jess Menton. Producer: Paul Brennan.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Bloomberg News Finance Reporter Hannah Levitt and Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Analyst for US Regional Banks Herman Chan discuss how just over a year before Silicon Valley Bank's collapse threatened a generation of technology startups and their backers, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco appointed a more senior team of examiners to assess the firm. Okta CEO Todd McKinnon talks about the identity and access management business. Ken Hicks, CEO of Academy Sports and Outdoors, breaks down the company's earnings thoughts on the consumer. Bloomberg Markets Correspondent Kriti Gupta and Anthony DeRuijter, Senior Analyst at Third Bridge, discuss FedEx's earnings surprise and outlook going forward. Amanda Hesser, Founder and Co-CEO of Food52, talks about why food is the center of a well-lived life. And we Drive to the Close with George Schultze, Founder and CEO of Schultze Asset Management. Hosts: Carol Massar and Jess Menton. Producer: Paul Brennan.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A look back at some of our favorite genius recipes of the year with Food52 co-founder and CEO, Amanda HesserReferenced in this episode Julia Turshen's Fried Eggs Lindsay Maitland Hunt's Slow Roasted Chicken with Crispy Skin Yasmin Khan's Stunning Citrus CakeDorie Greenspan's French Yogurt CakeDorie Greenspan's Caramel-y Chocolate CookiesTara O'Brady's Chocolate Chip CookiesJessie Sheehn's Snickerdoodles (Ketchup optional)Ali Slagle's Chicken Caesar SaladMonifa Dayo's Potato Salad
A look back at some of our favorite genius recipes of the year with Food52 co-founder and CEO, Amanda HesserReferenced in this episode Julia Turshen's Fried Eggs Lindsay Maitland Hunt's Slow Roasted Chicken with Crispy Skin Yasmin Khan's Stunning Citrus CakeDorie Greenspan's French Yogurt CakeDorie Greenspan's Caramel-y Chocolate CookiesTara O'Brady's Chocolate Chip CookiesJessie Sheehn's Snickerdoodles (Ketchup optional)Ali Slagle's Chicken Caesar SaladMonifa Dayo's Potato Salad Have a genius recipe you'd like to share? Tell me all about it at genius@food52.com.Theme Music by The Cabinetmaker on Blue Dot Sessions
On today's foodcast episode, Food52 co-founder Amanda Hesser talks about why she left the New York Times to start her own company. Plus, we catch up with senior editor Julia Kramer on day 12 of her great American road trip in search of the country's best new restaurants. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In 2009, Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs left their jobs as food editors and writers at The New York Times to start a website and company called Food52. They saw how Americans' relationship with food was changing: food was no longer a niche interest, but a core part of people's identities that connected them to every aspect of life. The founders saw an opportunity to use technology and the internet to bring people together around food, a site where everyday home cooks could find everything in one place, from recipes to cooking advice to where to find the perfect set of nesting mixing bowls. A decade later, Food52 has been recognized as one of the world's most innovative companies, with three brands (so far) in its portfolio, a media content arm that reaches millions of loyal users per month, and a multi-million dollar e-commerce business that sells kitchen wares, home goods and decor, furniture, bedding, and more. Amanda Hesser, Co-CEO of Food52, joins the podcast to talk about the company's natural progression -- not perceived expansion! -- from food into all aspects of the home, and how she and her team have built a brand that's genuine, soulful, and “for people who see food at the center of a well-lived life.” Listen to this episode to learn: • The value of content to build an emotional connection to and loyalty with users; and how building that trust allows Food52's e-commerce business to move in different directions • How Food52 has found success in cultivating long-term relationships with its community and continually evolving as its audience (and the world) changes • The cultural impact of celebrity chefs in the United States and their role in making food more accessible, interesting, and fun to a broader audience • How Amanda's background in media and journalism was great training for being a successful founder and entrepreneur • How Food52 has expanded its product offerings with three brands: its own Five Two kitchen goods brand; Schoolhouse, a lighting and lifestyle goods company; and Dansk, the Scandinavian-inspired heritage cookware brand • Why Food52's new office headquarters in the Brooklyn Navy Yard will be an expression of the brand and a place for its community, employees, and partners to gather, create, and connect
Food52's Amanda Hesser tells us why and how, more than a decade ago, she set out to bring cooks together to exchange ideas and recipes, and to deliver a real sense of community in the kitchen. Plus: Anyday's Steph Chen explains how her innovative range of glass cookware is transforming the microwave's bad reputation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Referenced in this episode:Strawberry Sorbet From The River CafeA Genius, 3-Ingredient Sorbet Gets Two New (No-Churn) Buddies (Food52)Genius-Hunter Extra Credit:The one that started it all: The River Cafe's Strawberry SorbetFeast your eyes on their online shop!What has been your favorite genius recipe from over the years? Tell me all about it at genius@food52.com.
On Play Me a Recipe, your favorite cooks will walk you through their most treasured recipes, offering all the insider tips, stories, and tricks you won't get from a written recipe—and you'll be right alongside them, every step of the way. Feel free to pause, jump back, or navigate the steps via the podcast chapters.Peach Tart1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour3/4 teaspoon kosher salt3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil1/4 cup mild olive oil2 tablespoons whole milk1/2 teaspoon almond extract2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter3 small ripe peaches (up to 5), pitted and thickly sliced (about 1/2-inch wide)Heat the oven to 425 degrees. In a mixing bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. Stirring enables the salt and sugar to sift the flour, so you don't need to sift it in advance. In a small bowl, whisk together the oils, milk and almond extract. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and mix gently with a fork, just enough to dampen; do not over work it. Then, transfer the dough to an 11-inch tart pan (you can use a smaller one if needed), and use your hands to pat out the dough so it covers the bottom of the pan, pushing it up the sides to meet the edge. This will work if you pat firmly and confidently, but not if you curl your fingertips into the dough. It should be about 1/ 8-inch thick all around; trim and discard excess dough.In a bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt and the butter. (If your peaches are especially juicy, add 1 tablespoon additional flour.) Using your fingers, pinch the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly, with a mixture of fine granules and tiny pebbles.Starting on the outside, arrange the peaches overlapping in a concentric circle over the pastry; fill in the center in whatever pattern makes sense. The peaches should fit snugly. Sprinkle the pebbly butter mixture over top (it will seem like a lot). Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until shiny, thick bubbles begin enveloping the fruit and the crust is slightly brown. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or room temperature, preferably with generous dollops of whipped cream.Have a recipe you'd like to hear us make? Email it to us at podcasts@food52.com.Lobby Time Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
If you're a fan of cookbooks and the New York Times food coverage over the years, you won't want to miss this hour of Seasoned. Amanda Hesser, food writer and founder of Food52, is our guest. Amanda describes her culinary journey, starting with her early travels baking bread in Europe, the very first book that launched her food writing career, and the process of curating “the recipes of record” buried in the New York Times recipe archive. We talk with Amanda about The Essential New York Times Cookbook, both the original published in 2010 and its timely revision in 2021. GUEST: Amanda Hesser: Founder and CEO of Food52. Amanda was a reporter, feature writer, and food editor at the New York Times, and she's the author of several award-winning books. Her latest is The Essential New York Times Cookbook. This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Catie Talarski, and Emily Charash. Our interns are Sara Gasparotto and Michayla Savitt. Seasoned is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today by visitingctpublic.org/donate. Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
If you're the type to put on the kettle, don your coziest socks and relax with some great home and food inspiration, then you've probably already heard of today's guests. Amanda Hesser and Sara Fritsch, CEO of Food52 and president of Schoolhouse, respectively, are here to discuss their iconic brands that have recently joined forces in a homebody's dream acquisition. Sara and Amanda discuss bootstrapping versus venture capital, strategic methods for both buying and selling a company, and most importantly, personal and professional alignment. Their desire to create longevity is evident in their commitment to their companies, as well as their lives outside of work. As leaders and friends, Amanda and Sara share their passion for balance, beauty, integrity and the creation of modern heirlooms. Thanks for listening! Don't forget to order Rebecca's new book, Fearless: The New Rules for Unlocking Creativity, Courage, and Success. Follow Superwomen on Instagram. Social Media @food52 @schoolhouse Big Ideas Discussing acquisitions from both angles. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/superwomen/support
With a penchant for design, Corinne Mynatt became obsessed with discovering the history and functions of kitchen tools from flea markets around the world. David Owen considers the environmental consequences of the kitchen's largest tool — the refrigerator. Amanda Hesser tackles the herculean task of combing through over 150 years of New York Times recipes. Rhea and Marcel Michel combine their heritages for the ultimate rotisserie chicken. Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Bill Addison visits a new market hall in San Gabriel Valley. Baby kale is the new darling at the farmer's market.
After 7 years as the New York Times food editor and publishing a best-selling cookbook, Amanda Hesser set her sights on a new entrepreneurial challenge. She co-founded Food52, the award-winning recipe exchange community, to help chefs at any level support each other 52 weeks a year. In this Office Hours episode, Hesser spoke with host Suneel Gupta about her experience as an entrepreneur, taking chances on herself, and startup culture.
(Dec 3, 2021)
In today's episode Anu sits down with Amanda Hesser, co-founder and CEO of Food52, the company on a mission to inspire people to eat thoughtfully and live joyfully. They discuss her background in food journalism, the platform's evolution from content to commerce, thoughtfully responding to customer feedback, and lessons around building a constructive community. Amanda shares how she has seen the food industry continue to evolve throughout the pandemic as well on her thoughts on the future of food, her long term vision for the Food52, plus her favorite restaurant in New York.
Amanda Hesser had the awesome responsibility of choosing which recipes to include in the newest edition of the New York Time Essential Cookbook. Amanda and Jessie talk about: Why the NY Times Essential Cookbook needed updating Where new recipes came from How NY Times readers influenced the recipes Contributing chefs and food influencers like Samin Nosrat, David Chang, and Maangchi Learn more about Amanda and the NY Times Essential cookbook here: https://food52.com/ (https://food52.com/)
"The Essential New York Times Cookbook: The Recipes of Record" remains a one-of-a-kind overview of American food culture as viewed by decades of Times food writers and editors, and now the book also reflects how Americans cooked during the COVID-19 pandemic and how extraordinarily diverse American food is.Amanda Hesser, a Times food columnist, the author of the acclaimed "Cooking for Mr. Latte," and cofounder of the immensely popular cooking and home site Food52, organized this book into eighteen chapters, including drinks, hors d'oeuvres, soups, vegetables, pasta, fish and shellfish, poultry and game, beef, breads, and desserts.
The author and food writer discusses new recipes. Her new book is titled "The Essential Cookbook: Classical Recipes for a New Century" https://www.amazon.com/Essential-New-York-Times-Cookbook
If you like this show, head right on over to the Play Me a Recipe show page for more episodes; we play new recipes each Friday. On Play Me a Recipe, your favorite cooks will walk you through their most treasured recipes, offering all the insider tips, stories, and tricks you won't get from a written recipe—and you'll be right alongside them, every step of the way. Feel free to pause, jump back, or navigate the steps via the podcast chapters.Peach Tart1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour3/4 teaspoon kosher salt3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil1/4 cup mild olive oil2 tablespoons whole milk1/2 teaspoon almond extract2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter3 small ripe peaches (up to 5), pitted and thickly sliced (about 1/2-inch wide)Heat the oven to 425 degrees. In a mixing bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. Stirring enables the salt and sugar to sift the flour, so you don't need to sift it in advance. In a small bowl, whisk together the oils, milk and almond extract. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and mix gently with a fork, just enough to dampen; do not over work it. Then, transfer the dough to an 11-inch tart pan (you can use a smaller one if needed), and use your hands to pat out the dough so it covers the bottom of the pan, pushing it up the sides to meet the edge. This will work if you pat firmly and confidently, but not if you curl your fingertips into the dough. It should be about 1/ 8-inch thick all around; trim and discard excess dough.In a bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt and the butter. (If your peaches are especially juicy, add 1 tablespoon additional flour.) Using your fingers, pinch the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly, with a mixture of fine granules and tiny pebbles.Starting on the outside, arrange the peaches overlapping in a concentric circle over the pastry; fill in the center in whatever pattern makes sense. The peaches should fit snugly. Sprinkle the pebbly butter mixture over top (it will seem like a lot). Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until shiny, thick bubbles begin enveloping the fruit and the crust is slightly brown. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or room temperature, preferably with generous dollops of whipped cream.Have a recipe you'd like to hear us make? Email it to us at podcasts@food52.com.Lobby Time Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
If you like this show, head right on over to the Play Me a Recipe show page for more episodes; we play new recipes each Friday. On Play Me a Recipe, your favorite cooks will walk you through their most treasured recipes, offering all the insider tips, stories, and tricks you won't get from a written recipe—and you'll be right alongside them, every step of the way. Feel free to pause, jump back, or navigate the steps via the podcast chapters.Peach Tart1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour3/4 teaspoon kosher salt3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil1/4 cup mild olive oil2 tablespoons whole milk1/2 teaspoon almond extract2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter3 small ripe peaches (up to 5), pitted and thickly sliced (about 1/2-inch wide)Heat the oven to 425 degrees. In a mixing bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. Stirring enables the salt and sugar to sift the flour, so you don't need to sift it in advance. In a small bowl, whisk together the oils, milk and almond extract. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and mix gently with a fork, just enough to dampen; do not over work it. Then, transfer the dough to an 11-inch tart pan (you can use a smaller one if needed), and use your hands to pat out the dough so it covers the bottom of the pan, pushing it up the sides to meet the edge. This will work if you pat firmly and confidently, but not if you curl your fingertips into the dough. It should be about 1/ 8-inch thick all around; trim and discard excess dough.In a bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt and the butter. (If your peaches are especially juicy, add 1 tablespoon additional flour.) Using your fingers, pinch the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly, with a mixture of fine granules and tiny pebbles.Starting on the outside, arrange the peaches overlapping in a concentric circle over the pastry; fill in the center in whatever pattern makes sense. The peaches should fit snugly. Sprinkle the pebbly butter mixture over top (it will seem like a lot). Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until shiny, thick bubbles begin enveloping the fruit and the crust is slightly brown. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or room temperature, preferably with generous dollops of whipped cream.Have a recipe you'd like to hear us make? Email it to us at podcasts@food52.com.Lobby Time Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
On Play Me a Recipe, your favorite cooks will walk you through their most treasured recipes, offering all the insider tips, stories, and tricks you won't get from a written recipe—and you'll be right alongside them, every step of the way. Feel free to pause, jump back, or navigate the steps via the podcast chapters.Peach Tart1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour3/4 teaspoon kosher salt3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil1/4 cup mild olive oil2 tablespoons whole milk1/2 teaspoon almond extract2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter3 small ripe peaches (up to 5), pitted and thickly sliced (about 1/2-inch wide)Heat the oven to 425 degrees. In a mixing bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. Stirring enables the salt and sugar to sift the flour, so you don't need to sift it in advance. In a small bowl, whisk together the oils, milk and almond extract. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and mix gently with a fork, just enough to dampen; do not over work it. Then, transfer the dough to an 11-inch tart pan (you can use a smaller one if needed), and use your hands to pat out the dough so it covers the bottom of the pan, pushing it up the sides to meet the edge. This will work if you pat firmly and confidently, but not if you curl your fingertips into the dough. It should be about 1/ 8-inch thick all around; trim and discard excess dough.In a bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt and the butter. (If your peaches are especially juicy, add 1 tablespoon additional flour.) Using your fingers, pinch the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly, with a mixture of fine granules and tiny pebbles.Starting on the outside, arrange the peaches overlapping in a concentric circle over the pastry; fill in the center in whatever pattern makes sense. The peaches should fit snugly. Sprinkle the pebbly butter mixture over top (it will seem like a lot). Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until shiny, thick bubbles begin enveloping the fruit and the crust is slightly brown. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or room temperature, preferably with generous dollops of whipped cream.Have a recipe you'd like to hear us make? Email it to us at podcasts@food52.com.Lobby Time Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Referenced in this episode:Strawberry Sorbet From The River CafeA Genius, 3-Ingredient Sorbet Gets Two New (No-Churn) Buddies (Food52)Genius-Hunter Extra Credit:The one that started it all: The River Cafe's Strawberry SorbetFeast your eyes on their online shop!What has been your favorite genius recipe from over the years? Tell me all about it at genius@food52.com.
I chat with Amanda Hesser - co-founder & CEO at Food 52. We discuss the early days of Food 52, the success of bootstrapping, pioneering the content and commerce curve, the power of community, the recent acquisition of Dansk and why failure was never an option.
Just a podcast ep featuring two old pals: Miffy, chic cartoon rabbit, and Amanda Hesser, icon, inspiration, and co-founder of Food52, the site you’ve (we’ve) visited just a few thousand times. First, some Miffy merch: this light that Erica and Cam own, these napkins, this corduroy stuffed animal, and this Converse collab. A 2008 Daily Telegraph profile of Dick Bruna, the creator of Miffy. The rumored Taylor Swift and Katy Perry collaboration. Our Amanda Hesser fandom runs deep! We love all things Food52, of course, but we’ve been A.H. diehards since we read Cooking for Mr. Latte in the early aughts. A few Amanda kitchen recs: Bien Cuit sourdough starter, Ortwo pepper grinder, and JK Adams two-tiered lazy susan. The go-to recipe when Amanda’s kids are cooking: Zuni's Pasta with Preserved Tuna. For deep-diving on Amanda and her co-founder Merrill Stubbs, check out our book Work Wife, and for more on Amanda’s backstory and business approach, check out this recent ep of How I Built This. We love to hear from you, always. You can get us at @athingortwohq, podcast@athingortwohq.com, and 833-632-5463. For more insidery-ness from us, check out Secret Menu. Download the (free!) Zocdoc app and book that doctor’s appointment—now’s the time. Escape with Dipsea’s hot ‘n heavy audio stories—you get a free 30-day trial when you use our link. Try out professional counseling with BetterHelp and snag 10% off your first month when you use our link. YAY. Produced by Dear Media
Stacie and Mia try gâteau de crêpes from Amanda Hesser of The New York Times. Recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/9587-gateau-de-crepes
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.How I Built This Summit - information and tickets at:http://summit.npr.org
Amanda Hesser is the co-founder and CEO of Food52, a media, and commerce brand dedicated to the wonderful world of food. With a blend of content and commerce, Food52 has become one of the most impactful brands in the food industry and is now growing to touch more parts of the home.
On Play Me a Recipe, your favorite cooks will walk you through their most treasured recipes, offering all the insider tips, stories, and tricks you won't get from a written recipe—and you'll be right alongside them, every step of the way. Feel free to pause, jump back, or navigate the steps via the podcast chapters.If you're cooking along, here's the recipe we're making today. Go ahead and grab the ingredients below (Amanda starts listing them at 0:40) before starting the episode.Daddy's Pasta8 ounces bacon, cut in 1/4-inch slices1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil1/2 cup tomato paste2 pinches red pepper flakes1 3/4 cups canned chopped tomatoes (preferably Pomi)1 pound rotelleGrated Parmesan, for servingBring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.Meanwhile, spread the bacon in a large sauté pan over medium heat; brown the bacon and render the fat. Scoop out the bacon and set aside on paper towels. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan, then add 1/4 cup olive oil to the pan and warm over medium heat.Drop in the tomato paste and add the red pepper flakes; turn the heat to low and stir just until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and turn off the heat.Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook until truly al dente—you’ll be cooking it a bit more with the sauce. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta water.Add the pasta, bacon, and the reserved pasta water to the tomato sauce, then stir and toss over medium heat until the pasta is well coated. Season with salt if necessary, then add the 3 tablespoon olive oil, tossing well. Serve immediately, with a sprinkling of Parmesan on top of each bowlful.Have a recipe you'd like to hear us make? Email it to us at podcasts@food52.com.
On Play Me a Recipe, your favorite cooks will walk you through their most treasured recipes, offering all the insider tips, stories, and tricks you won't get from a written recipe—and you'll be right alongside them, every step of the way. Feel free to pause, jump back, or navigate the steps via the podcast chapters.If you're cooking along, here's the recipe we're making today. Go ahead and grab the ingredients below (Amanda starts listing them at 0:40) before starting the episode.Daddy's Pasta8 ounces bacon, cut in 1/4-inch slices1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil1/2 cup tomato paste2 pinches red pepper flakes1 3/4 cups canned chopped tomatoes (preferably Pomi)1 pound rotelleGrated Parmesan, for servingBring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.Meanwhile, spread the bacon in a large sauté pan over medium heat; brown the bacon and render the fat. Scoop out the bacon and set aside on paper towels. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan, then add 1/4 cup olive oil to the pan and warm over medium heat.Drop in the tomato paste and add the red pepper flakes; turn the heat to low and stir just until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and turn off the heat.Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook until truly al dente—you’ll be cooking it a bit more with the sauce. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta water.Add the pasta, bacon, and the reserved pasta water to the tomato sauce, then stir and toss over medium heat until the pasta is well coated. Season with salt if necessary, then add the 3 tablespoon olive oil, tossing well. Serve immediately, with a sprinkling of Parmesan on top of each bowlful.Have a recipe you'd like to hear us make? Email it to us at podcasts@food52.com.
Within the pages of this beautiful book, author and illustrator Lindsay Gardner shines a spotlight on the inspiring achievements of women in food today. From Food52 cofounders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs to The Chew host Carla Hall to slow food activist and chef Deborah Madison, soba maker and sake sommelier Mutsuko Soma, food journalist Ruth Reichl, community organizer Shakirah Simley, and more, Why We Cook celebrates those who are dedicated not only to their craft, but to supporting other women within the industry. Alongside the text are Gardner’s vibrant and gorgeous watercolor illustrations that bring these women to life. Meet changemakers, like Cristina Martinez, a chef who emigrated from Mexico and who brings her Philadelphia community together through food while using her platform to champion immigrants’ rights; and Leah Penniman, who describes a day in her life on Soul Fire Farm, which she co-founded to combat racism in the food system. Evocative reflections on food and memory, like Rachel Khong's ode to her mother's love of fruit. And narrative recipes, like restaurateur Nicole Ponseca's Bibingka. The result is an inspiring, empowering, and moving celebration of the place where food meets feminism. Lindsay Gardner is an illustrator and artist who lives in Oakland, California, with her husband and two daughters (her two favorite sous chefs). Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, her penchant for stories and art led her to study American literature and art at Middlebury College and to earn her MFA in painting from San Francisco Art Institute. Her illustrations have appeared in cookbook and editorial projects, advertising campaigns, and stationery and interior design collaborations, and have been featured on Eatingwell.com and in Flow and Uppercase magazines, among others.
Within the pages of this beautiful book, author and illustrator Lindsay Gardner shines a spotlight on the inspiring achievements of women in food today. From Food52 cofounders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs to The Chew host Carla Hall to slow food activist and chef Deborah Madison, soba maker and sake sommelier Mutsuko Soma, food journalist Ruth Reichl, community organizer Shakirah Simley, and more, Why We Cook celebrates those who are dedicated not only to their craft, but to supporting other women within the industry. Alongside the text are Gardner’s vibrant and gorgeous watercolor illustrations that bring these women to life. Meet changemakers, like Cristina Martinez, a chef who emigrated from Mexico and who brings her Philadelphia community together through food while using her platform to champion immigrants’ rights; and Leah Penniman, who describes a day in her life on Soul Fire Farm, which she co-founded to combat racism in the food system. Evocative reflections on food and memory, like Rachel Khong's ode to her mother's love of fruit. And narrative recipes, like restaurateur Nicole Ponseca's Bibingka. The result is an inspiring, empowering, and moving celebration of the place where food meets feminism. Lindsay Gardner is an illustrator and artist who lives in Oakland, California, with her husband and two daughters (her two favorite sous chefs). Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, her penchant for stories and art led her to study American literature and art at Middlebury College and to earn her MFA in painting from San Francisco Art Institute. Her illustrations have appeared in cookbook and editorial projects, advertising campaigns, and stationery and interior design collaborations, and have been featured on Eatingwell.com and in Flow and Uppercase magazines, among others.
Within the pages of this beautiful book, author and illustrator Lindsay Gardner shines a spotlight on the inspiring achievements of women in food today. From Food52 cofounders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs to The Chew host Carla Hall to slow food activist and chef Deborah Madison, soba maker and sake sommelier Mutsuko Soma, food journalist Ruth Reichl, community organizer Shakirah Simley, and more, Why We Cook celebrates those who are dedicated not only to their craft, but to supporting other women within the industry. Alongside the text are Gardner’s vibrant and gorgeous watercolor illustrations that bring these women to life. Meet changemakers, like Cristina Martinez, a chef who emigrated from Mexico and who brings her Philadelphia community together through food while using her platform to champion immigrants’ rights; and Leah Penniman, who describes a day in her life on Soul Fire Farm, which she co-founded to combat racism in the food system. Evocative reflections on food and memory, like Rachel Khong's ode to her mother's love of fruit. And narrative recipes, like restaurateur Nicole Ponseca's Bibingka. The result is an inspiring, empowering, and moving celebration of the place where food meets feminism. Lindsay Gardner is an illustrator and artist who lives in Oakland, California, with her husband and two daughters (her two favorite sous chefs). Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, her penchant for stories and art led her to study American literature and art at Middlebury College and to earn her MFA in painting from San Francisco Art Institute. Her illustrations have appeared in cookbook and editorial projects, advertising campaigns, and stationery and interior design collaborations, and have been featured on Eatingwell.com and in Flow and Uppercase magazines, among others.
Within the pages of this beautiful book, author and illustrator Lindsay Gardner shines a spotlight on the inspiring achievements of women in food today. From Food52 cofounders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs to The Chew host Carla Hall to slow food activist and chef Deborah Madison, soba maker and sake sommelier Mutsuko Soma, food journalist Ruth Reichl, community organizer Shakirah Simley, and more, Why We Cook celebrates those who are dedicated not only to their craft, but to supporting other women within the industry. Alongside the text are Gardner’s vibrant and gorgeous watercolor illustrations that bring these women to life. Meet changemakers, like Cristina Martinez, a chef who emigrated from Mexico and who brings her Philadelphia community together through food while using her platform to champion immigrants’ rights; and Leah Penniman, who describes a day in her life on Soul Fire Farm, which she co-founded to combat racism in the food system. Evocative reflections on food and memory, like Rachel Khong's ode to her mother's love of fruit. And narrative recipes, like restaurateur Nicole Ponseca's Bibingka. The result is an inspiring, empowering, and moving celebration of the place where food meets feminism. Lindsay Gardner is an illustrator and artist who lives in Oakland, California, with her husband and two daughters (her two favorite sous chefs). Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, her penchant for stories and art led her to study American literature and art at Middlebury College and to earn her MFA in painting from San Francisco Art Institute. Her illustrations have appeared in cookbook and editorial projects, advertising campaigns, and stationery and interior design collaborations, and have been featured on Eatingwell.com and in Flow and Uppercase magazines, among others.
It was a real treat to interview Food52 CEO and co-founder Amanda Hesser, who’s an old friend going back to my early days in the New York startup community. Listening to her tell the story of her entrepreneurial journey, you get the sense that she’s lived many lives — from studying food history alongside classmates like Corby Kummer and Sheryl Julian to apprenticing in a bakery in Germany (where she was the only woman in the kitchen) to sharpening her cooking and writing skills at a Chateau in Burgundy and ultimately landing at The New York Times, where she served as food editor of The New York Times Magazine. One common theme that emerges from all of these experiences is Amanda’s all-in approach. She follows her gut, immerses herself in the adventure and soaks up everything she can from it. You can also see how all of those lives became part of the DNA of Food52. Although Amanda told me they’ve often felt out of sync with what’s popular or cool at the moment, the truth is, they’ve always been ahead of the trends. Since its launch in 2010 as a place for people to talk about food and share recipes, Food52 has grown to 100 employees, won a prestigious James Beard Award for Publication of the Year and launched a thriving online shop, including its own line of products. In 2019 The Chernin Group acquired a majority stake in the company for $83 million. As one of the few women in the New York startup scene back when I first met her, today Amanda is a role model for a new generation of entrepreneurs. *** If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and helps us continue to attract the entrepreneurs you want to hear and learn from. For show notes, past guests and transcripts, visit venturevoice.com Sign up for the Venture Voice email newsletter at venturevoice.substack.com/welcome Follow and connect on social: On Twitter: twitter.com/gregory On Instagram: instagram.com/gregory On YouTube: youtube.com/c/GregoryGalant On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/galant/ Learn more about Muck Rack at muckrack.com and The Shorty Awards at shortyawards.com
On Play Me a Recipe, your favorite cooks will walk you through their most treasured recipes, offering all the insider tips, stories, and tricks you won't get from a written recipe—and you'll be right alongside them, every step of the way. Feel free to pause, jump back, or navigate the steps via the podcast chapters.If you're cooking along, here's the recipe we're making today. Go ahead and grab the ingredients below (Amanda starts listing them at 0:40) before starting the episode.Daddy's Pasta8 ounces bacon, cut in 1/4-inch slices1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil1/2 cup tomato paste2 pinches red pepper flakes1 3/4 cups canned chopped tomatoes (preferably Pomi)1 pound rotelleGrated Parmesan, for servingBring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.Meanwhile, spread the bacon in a large sauté pan over medium heat; brown the bacon and render the fat. Scoop out the bacon and set aside on paper towels. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan, then add 1/4 cup olive oil to the pan and warm over medium heat.Drop in the tomato paste and add the red pepper flakes; turn the heat to low and stir just until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and turn off the heat.Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook until truly al dente—you’ll be cooking it a bit more with the sauce. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta water.Add the pasta, bacon, and the reserved pasta water to the tomato sauce, then stir and toss over medium heat until the pasta is well coated. Season with salt if necessary, then add the 3 tablespoon olive oil, tossing well. Serve immediately, with a sprinkling of Parmesan on top of each bowlful.Have a recipe you'd like to hear us make? Email it to us at podcasts@food52.com.
On Play Me a Recipe, your favorite cooks will walk you through their most treasured recipes, offering all the insider tips, stories, and tricks you won't get from a written recipe—and you'll be right alongside them, every step of the way. Feel free to pause, jump back, or navigate the steps via the podcast chapters.If you're cooking along, here's the recipe we're making today. Go ahead and grab the ingredients below (Amanda starts listing them at 0:43) before starting the episode.Almond Biscotti1 cup (140g) whole, unblanched almondsButter, for baking sheet2 cups (250g) unbleached all-purpose flour, more for baking sheet1 cup (200g) granulated sugar1 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt3 large eggs1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C).Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and bake for 5 to 7 minutes, until they are toasted and beginning to release their oil. A good indication that they are done is when you can smell them. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely. Lower your oven temperature to 300°F (150°C).Butter and flour a large baking sheet. Mix the 2 cups flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Scoop out 1/3 cup (43g) and set aside. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a fork and stir in the vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Gradually draw in the dry ingredients, mixing the dough until it begins to clump together in a shaggy mess. Do this as quickly and lightly as possible. You do *not* want to work the flour, you just want the dough to hold together. A pastry scraper helps to gather the unwieldy dough. Dust a work surface with the reserved dry ingredients. Turn out the dough onto the work surface. Gather it into a disk using the pastry scraper, and knead it lightly to help it cohere. Let it rest for 5 minutes.Pat out the dough into a rough 7 x 5-inch (17 x 13-cm) rectangle and press in the almonds. Adding the reserved flour mixture when needed, fold the dough like a business letter, and cut in half lengthwise with a pastry scraper. Flour your hands and gently roll each half into a long rope about 2 inches (5 cm) thick. Transfer one rope to the baking sheet and pat it lightly to flatten to 1/2 inch (1.2 cm) thick. Repeat with the other half, making sure that the halves are at least 3 inches (7.5 cm) apart on the baking sheet. (Otherwise they will grow together in the oven.) Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through. It should feel almost bready when pressed with a finger.Immediately after removing from the oven, use a spatula to transfer each half to a cutting board. Using a large chef's knife and working in firm downward motions, cut each half diagonally into 1/2-inch (1.2-cm) slices. Lay the slices, cut-sides down, on the baking sheet and return to the oven to dry and toast, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on baking racks. These cookies improve with age, and if stored in a cookie jar or tin, they will keep for several weeks.Is there a recipe you'd like to hear us make? Email it to us at podcasts@food52.com!
Thomas Keller is the first and only American chef to have two Michelin Guide three-star-rated restaurants, The French Laundry and per se, both of which continue to rank among the best restaurants in America and the world. He is also the author of The French Laundry Cookbook, Bouchon, Under Pressure, Ad Hoc at Home, Bouchon Bakery, and his new book The French Laundry, Per Se. On October 26, 2020, Keller spoke with food journalist Amanda Hesser, co-founder and CEO of Food52. They discussed diversity in restaurant kitchens, the difference between influence and inspiration in the culinary world, and the post-pandemic future of the industry.
Amanda Hesser is the author of The Essential New York Times Cookbook. She’s been a food columnist and editor at the New York Times for more than a decade, she’s also the cofounder of food52.com and she lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their two children.
Haven’t had a chance to listen to our first 50 episodes yet? Never fear, you’ve got time and they’re not going anywhere. In the meantime, we’ve created an epic recap episode to keep you up to date with this ever-changing world. Throughout the first 50 episodes of Up Next in Commerce, we’ve chatted with some of the fastest-growing startups - like Thrive Market and Haus - to the more well-known companies like Puma, Rosetta Stone, Bombas, and HP. Our guests have shared everything from their toughest lessons, to their secrets to success, to the must-know advice for every ecomm leader. And while every company is different and every story unique, over the last 50 episodes, several common themes have emerged. On today’s special episode of Up Next in Commerce, host Stephanie Postles is joined by Albert Chou, the VP of Operations at Mission.org, to dive into some of these top trends.The two discuss the supply chain shakeups companies have had to face this year, and they do a deep dive into the world of influencers and how brands can work with them in a way that leads to lasting ROI. Plus, they look into their crystal balls to try to predict how DTC companies will work with and compete against Amazon, debate on how voice search will impact shopping, and discuss what the future of shoppable worlds might look like. Main Takeaways:Supply Chain Shakeups: Everyone is competing against the hard-to-match expectations set by Amazon — but it’s not all about fast shipping. Processing returns effectively and managing every step of the supply chain so you are left with margins that actually allow you to grow are the main areas that all retailers are, and will continue to be, focused on. I’ll Take One Order of Influencers: Because influencer marketing has become so in demand, there are more strategies than ever to try to get the most ROI out of influencers. What is likely to happen in the future is the creation of a marketplace where brands can buy verified influencers, who are themselves driving the demand for more upfront payment. Make It Worth It: Building an omnichannel strategy is about more than just offering a brick and mortar location for people to buy your products. Today’s shoppers are looking for experiences that are memorable and entertaining. But it’s important that while brands create those memorable experiences, they don’t forget that little goal of converting potential customers into real buyers.Turning Virtual Into Reality: Shoppable video and the increased offerings of digital products is going to set the stage for future commerce. The next generation is already using real cash to buy virtual products for their avatars in various games. In years to come, not only will you have the option for your avatar to have that virtual product, the real-life version will be offered in tandem for the user behind the screen.For an in-depth look at this episode, check out the full transcript below. Quotes have been edited for clarity and length.---Up Next in Commerce is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Respond quickly to changing customer needs with flexible Ecommerce connected to marketing, sales, and service. Deliver intelligent commerce experiences your customers can trust, across every channel. Together, we’re ready for what’s next in commerce. Learn more at salesforce.com/commerce---Transcript:Stephanie:Hey everyone, and welcome back to Up Next in Commerce. This is your host, Stephanie Postles, co-founder of mission.org. Today, it's a new and interesting episode where I have our VP of ops, Albert Chou on the show, where we're going to go through the previous 50 episodes and talk about highlights, and then talk about future trends that maybe no one has talked about on the show so far. Albert, welcome.Albert:Yeah, thanks for having me. But to be clear, we're not going to go by the 50 episodes one by one because-Stephanie:We're doing one by one.Albert:No, that's terrible. We can't do it. Cannot do it.Stephanie:So, Albert, tell our listeners why did I invite you on the show?Albert:Well, I do have my own ecommerce business, www.[inaudible 00:00:41].com, I've also helped out on a couple others. The biggest one got to 10 million a year. And I worked for an ecommerce startup. One of the co-founders was a guest on the show AddShoppers. So, been working in the game of ecommerce probably since 2016 and still operating today, so learned from painful mistakes, as well as seeing other people have great success.Stephanie:Yeah, you always have some really good feedback and comments on our prep docs. Our amazing producer, Hilary, will put together an awesome prep doc for every episode for me, and then you come in along with all your other job responsibilities at mission, with the VP of ops, you do everything here, but you also come in and add some good questions and comments, and that's why I thought it would be fun to bring you on. So, thanks for hopping on here with me.Albert:Yeah, let's do it.Stephanie:So, to start, I thought we could kind of go through just some high level trends, because through all the episodes that I've had and all the guests we've had on the show so far, there's actually quite a bit of similarities that I heard. And starting with the first one, I think talking about supply chains is really interesting, because so many of the guests who've come on have talked about the shake up in supply chains that they've seen and how they're kind of pivoting and what they're experiencing, and I think that might be a good place to start.Albert:Well, when they talk about supply chain, everyone's competing against what Amazon has created, right? Amazon has created this expectation that you can get what you want, when you want it pretty darn fast. And so if you're any direct consumer brand, or any brand out there, if you're a retailer, that's what's becoming the now norm, right? Can you send it to your customer really fast, and can you take it back? That's like probably the most painful part of ecommerce is the fact that you do have a percentage of tolerance for returns. So, the tighter your supply chain is, the more margins you can create in the process, the more able you can take a return without losing everything. So, it makes total sense that every business is trying to figure this out, how to get closer to the consumer, how to make things closer to the customer, how to make sure that they can take back whatever is being sent back. So, it's just matching what the new customer expectation is.Stephanie:Yeah. I think it was also very interesting, talking to the ShipBob guy where he was talking about how you can basically tap into different fulfillment centers by using them, whereas before, everything with COVID, a lot of people actually were shipping all the way across the country and not really looking at maybe location based ordering. Maybe some people were, but I found that kind of a good shake up that now people are starting to think about how to do things more efficiently and how also not just to rely on one supply chain, because a lot of them maybe are going out of business right now, a lot of the warehouses are having issues, there's a lot of inventory issues. So, it's good to have not all your eggs in one basket.Albert:So, it's not just that. So, there's companies out there that are investing into logistics infrastructure specifically for other people to share. So, similar to ShipBob, there's other competitors in that field. But it goes further than that. If you take a look at some of the publicly traded companies, one of the larger ecommerce platforms, they have invested heavily in infrastructure and warehousing. I know that ChannelAdvisor did the same exact thing. They literally bought a warehousing logistics company. And ChannelAdvisor, for the longest time, has been a company that helps you as a merchant, list your products across the different marketplaces. So, if Stephanie's t-shirt company wants to list their product across Amazon, they want to list it across Rakuten, they want to list it across eBay, and maybe some others, she would still have to ship and fulfill from her own store.Albert:Now, why did ChannelAdvisor build that tool so you can list one product and get it plugged in everywhere? So, why did they invest in all these warehousing companies? Now, it hasn't come to full service yet but you can kind of see it down the road like the supply chain is where the innovation is going to occur. And I think you're going to continue to see that, you're going to see more entrance in it, and it's just non stop, that race will never stop. Basically, a customer can never get something fast enough. You know what I mean? There's always going to be this push to get it there faster.Stephanie:Yeah. It's also interesting hearing about certain companies trying to compete with shipping models against Amazon and trying to have one in two day shipping. It feels like such a hard thing to create from scratch now, but if you can figure that out, you're going to win.Albert:So, I don't know if you know this, Steph. I've also sold through FBA Amazon.Stephanie:I think you told me that?Albert:Do you know [crosstalk 00:05:37]?Stephanie:What did you sell, first of all?Albert:It was an adult card game.Stephanie:I don't want to hear anymore. This is a kid friendly show.Albert:It was not kid friendly. But how it worked is, so I got my order in China, and I had 5,000 pieces, literally shipped it to an FBA Center in New Jersey, never touched the product, and then Amazon automatically redistributed it across as its fulfillment network. And I would get updates like, "Oh, we're moving two boxes to Texas." "Why?" Because we predict, in Texas, someone will buy this, and therefore by moving it closer to the customer, we can reduce the shipping with our internal [crosstalk 00:06:20]."Stephanie:Do you have an influence over that prediction model.Albert:No.Stephanie:Because now more than ever, I'm like, how can anyone predict anything? I mean, there was a really good quote about like, should we be preparing for more people to buy Inkjet printers because they're all working from home, or extra freezers to prepare for the worst? It feels like there's no way to predict for that, so how do they even know that there's a couple in Texas who might want that?Albert:So, add to cart. I think add to cart is what they're doing, right? They're looking at how many people are adding to cart and then they're also looking at the percentage of conversion over time of people who do add to cart. So, if you see a bunch of cart adds for this product or a bunch of search volume increasing for a product in a specific area, you can automatically assume that that product is going to be in demand in that area. They've probably gotten it down to a super exact science.Stephanie:Yeah, I'm not going to question them. I'm sure they got it.Albert:Yeah. And since they're always moving products within their own fulfillment network everywhere, they see that there's a probability that this is going to happen, they just move it closer to you so that when they finally rely on last mile logistics, they've got it as close as possible so that they don't have to pay so much.Stephanie:Yeah, that makes sense. All right. So, the next one I want to kind of move into is influencers. So, first, we did a survey of our audience and a lot of people wanted to hear about influencers. How do I use influencers? What's a good way to actually get a good ROI on it? And a lot of our guests actually mentioned influencers as well. Some people were trying it out and were like, "I don't actually know if this is even working." Other people were having great success but were trying different models. So, I don't know if you've listened to the fancy.com CEO, Greg Spillane episode.Albert:I did.Stephanie:Okay. Well, first of all, that guy's a badass. I mean, making that company his stories. Like did you hear about how he went into a warehouse or a storage locker and found a bunch of credit cards that the founders were giving away with like $1,000 on it, and they were just giving it away to influencers just to try and get them to use fancy.com? Did you hear some of the stories that he was going through about what he experienced when coming into the company to try and turn it around?Albert:I mean, it's the classic, right? It's the classic problem in marketing, right? You're pretty sure some of it is going to work, some people say it's up to half, you just don't know which half, right? And so you're just blowing money trying to get more movement, but I get what they were originally trying to do makes total sense. I mean, you read about the stories of businesses like Gymshark, which built their whole business model off of influencers, and I think they just got a private equity valuation into the billions, so everyone wants to jump on that train.Albert:The problem is influencers themselves have created this marketplace, right? So, if you claim you're an influencer, and you have hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, now influencers, they don't want to work on commission, they want to work on upfront fees. So, there's this new network which you're now going to see tools come into place of helping merchants buy influence. And so that's the next wave, right? Because I mean, there's a lot of influencers that are frauds or they have no influence on their audience whatsoever, they just have a big Instagram following for whatever reason.Stephanie:Yeah. They just [crosstalk 00:09:30].Albert:That's why the merchants are so frustrated.Stephanie:Oh, yeah. I mean, it's hard to know. You can see someone with a million followers, and something that I saw that was actually a good reminder for anyone with a small business was they're talking about how you can see if those followers have an intent to buy. So, if you have some influencer on there and they're showcasing some purse, or some lipstick, or whatever it might be, and the people in the comments are like, "Oh cute," or, "Pretty" or just liking it, they actually don't have followers who have an intent to buy. Versus you might see more micro influencers, like people that follow from around the area or something, and the people in those comments are like, "Where do I get that jacket from?" Like, "Please link up your shirt."Stephanie:And those are the kind of influences you want to go after because you actually know that if you're in front of their audience, they're ready to buy because they trust that person, which seems like it's kind of shifting, whereas before it was like just get the big name, the big followers, and now it's more like, "Let's make sure we get an ROI. How do we make sure to track this stuff and see some good conversions from it?"Albert:Yeah. I mean, you don't know what you don't know, so all you're looking at is what you assume is a big audience. And so that's the biggest misconception in social media, it doesn't determine their purchasing behaviors. It's just, "I like this person because I think she looks good, or I think he looks good, or I think he's funny. I'm not going to buy anything.Stephanie:Yeah, I can definitely see tools coming out soon, or maybe they're already out in the world, showing like here are kind of the demographics of this person's followers. So, you can sign up with an influencer and also see the income level, the job title, so you know that what you're getting with that influencer is going to have good results because you can see the profile of their followers.Albert:So, interesting, right? Platforms now that are creating marketplaces of influencers. So, I'll name one. We have not had their CEO on the show, but grin.co, you should join the show.Stephanie:[crosstalk] here.Albert:Yeah. GRIN is pretty fascinating, because they've built this marketplace where you as a merchant can then log in and you can see all the influencers, you can search by category. Let's say I want surfing, or you want food, or you want outdoor, whatever it is you want, it'll pull up a list of influencers and then it'll show the basic vanity metrics. But it also has ratings of probability of sale, because they've already maybe done a campaign for another brand, so you as a brand kind of see those numbers. Now, the problem always is, as a consumer is, you kind of always get drawn to the big numbers, right? So, you'll see like, let's say, the superstar TikToker, girl Charli D'Amelio. How do you pronounce her last name? D'Amelio?Stephanie:I don't know, and I'm surprised you know anyone on TikTok.Albert:But Charli D'Amelio, you'll see her name and it'll show you significant likelihood to influence dollars, it'll be significant, right? But then as a brand, you have to determine can you afford her, because she doesn't tweet or TikTok for you for nothing, right? It'll be hilarious. It'll say her agency, and of course, she's repped by a huge agency. So, that's where even tools like that, the problem is, let's say, the signal to noise ratio is still overwhelmingly noise and the ones that have tremendous signal, well, the problem is you can't afford it. So, I think the tools have to try to figure out by budget, almost, like how much ROI are you going to get per $1,000 of spend or something like that? That's probably going to be the next wave of measurement.Stephanie:Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think also the platforms are trying to catch up to be able to actually attribute sales to these influencers. I know TikTok is trying to do that right now. Instagram's been trying to do that, but I think they are still implementing a lot of features to actually allow the influencers to get paid. So, I think with that, you'll see a whole new wave of new influencers and micro influencers as well because now they can actually get paid.Stephanie:I mean, I saw someone, they were talking about some... I think it was some coffee mug or, I don't know, a cup or something on TikTok, and it was on Amazon, but didn't have any links or anything, and it sold out on Amazon because this one girl was talking about the functionality of it and how much she liked it, and people were like, "Oh, how do I buy through your link? I want to make sure you get a cut of it." And she was like, "I don't need that. I just review stuff because it's fun." And so it's interesting seeing how you have influencers who really do care about that attribution and won't work without it versus the people who maybe are big influencers but aren't actually looking for that, at least not right off the bat, or maybe because there's friction right now, with setting up that model.Albert:Well, I think the bigger you get as an influencer, the more you could charge for your time than results. So, if you're a superstar, like, let's go with professional athletes, the original influencers, right? If you're LeBron James, you're Michael Jordan and someone wants to buy your name, you just charge them for the name. Like you're like, "I don't know if you'll get $1 of sales, I'm just telling you right now that I'm not repping your product unless you pay me this much money." Right?Albert:So, it's still this push and pull where brands want all this information, they want to know your audience, they want to know all that stuff, and then influencers themselves are getting so big. Like, we're reading about how these people on TikTok, kids, I call them kids, I'm old, but they're making 100 grand a month, and that's considered an average influencer. What are talking about? 100 grand a month to make TikTok dance videos, and yeah. So, I can see a brand wanting to be like, "Well, how much will I get for sales," and I can just see how tough it is when the kid on the other end says, "Well, I won't TikTok dance for you for under 100,000."Stephanie:I just read that the next generation is getting paid more than ever right now, not just for being influencers but just for a lot of things. They're demanding higher payment than any other generation before them. That's good, good intense though.Albert:Yeah. Listen, ask for whatever you want. If you can get it, you might as well ask for it. Why not?Stephanie:Very, very true. So, I think the high level summary for that one then it's just that most brands should be exploring influencers in your market, but also making sure that you're setting up the ROI and tracking it correctly, and maybe looking for those new tools that are coming out or that are already out to make sure that wherever you're devoting your budget to you actually can track it, where in the past maybe it wasn't as required by your company or yourself to have that many metrics behind it, but now you actually can, so I think it's worthwhile.Albert:Yeah. I actually think some of our other guests that really talked about investing significantly into the product and making sure that the customer experience from the moment that they sign up, to buy it, to they receive it, that that experience is airtight, because that's where you're going to find your influencers, right? I think a couple of the men's shaving companies like Supply and Beard Brand talked about how they built a community of people who move these products. Well, that's the ultimate influence right there, right? Constant good reviews of your products. And if you get lucky enough to find a Dogface 208, then you win. Albert:Dogface is the guy that skateboarded while singing Fleetwood Mac and drinking cranberry juice.Albert:Well, cranberry juice sales, all time high. So, this wasn't a paid campaign or paid activation, sales are at an all time high. They're talking about it might see Wisconsin cranberry farming industry. That's how much in demand cranberry juice is right now. So, if you have a great product, your likelihood of catching a wave I think is much greater than if you're just constantly paying influencers.Stephanie:Yeah. And I like that idea of make sure all your other ducks are in a row first before you start going after influencers. I think we've had a couple of guests who talked about you really need to make sure everything from start to finish, to unboxing, to follow up, that needs to be airtight before you start trying a bunch of other things, because then you are at risk of getting distracted and actually not being able to focus on, not only your core product, but also your customer experience.Albert:You got it.Stephanie:All right. So, the other thing that I think was interesting that a lot of people have talked about is, of course, like omnichannel, and one of our guests is talking about the reinvention of brick and mortar stores, and talking about how it's now turning to be more about experiential experiences instead of just going there to buy something, because so many people now are shifting to a place where they're actually very comfortable buying online, even if they never did before, and going into the store is more about having a good experience and something to draw them in there versus actually making a purchase in store. I think it's all about experiences now and people are going to expect something very different going forward than they ever expected before.Albert:Yeah. I mean, that's the magic question, right? People are trying to... I've read articles about re-envisioning the mall of the future. If I think about current present retailers that are doing a pretty good job, I mean, obviously, Apple Store seems to be like one of the leaders where I had not admittedly walked by an apple store recently, but I do remember back when I did, six months ago, there were a lot of people in there, a lot of people in there touching the products, getting a feel of the products, they made it a very hands-on experience. I can think of other businesses that have done a really good job. Like, why does every Bass Pro Shops have a giant aquarium in the middle of the store? Because they want you to go and look at it. You know what I mean? To pull you in. They know you're a hobbyist. So, I don't know how good businesses are going to be at doing that, but I know that they're all trying. I mean, they have to.Stephanie:Yeah, yeah. I mean, when we had little burgundy shoes on, they were talking about how they were actually partnering with other people, other shops or people that are on the same street as them, even if it was a bank they're partnering with, and they were kind of doing giveaways or doing just different social business events or things like that, to make sure to get people in the store because they're like, "We don't really mind if you buy, but just coming in and getting that customer experience that we have, and being able to get in the vibe of the music, and actually experiencing our brand, even if it's only for a moment, is worth so much more than... Buying online is important, but we also want you to know who we are, and if that means partnering with other brands around us to give you an added benefit..." I mean, that's where I can see a lot of other brands doing that partnership strategy to try and get different customers that you would maybe never touch before in the same place.Albert:Yeah. Really, it remains to be seen that it'll work, because I always think, when I hear about the people with the rain experience, I don't question it at all, but I think also to Borders Books or Barnes and Nobles books, I felt like those are really inviting places. They got nice couches, good coffee, it smelled great, there's always baked goods there, you can read whatever magazine you wanted, or check out books, and they never kicked you out or nothing if you're hanging out there, but it didn't work. There weren't enough people buying the books, they were just chilling, I guess. So, I guess that's the real delicate balance, which is how do you educate, entertain and inform but also do it so much in a way that a person purchases the product versus, I don't know, coming in there and staying all day long?Stephanie:Yeah. That makes me wonder just about the business model, though, of like, are you encouraging people to buy, because... I mean, I don't know how the Amazon bookstores are doing now, but when I went in to them when we were in Seattle, it was just a very different experience because what you could get in the store was not what you can get online, not what you would get at any other bookstore, because there was actually, "Here's a review that we picked out," so you can kind of get a feel for this book, or, "Here's some of our top charting books right in front of you."Stephanie:So, it was kind of like it was bringing an online experience offline as well but in a very different way where I wanted to go in there, I wanted to hang out, but then I also found myself buying online afterwards. I was taking pictures of books and then I was just going on Amazon and buying. So, it seems like they figured it out there, and they don't have too much inventory to where they're holding a bunch of books and expecting them to sell, but it seems like it needs to move more to that model instead of thousands of books hoping someone comes in and buys.Albert:I can see that in a more curated... I know Amazon's experimenting with their five star stores where it's only physical products that have earned an average of four and a half, five stars. So, it's more of a curated experience, which is what we're more used to online, instead of looking at your whole catalog of crap, we see exactly what we're looking at what we want to see or the best stuff right up front.Stephanie:Yeah. And that's also something a lot of guests have mentioned, it's about that personalized experience and making sure that what you're showing the new customers, what they want to see. And I think the idea of curation too. I mean, people are trusting, not only these influencers, but also just people that they trust in general, where it's like, "Oh, my friend likes this." So, making sure that you can kind of show that or have that curated experience I think will be important going forward.Albert:Yeah. So, this is interesting, because I think this is actually a self-fulfilling prophecy of what's happening with consumer behavior and curation, which is, the more curated things become, the more likely or the lower the tolerance a person's patience becomes for browsing. Because I've read stats about how the average web browser, or consumer, whatever, spending less time on pages, clicking through less links, because they're constantly being served, let's say, what they want sooner, faster, so then they react that way. So, it's like feeding itself, right?Stephanie:Feeding the beast.Albert:Yeah. The consumer expectations. Like, if you don't know what I want within two clicks, I'm bouncing.Stephanie:You're done.Albert:I don't got time for those three clicks. I'm out.Stephanie:Yeah. That's tricky. I mean, it is kind of like building up a monster in a way where everyone's going to have to keep leveling up their game with how their new customers or current customers experience their shops.Albert:Yeah, it's going to be painful for merchants to do this, I think, it's going to be very painful. Or they can look at it the other way. There's an opportunity for a technology vendor that can do it. You know what I mean?Stephanie:Oh, yeah. Anyone who's got those good recommendations, yeah, they're already ahead of the game if they're implementing that.Stephanie:All right. So, the next trend, which actually no one really talked about, but it's more around partnerships, but I saw a very interesting partnership. I don't know if you have heard of that show on Netflix called Get Organized. Have you? Where they were going into homes, Reese Witherspoon, and they're organizing her house, and it's very popular now. Maybe your wife watched it. Have you heard of that?Albert:I can conceptualize what it is but I have not seen it or heard of it.Stephanie:Okay. So, they partnered with a Container Store, and they did it in a really good organic way where, of course, they're putting everything in containers and organizing it, and it made the container sales jumped by like 17% after this series went out, and I thought that's a really good example of not just product placement, but doing it in a way that wasn't annoying, and having, not only a partnership from the product perspective, but they also partnered with Netflix in the marketing aspect.Stephanie:So, it's like a good, well-rounded approach, but it also didn't make the content suffer. And I haven't seen a lot of companies do it that well. You always can think of other companies... I mean, there's product placement in almost everything, but you don't walk away being like, "Oh, I really need that to complete my experience." And I can just see a lot of more or a lot more unique partnerships forming like that in the future, where people are thinking outside the box and are not just doing the typical like, "Oh, let's just try this and see how it works." I can see more people experimenting with this, maybe not on that large of a level, but I thought that was a really unique partnership, and especially being able to see the sales jump right afterwards, it shows that it paid off.Albert:Do you think that was because they were actively solving a problem? Right? You're disorganized. I'm going to show you how to get organized. So, inherently the audience that watches it is looking to solve that problem, so inherently they then go purchase those products, or source those products.Stephanie:Yeah. I mean, they definitely, of course, nailed the perfect person who would have an intent to buy as someone who's also trying to get organized, but I think the way they did it just wasn't like hitting you over the head with it, it was kind of like, "Well, here's what we use." It was like, "No big deal, if you want to use it too, this is what we use."Stephanie:And I think that's actually the perfect strategy of like, "We're not going to push this on you, and we're not going to be annoying about it, this isn't an ad, but this is just exactly what we use to make this look perfect." And I think there's a lot of opportunity for other brands to think about that, like, how do you do it in a way where the content is still good? It's not making you feel pressured, but it's in the back of your mind of like, "Oh, this is what I could use to be like Reese Witherspoon," which she's the best.Albert:It's the classic, like, is this a threat or is this an opportunity, right? Because it just depends on the eye of the beholder. But one of the things, to your point, that makes it a threat to existing brands is if they're not good at it. One of the opportunities influencer see is that it's now easier than ever to make and source their own products under their own brand labels, right? Think of the power that Chip and Joanna Gaines have gained, right?Albert:Now it's to the point where it's like they're going to be almost impossible to buy because Magnolia products is coming, and it's already here, and it's going to keep getting bigger and bigger, where they're going to... You already know they know how to organically insert their products into all their content of you already think their style is the best, you already think their builds are the best, you already think their personalities are the best, now they're not even doing the partnership deal, right? Now it's not like, "Oh, go to Target to get the Magnolia collection?" No, go to Magnolia to get the Magnolia collection, right? They're going to cut the distribution network out and just be like, "We're the distributors of this." And that's always a challenge, I think. I do think that's something that the brands get nervous about is because like, if you sponsor somebody and they do a really great job, well, what stops them from cutting you out of the equation?Stephanie:Yep. Which is also what a lot of brands are scared about with Amazon. I mean, we heard mixed messages about that where some people were very excited about partnering with them, they were getting championed on that platform, Amazon was promoting them, and they weren't really worried too much about it, they're like, "Why wouldn't you be on Amazon, because that's where everyone said you should be selling on there?" And then we heard quite a few other ecommerce leaders who were like, "No way would I get on there. You're not going to make as much money. You can't control the experience. You can't control where it's being seen. And I want to make sure my DTC company is being portrayed how I want it and I don't want it to be knocked off on Amazon." So, the same kind of thing there.Albert:Yeah, that's it, and that's never going to stop. Constant threat market share takeover.Stephanie:Oh, I know. Constant battle, but interesting to watch. I think those people should be on Amazon, though, because I do think that is where so many people are. It seems like, yeah, it's where you need to be.Albert:Yeah. Here's what's interesting. The biggest players have kind of stepped off, but like Nike, Nike has got so much... Nike has enough power, I think, to step off that platform, but if you're trying to be discovered, I mean, it just does seem overwhelmingly hard to do it without that distribution network. I think it's just tough.Stephanie:Yeah. When we were talking about ShoppableTV, I'm also thinking about... I mean, you might know this better since your kids are on some of these gaming type of platforms, but having Shoppable worlds, whatever that may be, seems like something that could be coming in the future but we're not there yet, probably. I mean, I know we are when it comes to virtually shopping for things, that like, "Oh, I want to make sure to get this. Whatever this is in this world, I want to buy it," but it seems like there could be an opportunity as well for implementing your products into those worlds that are being built up right now.Albert:Yeah. Personally, I'm not as bullish on that because I still think people want to... I don't know. I don't really know, maybe because I just don't do it myself, because I definitely see my kids being drawn in when they're playing games, like they recognize products. What's weird is, when kids. To me, it's what's weird. So, for anyone who has kids that play Roblox, my kids see things on Roblox and they want to buy them, and they're digital products.Stephanie:Yeah. What are they? What are they buying?Albert:Like the new sword? They're like, "I want this sword." It's like, "What sword?" It's like, "The digital sword." It's like, "What do you mean digital sword." It's like, "My character can carry this sword if I buy this with real cash." And that makes no sense to me. What are you talking about?Stephanie:Exactly. I think it could be transitioning eventually. I mean, yes, people will always want those digital swords, I heard that people are buying t-shirts in there. I want to make sure my little avatar guy is wearing the coolest t-shirt. I don't really understand that, but then I don't know if you heard about Fortnight had Travis Scott do a virtual concert and was watched by millions of people.Albert:Yep.Stephanie:There's a very big reason why people would be like, "Whatever he was wearing, I want to wear."Albert:Now, did you hear about Travis Scott's McDonald's deal?Stephanie:No. What's that?Albert:It was like the number one selling meal for the last couple months.Stephanie:Just McDonald's in in general or what's his meal?Albert:The Travis Scott meal. I don't know. It's literally his meal. You know what I mean? You can have a number one, you can have a number two, you can have a Travis Scott.Stephanie:It says the Travis Scott meal is a quarter pounder with cheese, lettuce, and bacon.Albert:I'm just saying that's the power of you talking about a digital world. Yeah. There's the power of influence too, but he's already a mega celebrity, right? But I view it as this, it's like, what people are into, and this is why, like I was saying before, I feel like I age out of this stuff very quickly, and we're talking about ever evolving change. I came from a time where if I didn't have a physical product in my hand, I didn't think was real. I remember when mp3s first came out, I was like, "Why would I buy an mp3?" It's like, "It's a digital version of your songs." "What if I lose it?" They would be like, "What if you use your CDs?" "But at least I'm in control of my CD." You know what I mean? Like, that's my CD. I know where it is. I take responsibility for it. I was slow to convert there.Albert:And I feel for me, I'm always slow to convert to digital products, but when I watch my kids, it's just unbelievable. I don't even think they're interested in physical products. They keep wanting digital things. They want more games, they want more currency for their players, they just want this stuff. So, that's why I kind of didn't answer that because I was thinking simultaneously in my head, this is never going to work, but I think I mean this is not going to work on me but this is going to work on my kids, because it's happening right now. I get things all the time on my Google Play app, iTunes account, like, "What is this?"Stephanie:Why don't you buy one more virtual sword?Albert:So, will company start integrating like t-shirt... All right. So, let's take one of our t-shirt clients, right? We've kind of asked our guests on Up Next in Commerce, we've asked this to all of them. How do you convey that your product is soft, silky, whatever their product descriptors are, to someone without them touching it? And so it makes you wonder, in the future, is someone going to see a yellow hammock in their virtual world and be like, "Huh," and it'll pop up a ding like, bing. "Not only can your character have a yellow hammock, you can have one too." It's like, "Oh, okay, cool."Stephanie:Yeah. Especially if you can kind of see it blowing in the wind, or you can see that shirt like, oh, that's form fitting on this person in my virtual world that I really like. If you can kind of see things and details about it that mimic it. I mean, it seems like there's an opportunity there, it might not be here just yet, and you definitely have to figure out the demographics behind it, because, yeah, I mean, like you said, you might not be interested in that.Stephanie:However, I was listening to a pretty good interview with this guy, Matthew Ball, he was the former head of strategy at Amazon Studios, and he had a really good episode talking about how he was the same as you like, "Oh, this just isn't my world, however, I see actually a lot of companies, they will start being able to adapt these same types of technologies to where the older generation will actually start adopting as well, they just are trying to figure that out right now like, what will they feel comfortable with and what are they looking for? Like, what problems can you solve to get them there?"Albert:It's going to be pretty fascinating when someone's upsell customer journey path is actually get the digital avatar to consume this product first and then offer the physical. You know what I mean? When we talk about the hammock, can you imagine that, like, "Oh, my avatar really likes this hammock. He seems great. I think I might get one for myself in real life." What?Stephanie:I mean, I kind of would. I would do it. You need to get in these worlds to really experience it, but I mean, it does just seem like that is where the world is trending right now, around these games. I mean, a company I follow really closely is Epic Games, I think they're-Albert:They're in out neighborhood. [crosstalk 00:35:26].Stephanie:I think their leadership team is brilliant around what they're doing with their platform and how they're essentially giving away almost all the underlying technology that other companies have been charging for for a really long time, and they're kind of building this really big moat to be able to expand in a bunch of different ways. So, I kind of keep tabs on them, and that also, of course, influences my commerce hat when I'm thinking about too like, "Oh, wow, these two worlds could blend together in a really unique way and whoever gets there first..." Usually, the first movers are the ones that can get that arbitrage. So, seems like an interesting spot to watch.Albert:Yes, the Unreal Engine, for our listeners that are not familiar. Epic built a platform called the Unreal Engine of which you can build your gaming world on so that you could use... think of it as less code, you had less code, less character development, it's all built for you, you just add your characters and they can build worlds for you. How they do it is they charge you a royalty fee, I believe it's like 5%, but only if your sales are over a specific number.Stephanie:Yeah, it's very beneficial to creators, and that's why a lot of people are moving to that platform now because they're used to having these apps where certain stores, they're taking like 30 and 40%, and if you move to Unreal, you're essentially keeping the majority of your sales.Albert:Yeah, and you don't have to pay until you reach a certain number. So, by the time you're paying Epic, you've already made it, and then you're fine with it, I guess. The number is tolerable. By the way, if you follow Epic Games founder, Tim Sweeney, on Twitter right now, he's in a constant fight with Apple over [crosstalk 00:36:56].Stephanie:Oh, I know.Albert:He does not like it.Stephanie:I wouldn't either.Albert:It's a fun follow, though. It's a great follow.Stephanie:Go, Tim. I'm going to follow you right now.Stephanie:All right. So, the last one that I want to talk about is... I think this is interesting. You might be like, "That's weird." But I think there's such a big opportunity for optimizing, not only your website for voice searches, but also potentially building out custom Alexa skills to solve a problem. I see people doing that right now, but not really in ecommerce as much, but think about having an Alexa where you're like, "Hey, Alexa, tell me what wine goes best with this kind of recipe." Or, "Hey, Alexa, suggest some outfit for me based on the weather today." And you kind of build a tool that's actually helpful that's also you know, of course, very close to your brand. And so you can become top of mind by building out those skills or just implementing voice search in general. I just think the world is headed in that way because the technology is starting to get better, but I don't see a lot of brands jumping on that right now.Albert:I think the ability for AI to understand intent and meaning isn't quite there yet. I'm trying to think of myself using my own consumer behavior, right? Do I use voice to text right now to enter searches? Yeah, because it's a lot easier than typing it in or swiping it in, right? So, if I want to ask Google a question, I will just click the mic button and talk. Would I do that to solve problems? I don't know, but I think I haven't yet because contextually, it's very difficult, but it won't be far, right. So, right now, I think a lot of people Google best. Do you know what I mean? Like you said, best way to do X for Y, right? And then the next level is going to be can NLP technology, AI technology, whatever it is going to be that understands the nuance and intent and meaning start making it super personalized recommendations?Albert:So, can you imagine if you went to Home Depot, because what you're talking about would be super cool, if you go to Home Depot and say, "Hey, my garbage disposal broke. How do I replace it?" And it just comes up with like, boom, "You're going to need this, this, this, this," and then it gives me a how-to guide of how I buy a garbage disposal, I'm going to need these tools, I'm gonna need the sealants, and getting them-Stephanie:Can you imagine saying that, like, "Here's exactly how you're going to fix it. Let me send you a video to your phone." And like, "You need like Albert's brand of screws." Like, they're literally dropping your own products in there like, "This is how I would fix it, and also, here's a how-to video," and you walk away being like, "Wow, I not only bought that brand stuff, maybe, or I didn't, but they're top of mind now. They actually helped me fix my garbage disposal." How cool would that be?Albert:So, speaking of this, there was a while ago where I believe it was the president of O'Reilly, I'm pretty sure it was. The O'Reilly Auto Parts basically came out and said that Amazon was not a threat because buying car parts is very complicated. I'm not saying he's wrong, right? Right now car parts really aren't bought on Amazon because you have to know what model you have, you have to know the year, the make, the model, you actually have to know something about fixing cars to even begin to find the part. But can you imagine a future where you can ask it a question like, you go to O'Reilly or wherever you go and you say, "My air conditioner is not cold," and it remembers your car models, "Oh, you're going to need X, Y, Z. Would you like me to book you an appointment if you can't do this yourself?" Like, "Yeah, book me one. I don't want to do this?"Stephanie:Yes, please. Yeah. No, I mean, that's where I think the world is headed. And I mean, we did have a good interview, it wasn't our first 50, it was one of our more recent ones, talking about the world of identity and how you should be able to go places and you shouldn't always have to refill in your info, it should know maybe what's your brand of car if you put it somewhere else before. I'm trying to think of what episode that was.Albert:Fast.Stephanie:Oh, yeah, Fast. Yeah, that was such an interesting episode. I mean, now it's coming up right after this one drops, but [inaudible 00:41:10], so interesting where he was going through. Not only are they doing payments and identity, but where the world was headed around you should always have a Buy Now button on every single one of your products and that you shouldn't just make people add stuff to cart and then do the shipping and all that, you should let them buy when they want to buy it. And he was talking about the conversions behind that. But all that gets back to the identity piece, which is what you're talking about, going into an auto part store, you should be able to say, "Here's what I'm looking for," and it should know, "Okay, based on the information I have about you, here's what I'm going to recommend for you," and make it seamless and frictionless.Albert:Yeah, everyone wants that.Stephanie:My future. I don't know what yours is, Albert?Albert:Well, I think it's going to get there. It's not a matter of if, but when, but I still know that NLP... for anyone that's used an AI chat bot yet and been frustrated because you asked a simple question and it's like, "I don't know what you're saying," it's like we're not there yet, but I think it's coming, for sure it's coming. The technology providers, though, are going to be the ones focusing on that the most. I don't know when the merchants can start tapping into that resource.Stephanie:Yeah. That's why it's interesting to kind of keep an eye on these new startups and new tech companies that are launching around this stuff, like Fast, or even like the technologies like GPT-3. When that came out, I was just reading a whole article about how this guy created a program where you essentially can just talk and it'll build a website for you. So, you can say, "Create a red button, have the drop down say this, have the picture do this, grab the picture from here." And it is no code. You are speaking and it is coding for you in the background.Stephanie:I think the world is headed there but you just have to try and stay on top of those trends or the companies and try things out, honestly, experiment with it and see if it could work without bogging things down. I know you have been the first to say that the amount of plugins that you add on your website are just going to bog it down, and website speed is number one, so there is that balance, but I think it's interesting to stay on top of the trends outside of just your current industry.Albert:Yeah. Are we going to get to the part where we all have our own Jarvis? I don't know. But if that happens, it will be cool. Jarvis from Iron Man, for anyone that's not familiar with what I'm talking about, right?Stephanie:I was actually familiar with that one.Albert:Yeah? There you go. Look at you watching movies and stuff.Stephanie:I know. Look at me. I'm so trendy.Albert:It's not trendy. It's definitely very old. I think it's like a decade old now.Stephanie:Yeah. Still great, though.Albert:Yeah.Stephanie:All right. Are there any other forward looking trends that you think are interesting right now. So, we essentially covered the things that were in the 50 episodes, which were awesome and really cool, high level themes, but all the episodes had really good, juicy nuggets in each one. And then we looked at some of the forward thinking themes that maybe weren't covered, but I just think are interesting. But anything else you can think of where you're like, "I think a lot of people aren't thinking about this or aren't paying enough attention to this world that could help an ecommerce store owner"?Albert:Well, we got to do a big shout out to my awesome producer, Hillary, who loves Peloton.Stephanie:She does.Albert:Because Peloton is a very fascinating-Stephanie:[crosstalk 00:44:23].Albert:So, I bought stock in Peloton, and here's the reason why. I've never encountered a brand that I can think of where people so emphatically talk about it. Peloton and maybe CrossFit. Everyone says, "The first rule of CrossFit is you can't stop talking about CrossFit," I think that's also applicable to Peloton, because people who have Peloton love Peloton. So, I think this concept of building community so that your product extends beyond the purchase of the product, meaning like you buy a physical bike but you would stay subscribed to Peloton services. Because I think every brand, or not every brand, because could you do it with a ball? I don't know.Albert:But brands and products companies are probably trying to figure out how do I create a subscription community? I think that is going to be a trend that you can capitalize on now because it doesn't require, I don't think, as much technology that doesn't exist, but it's more like how do you build ongoing services at a price point where customers never want to leave you? So, like, I don't know. Let's use my example of kitchenware. Should fork, and knife, and bowl companies have active cooking communities? I think they should.Stephanie:Yeah. I mean, that was our interview with Food52, Amanda Hesser, that's exactly what they did. They built up this huge online community first and then they started reselling other people's products, drop shipping them, and then they created their own brand, and they did it in a way where they're like, "By then we had this huge community that we were doing cooking things together."Albert:Yeah. They could already forecast their sales. They were like, "Oh, we can automatically assume how many people are going to buy this."Stephanie:I know. And that was a long haul for them. I mean, she was the first to say that, however, I'm like, you essentially are launching to an audience that trust you, trust your content, you have this love for just anything that you're doing after you build this community, but trying to figure out how to do that right or figuring out what actually keeps people coming back and how to keep them engaged I think is really difficult without being annoying and without pushing your product too much. When you start in a more content focused way, it seems like it can be a lot more organic to build up those followers to then shift into a product where you have that trust. But it does seem hard when you're launching a new like DTC company and also trying to do content at the same time, it seems hard to figure that piece out.Albert:Yeah. And if we go back in time, right, Michelin figured this out. Michelin figured out that people weren't driving enough, so they created their star review system because they wanted people to drive and experience things all over the world, to the point now where here we are today, people still talk about Michelin star ratings for restaurants. It's still that important. People can't put two together and say, "Why would a tire company create that?"Albert:So, if you have that today, I think that's probably the next biggest trend, and you can already kind of see it happening. I think more products are going to try to create worlds or problems that their products and services solve, or whether it's exploratory or problem solving, I don't know. But when it comes to Peloton, I just think about the community that they've built, the fact that people just rave about the product. We got our buddy Hillary here, she's got a bike, it's not broken. She says, "They launched a new bike. The screen tilts so I can do yoga and then get back on the bike." It had a price point, a really high price point. I mean, Hillary was considering getting a loan to get this thing, which, by the way, they offer, they offer financing.Stephanie:We're going to put Hillary's... her like affiliate code, I don't know if she one. She needs one.Albert:Well, I'm telling you, the brand love that she has... But it's not just her. I say Hillary because, Hillary, we obviously work with her, but people love this product.Stephanie:There you go. Are you looking at our prep doc? She says h_tag24. Peloton all the time.Albert:Okay. If you want to buy, h_tag24. If you want to follow our buddy Hillary on Peloton, not only will she kick your ass in all these calories, or I don't even know what you guys measure.Albert:However you score points, she's scoring all the points.Stephanie:I don't know if that's a thing.Albert:Outputs. I don't know.Stephanie:Okay, outputs got it. This has gone into a bad hole. I'm not sure what we're talking about here.Albert:Well, we were saying like, what's the next thing to be aware of? I mean, I think that is closer than all those voice searches and things like that that you talked about, which I think are coming, I think you're going to see more companies build communities, and I also think you're going to see more companies burning out customers by trying to make everything like SaaS. Because one of my favorite Twitter handle to follow, everyone check it out, it's called the Internet of Shit, it's just non stop products that don't work if you aren't subscribed to their services. So, businesses out there that try to make me subscribe to make my refrigerator work, I'm anti-you. All right? Definitely anti-you, don't want to hear about it. So, follow the Internet of Shit, if you guys are curious.Stephanie:I have follow that one.Albert:But that's the delicate balance, right? How do you build a community of value that you charge for versus, I don't know, putting someone in entrapment where you're forcing funds out of them every month just to use your product?Stephanie:Yeah. I especially think after everything with COVID, people are also going to be dying for that community, even if it has to be online, I think it's going to be bigger now than it ever was before, because people have been cooped up and haven't been able to have that community like they may have been used to or they're actually maybe cherishing it in a different way now and they're trying to look for that. So, I think it'll be a big opportunity.Albert:There you go.Stephanie:All right. Anything else on your mind? If not, I think this was a fun episode. It was a good one.Albert:I hope so. I can never tell.Stephanie:You're really not, yeah. You're almost like, "I'm not sure." But yeah, I think this episode was awesome, it's really fun just kind of reminiscing through all the episodes we did. I can't believe we've already had 50. If you have not given us a review and a rating and subscribed, please do, because that helps spread the word, and we would love to hear how we're doing. We also have some really good interviews coming up, like we were mentioning earlier, the CEO Fast is coming on, we have a really cool company, Handwrytten coming on with [inaudible 00:51:04], Sheets and Giggles, Ring. We've got some big names coming up here, and yeah, I'm excited to do this next recap after the next 50.Albert:Until then.Stephanie:Right. Thanks, Albert.
Play Me a Recipe is hosted by a rotating cast, including Food52 co-founder Amanda Hesser, Genius hunter Kristen Miglore, editorial lead Brinda Ayer, and senior editor Arati Menon. To kick the show off, we're passing the spatula to eight special guest-hosts so they can share the recipes that have been special to them and their families each holiday season.Subscribe here, so you don’t miss out; see (hear?) you in the kitchen.
Play Me a Recipe is hosted by a rotating cast, including Food52 co-founder Amanda Hesser, Genius hunter Kristen Miglore, editorial lead Brinda Ayer, and senior editor Arati Menon. To kick the show off, we're passing the spatula to eight special guest-hosts so they can share the recipes that have been special to them and their families each holiday season.Subscribe here, so you don’t miss out; see (hear?) you in the kitchen.
Play Me a Recipe is hosted by a rotating cast, including Food52 co-founder Amanda Hesser, Genius hunter Kristen Miglore, editorial lead Brinda Ayer, and senior editor Arati Menon. To kick the show off, we're passing the spatula to eight special guest-hosts so they can share the recipes that have been special to them and their families each holiday season.Subscribe here, so you don’t miss out; see (hear?) you in the kitchen.
Play Me a Recipe is hosted by a rotating cast, including Food52 co-founder Amanda Hesser, Genius hunter Kristen Miglore, editorial lead Brinda Ayer, and senior editor Arati Menon. To kick the show off, we're passing the spatula to eight special guest-hosts so they can share the recipes that have been special to them and their families each holiday season.
Pizza is enjoyed as a comfort food around the world, but are all the unique combinations of cheesy baked dough created equal? Today, we're joined by Amanda Hesser to discuss: what's the best pizza style? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Amanda Hesser believes that food is at the center of a life well-lived, and it is that belief that led her to co-found Food52 in 2009. Food52 is a community-centered blog and eCommerce store that reaches more than 24 million people a month. But no platform builds itself, and in the case of Food52, this massive community of users was brought together through a set of unique engagement tactics that Amanda has iterated on and refined over the decade-plus that the company has been around. It’s a strategy that any company would envy, and one that she shares with us today. On this episode of Up Next in Commerce, Amanda explains how she and her team were able to use high- and low-touch ways to get users involved, and why that engagement created a sense of buy-in that made Food52 scalable. As Amanda explains, engaged users don’t just help with content generation, they also provide valuable insights into consumer trends and have helped inform Food52’s latest offering, an exclusive product line that is helping further boost its revenue into the tens of millions. From tips on building a community, to dropshipping products, and launching a new product line, tune in to find out all of that and more. Main Takeaways: Building A Community: The platforms that last are those that give users a sense of ownership in the community being created. Engagement is necessary to achieve that end, but not everyone wants to engage in the same way. That’s why it’s important to create high-touch and low-touch ways to get — and keep — people involved. Getting the Feedback You Need: Your customers are full of ideas on what’s working, what’s not, and what to try instead. But tapping into those ideas is easier said than done. To access that honest feedback, you need to meet your customers where they are. Generic product surveys often go ignored. Instead, hang out on social media, ask open-ended questions, and engage with your customers in an organic way. It’s Never Easy: Whether you are creating content or building a user base, there are no infallible methods to find success. You can’t be wedded to any one idea, platform, channel or content type. Try new things, explore new strategies, and don’t fall into the trap of becoming complacent just because one thing is working right now. For an in-depth look at this episode, check out the full transcript below. Quotes have been edited for clarity and length. --- Up Next in Commerce is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Respond quickly to changing customer needs with flexible Ecommerce connected to marketing, sales, and service. Deliver intelligent commerce experiences your customers can trust, across every channel. Together, we’re ready for what’s next in commerce. Learn more at salesforce.com/commerce --- Transcript: Stephanie: Welcome back to another episode of Up Next in Commerce, this is your host, Stephanie Postles, co-founder of Mission.org. Today on the show, we have Amanda Hesser, the co-founder and CEO of Food52. Stephanie: Amanda, welcome! Amanda: Thank you so much for having me, hello. Stephanie: So, I was just looking through the Food52 website, and it's absolutely beautiful. I love everything about it, the theme, the concept, I mean, the design, really, really beautiful. Tell me a little bit about how you came upon starting it. What made you want to found that? Amanda: Sure. Well, my co-founder Merill Stubbs and I co-founded it together, and we did so because we were both journalists and editors and trained cooks, so we were professionals in the field, but we were professionals because it was a passion of ours. We love food, we love home, we love cooking and traveling and eating, and we just felt that a couple things were happening. One was just that food was really shifting from being this niche topic in our culture to something that was just much more ingrained in Americans' identities and lifestyles, frankly. Amanda: And there was this real sea change happening in the industry and that was really exciting to us, as people who care about food. But we also felt like as a result, what we were being served with as consumers, meaning the content that we had available to us, the products, the conversation, interaction, the community was lacking and really wasn't keeping up with the evolution of its place in our culture, and we felt like there was an opportunity to serve people better to create a very different kind of company than had existed before, one that was much more a 360-degree and also selfishly, we wanted to create this world and this hub for ourselves. You know? We felt a lot of great companies are born out of an unsatisfying consumer experience, and I think that definitely was a piece of what drove us to create Food52. Stephanie: That's awesome. So, how long has it been around? Amanda: So, we launched Food52 in September of 2009, so we are 11 years old, which is both I think on one hand, is an incredible accomplishment and is also... It is not a surprise to us that it has taken us sort of this amount of time to get where we are, because we understood going in that when you're building a brand, when you're really trying to create an emotional connection with your readers and your followers, that it takes time. It's not something you can do overnight. On the other hand, being a startup and being 11 years old, I think once you pass the three-year mark, you start entering dinosaur-hood. Stephanie: Yeah, everyone else that you started with is gone. You're like, "Oh, it's just me left." Amanda: Yeah, there is a survival feeling, which is nice. But also that it's an industry and world that is always looking for the next. So, if you've made it beyond three years, you're no longer the news. But it's actually I think in many ways, in terms of running the company, it's been so great to... Actually, I think once we hit kind of eight years, where we're really not only just more of an established company, but able to really broaden what we were covering as a media company, really ambitiously pursue our commerce business. Amanda: The business just became much more interesting, and it's a complex business, so it's not something that you can... We started focused on content because we understand the power of content to build that relationship. And also to really build brand identity and that was to us, the most important thing that we could do in the beginning. And then we methodically kind of added, layered on all the things that we do now. And I think that even if you were starting today, that is the way to do it, because you couldn't... A, you couldn't get funding to do all the things that we do now. But also, we wouldn't want to, because it's sort of... You really need to build that relationship and you can't just kind of [inaudible] press the consumer with like, books and a site and recipes and content across cooking and home, and a presence on all the social channels. There's a lot of stuff that we do that I think had to sort of slowly evolve. Stephanie: So, yeah. I want to kind of dive into the evolution of your brand, because I think I recently read that you guys reach 24 million people month, is that right? Amanda: Yes, mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah. Stephanie: That's amazing. So, I want to kind of hear how did you all start out, and then where are you now? Amanda: Sure. So, as I mentioned earlier, we started by focusing on content, and we started very much in the kitchen. Because we felt that is the core of our premise, which is that we see food at the center of a well-lived life. And we serve people who believe in that. We felt like the kitchen and cooking was always going to be kind of our core strength, and so when we began, the vast majority of our content was focused on cooking. We did recipe contests, and we did that because it was a way to test a content model that we felt like was underused online. Which was there was lots of user-generated content, but it wasn't done in a way that really served other readers well and really celebrated the content creators. We wanted to become this platform for them, and what we provided was in some ways, you could look at it as production services, right? People could contribute their recipes, and then we would photograph, then we would test them, and then we would distribute them across a bigger platform, our platform. Amanda: And that was the way that we built community and we created lots of ways for people to get involved. So, it wasn't just for the people who were creating recipes, it was also for people who if you wanted to become a recipe tester, you could do that, or if you wanted to vote on the recipe contest. We created lots of different kind of high-touch and low-touch ways for people to have meaningful engagement and involvement in the curation of the content, and that was something that really hadn't been done well before, and we felt like it was a way to not only build community, but also create a scalable model and send the message that this is a community-driven company that cares a lot about high-quality content, and we can build this together. And we can start with recipes, and then we can build out from there. Amanda: And what we did do was through our recipe contests, we were able to identify really great home cooks who maybe they had a blog, maybe they didn't, but they didn't have a platform that was sizeable. And we were able to provide that for them, and we got them to then write articles for us, and some have done cookbooks for us and many of them have gone on to do their own cookbooks. And I think that building that sort of trust and that relationship in the early days with our community is what has allowed us to get to where we are now, which is a much bigger site, and we still have recipe contests, but fewer of them. But we have other ways for people to be really deeply involved in what we do. And so, for instance, I'll just give you kind of a smattering of examples. Amanda: We have a hotline and on our hotline, anyone can ask any cooking or home or food question, and it gets answered by the community and answers can get voted up or down in a kind of stack overflow fashion. And so that's a community resource. We do our own kind of set of social contests on Instagram. That's really how we built our Instagram community and following was through creating a hashtag called #F52Brands, where we named themes and then people would tag us with photographs relevant to that theme, and then we would repost our favorites. And so, people posted, tagged us, let their friends know, and that's how we built our following which is at 2.8 million. We have a product line called Five Two, and we have a drop ship shop where we sell hundreds of products, really thousands of SKUs at this point, and those are products that are produced by other vendors, that we drop ship through our site and our platform. Amanda: But we wanted to create our own line of products once we had gotten our sea legs in commerce. And so, when we went to do that, it made total sense for us to actually call on our community for their input on the products, and not just in a shallow way, but a really kind of deep and extensive way. We had the data on what people were shopping for, what was selling well on our site, what materials. But we really wanted to hear... and our first product, just to give you a specific example, our first product was a cutting board. Amanda: Now we already sold a lot of cutting boards, so we knew what materials sold, what price point sold, what sizes sold. But we really wanted to just go to our community and say, "What do you want?" In your ideal cutting board, what does it look like? What is it made of? What do you use it for? What features do you want? And we did a survey that was 11 questions, which goes against all rules of surveys, too long. And more than 10,000 people answered, and in great detail what they wanted. And so, we created a product that reflected their feedback, and that's how that has formed the DNA of that whole product line, is using the input of our community to create better cooking and home products than we could have otherwise come up with ourselves. Stephanie: That's amazing. Such a good evolution of the business. How are you encouraging your community to fill out those surveys or want to engage? I mean, I'm sure there's your power users who are like, "Anything Amanda does or puts out or the brand puts out, we're ready to help." But then for newer people, I'm sure there's a little bit more maybe convincing, so how do you strike that balance to get people to help decide on the product decisions or what's next? Amanda: Yeah. I mean, I think there's a couple of different ways that we do it. One is as we saw that there was great interest in having a say in the products we created, we decided to create what we call the Five Two Design Team, and it's essentially a communication channel for that group who wants to have all the latest news on what products we're thinking about, what surveys are coming up, what products are launching. They get a sneak peek. They help us test those products, we'll send them prototypes. And so, people could sign up for that. So, that's one way that people could kind of engage at whatever level they're interested in, but of course, that also attracts people who tend to want to be more engaged. The cutting board survey I think is maybe a bit of an outlier in that it's probably one of the more extensive surveys we've done. Amanda: What we tend to do is kind of lighter touch things on social. So, we'll go on Instagram and we'll ask three to five questions on an Instagram story. And you can vote right there on the story, so we give you the choices and just press a button and let us know, and then we do like to make sure that we give open-ended, sort of open field questions so that people who are extra passionate or who have detailed information they want to share, they have that opportunity. But they can do it in a medium that's right in front of them. For instance, if they're on Instagram already, we want them to be able to do it right there, not have to flick over to our site and fill something out. Amanda: And I think this is not just with our product line, I think this is with everything we do, is meet people where they are and serve them well where they are. And so, that's really the way we think about it, and we also try to frankly, just make it fun. So, it's not just these surveys to feel like we're giving a homework assignment. We want them to be presented in a fun way, and it should be entertaining, but it also should be substantive. Stephanie: Yep, I love that. So, you're getting a bunch of data from these surveys and from the community. Are there any tools or tech or are you using AI or ML or anything to kind of sort through all this data to help make decisions, whether it's for new products, or a new direction that the community wants or anything? Amanda: I would love to say yes. The answer is no. I mean, we have just found honestly that the best way to... We've created for some of the survey answers, our team will create pivot tables so they can kind of group things together. But frankly, the best ideas have come from just reading through people's answers. I think we've gotten better at structuring the questions we're asking, so that many of them can be answered through multiple choice and therefore, you have very straight up data. But the best product features, they come from those open field questions, and we want to make sure that there's space for that and that we are reading through them. And we also have a group, it's kind of VIP shoppers, called Club Sandwich. Stephanie: I like that name. Amanda: And we reach out to them and we ask them for feedback, and actually, I guess with Five Two, we do this too. And sometimes, we'll just send notes to the group and we'll say to the Five Two Design Team, "Hey, we'd love to hear your thoughts on X, Y, and Z, or if you have any product ideas, let us know." And we always say, "We read every email." And it's true. We just, we do. I mean, maybe there will be a point at which we can't do that, but we're a pretty sizable business, and I think that we created the community because we wanted people to feel like they could connect with each other. Amanda: Food is inherently social, and we wanted to create ways online that you could really feel connected to one another, but likewise, I think it's really important for our team to feel connected to our community and to what we're doing and their thoughts on what we're doing. I think when you create more of a wall, that's when you start having... That's when you can have real challenges in your comment section, and you can attract trolls. Our presence and engagement is I think just as important in terms of allowing people to feel like it's not just that they're connecting with each other, but that this hub through which they are connecting with other people has a sense of place and of people. Stephanie: Yep, yeah. That's great. I think a good reminder too about crafting survey responses in a thoughtful way, so then you can actually curate the data easily, but then also leaving the long-form answers. Stephanie: So, one thing I saw was a mention of the film Julie & Julia, and I wanted to hear about that and some opportunities that have come up while building Food52. Amanda: Sure. Well, that particular opportunity came up based on a story I wrote in the New York Times when I worked there. It was actually the sort of dawn of food blogs, and this blogger Julie wrote a very funny blog, which believe it or not, had no food photos because blogs didn't even have photos back then- Stephanie: That's great. Amanda: ... about cooking every recipe and mastering the art of French cooking. And she had an amazing writing voice, very funny. So, I wrote this story about her and it got a lot of attention, and then eventually, Nora Ephron wrote the screenplay for Julie & Julia, where she kind of took Julie's blog and then also juxtaposed it against this memoir or... I guess, yeah. It was a memoir of Julia Childs' time in France. And then created the movie script out of that. So, yeah. So, I ended up playing the part of myself interviewing Julie in her Long Island City apartment, just like I did in real life. And then that sort of story coming out, and having a big impact on her career. Stephanie: That's so fun. That sounds like just a very fun and cool experience to have now. Amanda: Yeah, yeah. I always joke that I had the perfect Hollywood career. I auditioned, which I did actually have to audition for the part for myself. Stephanie: That's great. Amanda: And got the part, it was... Meryl Streep was in the movie. The movie was a success, and now I'm out. I don't ever have to try again. I was like, "I'm good." Amanda: But yeah, it was a fun dip into a very different world. Stephanie: That's really cool. So to shift over into your guys' product line, Five Two, I wanted to hear a little bit about when you knew it was the right time to launch your own products instead of sourcing them from other vendors. Amanda: We launched commerce in 2013, and we didn't launch Five Two until 2018. So, I would say that we took our time getting experience in the commerce space, and I say that but with a caveat, which is that commerce, and I would say especially... Well actually, retail and ecommerce have gone through such immense changes and shifts in the past decade that everyone's learning all the time, even if we've been in the business forever. When we started our drop ship business, there were so many companies who just didn't drop ship. Amanda: So there were great products out in the world that we couldn't sell because the companies were not willing to do a drop ship model. They wanted only to sell inventory, which we understand, but we were betting on the fact that the world would shift and the industry would shift, and our bet has paid off. But it did take time to really build up a strong assortment of products in our category to build relationships. I think that was sort of the big [inaudible] of learning for us, was that commerce is very much about relationships, and it's not just about people wanting to sell their products, but they want to sell them through outlets that they get along with, where you really are partnering with each other. Amanda: That takes time to evolve. So, I think the first couple of years was very much about relationship-building, really understanding logistics. We built our own commerce platform. We don't use Shopify. We didn't do Magento or any of those things. We built it from scratch because the nature of our commerce business is very different. It functions differently than the sort of larger platforms allow for. Stephanie: Yeah, there's a lot going on there. Drop shipping, your own product, blogs, community. A ton. Amanda: Yeah. Yeah. So, we had our hands full with things that we needed to both learn but also refine. We built this platform. It did what it was supposed to, but for the kind of commerce business we are today, it was simplistic, so we've had to over the years continue to develop the platform itself, improve our checkout, improve basically kind of every aspect of it too, kind of reflect the kind of business we are now. Amanda: Anyway, so the first couple of years we knew was going to be learning and then also, the other thing that we learned was what people trust us for and what do they look to us for, and what do they want to be buying from us? Once we felt like we had a real handle on that, then it was a matter of... I think everyone from probably day one wanted to create our own product line. But deciding when we're ready I think ultimately just took us saying, "We're going to do it this year," and that was 2018. You know? It was just pulling the trigger, because everyone's busy, right? In an organization like ours. And so, it's not that people don't want to take on something new and big like this, but they know that if we do, they're going to have to re-organize all their work streams and really devote new time to this. Amanda: And so, it was a matter of finally just kind of biting the bullet and saying, "We're doing it, and we're going to aim for a fall launch," and then working backwards from there therefore, to see how to make it happen. And I think similarly, our growth into retail will be a similar thing. Are you ever ready for retail? I don't know. It felt last year to us like a good time, and we'd started exploring it very seriously, and then COVID hit and so we just hit pause, but we're thinking about it again for next year. Obviously, post-COVID, knock on wood that it will be post-COVID, it may look quite different. But I think it's something that we are committed to pursuing and better understanding and figuring out what makes sense for us. Stephanie: Yep, that makes sense. So, you were just mentioning COVID and I want to hear a little bit about how has that shifted your business? Because a lot of people are home now. I'm sure maybe you have a lot more orders as well, because people are wanting to cook and trying new recipes, where maybe they didn't have time before. But what does that look like for you all now? What have you seen behind the scenes? Amanda: Yeah. It's been a tremendous year for us in terms of our audience growth and our revenue growth. Obviously not something that anyone would have wished to have spawned that growth, but it is what it is. I think what we've come away from this having learned was a couple of things. One is just it's been a real validation of what we do. I think we in our hearts have from the very beginning understood that food and home are such incredible and vital parts of one's life, and that they are worth investing time and thought into, and that's really what we've been pushing as a brand since day one. We were building this company knowing that there was kind of a growing understanding of that. I think COVID really just rapidly accelerated people's understanding, I think across our entire culture. Right? Stephanie: Mm-hmm (affirmative), yep. Amanda: Because I think suddenly people saw that having a place where you feel safe and comfortable and being able to feed yourself and your family and loved ones is just so important, and so it's been great to be a company where we feel like we can serve people in a positive fashion during a time that's really stressful, and that... and I think that we're able to see now what specifically people are interested in. We've been able to adapt with our product lines. For instance, there's a textile company that we've worked with for many years, and their main products, there was less demand for. Amanda: But they were able to make masks, and so we sold masks. We've sold tens of thousands of masks. And not just through them, but through some other vendors who also had the capabilities to make them. There are categories that have shot up that were previously doing fine, but now have become really significant. For instance, hand soap, hand sanitizer, things like that. And then obviously, our sort of traditional kitchenware and kitchen gear sales have really gone... have wildly increased because yes, more people are cooking and they're home. And they're realizing, "Oh, my saute pan isn't in such good shape, or I actually need a different size," and ideally, we're helping them out with that. Amanda: But then I also think just from a maybe more unexpected internal team benefit that we have seen is that we had some people who were working remote previously, but we had offices... We have offices on 26th Street in New York City, and that's where sort of the vast majority of our team worked. And when we had to shut down, we had to shut down our photo studios, our video studios, our test kitchen, we were really faced with a big challenge of how do we produce content without all of that support? Sometimes, not having everything really inspires creativity and I actually think that what we've learned is that we can do a ton with very little and also that people respond to it in a different way. Amanda: We're sort of known for our visual aesthetic, our photography, and kind of the sort of beauty of what we do. And that's great. I think we also pride ourselves with being accessible and relatable, and I think while we were achieving that, I think we've learned from COVID that we have so much more potential if we're actually shooting in real people's homes, not just in our pretty studio. But if we're showing kind of real life, it makes people feel much more at ease and also more open to the content and feel like they can be a part of that. And so, that's been really eye-opening and exciting, because I think for having... Our content team is 30 plus people. And having that many kind of creative minds together, I think has been really inspiring for all of us to just think differently about what we do and what we can do. Stephanie: Yeah, I've heard of quite a few brands saying the same thing of, "We maybe never would have tried this model before, because maybe we thought the way we were doing it was what everyone expected and wanted," and it's been in some ways a good shake-up to be able to see kind of, "Oh, this is actually not only just working, but it's also maybe something to keep for the long term." Amanda: Yeah. And in fact, it's a very common comment on our Instagram TV videos, is "Please don't go back to doing these videos in your office." Stephanie: Oh, wow. So are you guys going to stick with that? And/or are you going to do a mix going forward, once you can re-enter the office? Amanda: Yeah. We are. So, one piece of our office we have reopened is our photo studios, and primarily for things like our product shots in our shop. [inaudible] in a setting. We have not gone back to doing kind of our food videos and things like that. Stephanie: So I wanted to quickly talk through user acquisitions? So, I know you've talked quite a bit about Instagram, and I wanted to hear how you find new users, and what platforms are working for you or what strategies outside of the contests and Instagram stories, what else are you guys experimenting with and seeing success in? Amanda: Yeah. There's no silver bullet, and that's good. I remember the early days when everyone was just relying so heavily on Facebook to grow their traffic, and that was when social sites were really fine with referring back to sites. And I remember that we were uncomfortable with that then, and we didn't... It felt sort of too easy, right? That's one thing that I think people who have been in content for a while, it's never easy and that's okay, and that's what makes it interesting, right? Because you have to constantly be nimble and experiment and keep evolving. Amanda: And so, I think that's been really key, is not getting too wedded to any one thing that's working and seeing it as not just... that that's not a lack of efficiency, it's actually an opportunity to make sure that you're reaching people across lots of different channels. So, there are a couple of different ways we do it. One is sort of channel-specific, right? This year, we launched TikTok. We're still just early days there starting to experiment. We got into Reels, we really expanded our IGTV. We're starting to really invest more time and understanding where we should... how we can add value to Pinterest, right? And create an experience that people will be interested in. So, I think that constantly sort of making sure that you're experimenting, trying new things, and then adjusting across different channels. We just launched a podcast this week. Stephanie: Oh, nice. Congrats. [crosstalk] What's it called? Amanda: Oh, thank you. So, it's called The Genius Recipe Tapes. And it's based on Jamie's Recipes, which is our most popular column. And these are recipes that... It might be a recipe for something like meatloaf, but there's something about that meatloaf recipe that has a particular technique or an unexpected ingredient that really changes the way you cook meatloaf forever. So, it's these recipes that really are stand-outs, and a celebration of the people who have come up with them. And so- Stephanie: That's cool. Amanda: ... Genius Recipe Tapes grew out of the videos that we do where Kristin, who writes Genius Recipes, she invites the creator of the recipe onto the video to talk about how they came up with it, and just talk about their life and cooking. And there was so much good material that we realized that we could create a podcast out of it. So, that's our first podcast. We have one called Burnt Toast, which is on hiatus right now. But this is the first in a push towards building a podcast network. Amanda: So kind of expanding across channels is one way, but the other is expanding across the landscape of contributors who we work with and just really broadening it, so that we are working with people in lots of different voices, lots of different perspectives, and also lots of different expertise, so that we can go deeper on topics like bread or spirits, but we also can bring people who just have a really sort of unique perspective on cooking or home and who will have their own followings, and who we can kind of fold into our world a bit and broaden our audience by reaching theirs, and vice versa, help them build their own following by having them be on our platform. Stephanie: Yeah. Yeah, I love that. So, I want to hear a little bit about your podcast strategy, of course, that's top of mind for us. I mean, we have a lot of brands coming to us, asking to help them build a podcast or think through that, and I'd love to hear your idea around what does success look like when you're thinking about building out these podcasts, and what should maybe other ecommerce leaders think about when they're thinking, "Oh, I want to build a podcast for my brand?" How are you guys approaching that? Amanda: Well, the way we approached it was we looked at the landscape of what kinds of podcasts were in our space. And obviously, we had some sense of that based on our existing podcast, and feeling like there were... Are there unexplored topics or voices that weren't kind of getting out there, or even just concepts? Previously, we had this one podcast, and we were kind of reliant on it to kind of do everything, so to speak, in our podcast footprint. And I think that what we realized is that in topics like cooking and home, there's a lot to cover, and there are a lot of specialized interests. Amanda: And we felt like if we could create a suite of shows and we could create some in-house, but we could also again act as the sort of platform for creators by partnering with them to create shows that they would like to do but maybe wouldn't have the full source of... Oh, sorry, to give the full resources to do themselves, then we could build on this idea of a suite of podcasts that are around related topics. And then do a lot of cross-promotion between them, and then ideally monetize them collectively, as opposed to trying to just build up one show. Stephanie: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, I love that. Cool, so we don't have much time left, and I want to hop into a lightning round which is where I ask you a question and you have a minute or less to answer. Stephanie: All right, so lightning round brought to you by our friends at Salesforce Commerce Cloud. I'm going to throw a question your way, be ready. I'm actually starting with three different ones this time that I haven't asked before, but I think it'll be interesting to hear your answers to this. So, these three questions are going to be called Lessons Learned or Hiccups, and it's the first thing that comes to your mind when I ask this question of something you learned or wouldn't do again, or would tell a new founder like, "Oh, make sure you avoid this when starting this." So the first lesson learned is around drop shipping. What's a good lesson there, or what's a hiccup you made early on where you're like, "Make sure you don't repeat this?" Amanda: We launched in August, and for November, we decided to sell frozen turkeys, heritage turkeys. So it was a fresh ingredient, that can spoil if not shipped properly in an efficient fashion. And we sold 80 turkeys that year, which we felt like was a pretty big amount given that we had just launched. And 79 of them got to the homes on time, happily, everyone had their Thanksgiving- Stephanie: That's good. Amanda: ... ready to go. But you don't want to not get somebody's turkey to them for Thanksgiving. So that one person's turkey took five of us to track down and then replace and then send an apology gift basket. It took us two days. And so, the person got their turkey for Thanksgiving, but we came away knowing that we were not ready, sort of from a supply chain logistics perspective to be handling fresh foods. So, we stuck to our dry goods. Stephanie: Oh my gosh, that's a great story. I mean, the customer might not like this, but having a good social story about that of like, "Where in the world is Sharon's turkey?" And trying to figure out where it went. Amanda: Well, there's a UPS truck broken down on the side of the road in Florida, and I guess another truck came up and was like, all the packages were shipped over, but the turkey did not make it- Stephanie: Oh no! Amanda: ... in the transfer. And so, somewhere in Florida was that turkey, and pretty close to its final destination, but it just never made it there. But anyway, we learned all sorts about sourcing turkeys, finding delivery companies in Florida, and it's always... Yes, it was a race and every little triumph of figuring out one piece of the logistics was fun. But it was not the most relaxing Thanksgiving for us. Stephanie: Oh my gosh. Well, that's a pretty good lesson when it comes to drop shipping. One, be careful if you're around holidays. I like that, because a customer might actually get upset, and then yeah, the perishable thing is tricky. That's a good one. All right, the next lesson learned is around creating a new product line. What would you advise people against trying or any hiccups you had early on with that? Amanda: Well, I think the hiccup we've had with new products that we've developed is frankly, just not building production delays into our timelines. And it's hard to estimate, right? But I think when you're new and trying to get a product line launched, those launch dates have such importance, and if you can't stick to them, or you... If you can't stick to them, yeah, it causes a lot of high blood pressure. So, yeah. I think that mapping out realistically and not... and making sure that you're building in as many buffers as possible. It is best. What one of the things that we did to kind of get around this was what we did was pre-sales. Sometimes if a product was not going to be able to be released on the date that we thought, we would do a pre-sale for it, being clear about when the actual delivery date was. But it allowed us to kind of soft launch a product and let our community know about it without having a long delay between product launches. Stephanie: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, that's a good answer. All right, easier questions up next. What is a favorite recipe you're trying out right now? Amanda: Hmm. Well, let me see here. What am I going to be trying in the near future? Oh. So, Joanne Chang who has Flor Bakery in Boston is known for her egg sandwich, and it's a baked... She bakes the eggs in a water bath, and they're just so light and fluffy, they're one of the most popular... It's a really popular recipe on our site. And I've eaten them, but I haven't made them. I'm going to just follow her recipe sometime this weekend. And I like the idea of not having to fry an egg last minute before making an egg sandwich. I like the idea of it sort of getting cooked in this very sort of slow, controlled environment so you can have a great breakfast sandwich without adding stress to your morning. Stephanie: Yeah, oh, that sounds interesting. I've never heard of baking an egg in a water bath before. I've heard of poached eggs, but never baking it. So, I will have to also find that recipe. We need to get the link to that so our listeners can try it out as well. Amanda: Great. Stephanie: All right, and the last question, slightly harder. What one thing will have the biggest impact on ecommerce in the next year? Amanda: I mean, I think it's what we're seeing now. COVID has just accelerated this industry shift, where larger, more traditional retail companies were being squeezed by ecommerce and the retail landscape was shifting. Obviously, we've seen a lot of bankruptcy since COVID hit. So, it kind of sped up the process a bit. And I think that ecommerce, most ecommerce companies have benefited from people being home more and people not wanting to go out to stores. I do think that mindset of ordering online, while obviously it was well underway before COVID, I think is going to be more firmly part of the way people shop than maybe they had previously. So, I do think ecommerce is poised to have a great benefit. And I think for companies like ours, the big challenge is, if they've had this influx of new customers is, "Okay, now how do you keep them and how do you keep serving them well beyond this extraordinary and unusual time?" Stephanie: Yep, yeah. That's a great answer. Well, Amanda, this has been such a fun interview. I'm a little bit hungry now after hearing about that baked egg. But where can people find out more about you and Food52? Amanda: Oh. Well, on Food52.com and on our social channels, which are @Food52 and @Home52. And we also have a bunch of cookbooks, I hope you will check us out. Stephanie: Cool, thanks so much for joining.
Salad PartyBy Kristy Mucci Intro: Welcome to the number one cookbook podcast, Cookery By The Book with Suzy Chase. She's just a home cook in New York City, sitting at her dining room table, talking to cookbook authors.Kristy Mucci: I'm Kristy Mucci, and my first cookbook is Salad Party, and it's out now from Chronicle Books.Suzy Chase: You're a writer, produce enthusiast, recipe tester and developer food and prop stylist, former editor at Food 52 and Saveur magazine, and now cookbook author. With Salad Party, these days of the boring salad are officially over. Beyond the standard bowl of lettuce and dressing you put together unique combinations. Can you describe how this cookbook works?Kristy Mucci: Yeah, it's actually my editor who had the idea for the design, but each page is broken into three panels. So the top is the dressings and the middle is what we're calling toppings, and then the bottom is bases. And they're little flaps so you can switch back and forth and mix and match and make over 3000 combinations.Suzy Chase: I read somewhere that someone called it a flip book for adults.Kristy Mucci: I love that.Suzy Chase: I love that too.Kristy Mucci: It kind of makes making salads a bit of a game, which some friends of mine who have kids have said it's been great for them. The kids are a little bit more involved in helping decide what they're going to eat and cook. I'm thrilled about that. If I could get more kids excited about cooking and produce, then that's a win for everyone.Suzy Chase: During the quarantine, I really made an effort to think of salads as more of a main dish than a garnish. Do you have a favorite go to weeknight salad combination out of the book?Kristy Mucci: Out of the book? I want to say right now, I'm really into the cilantro lime dressing, so I'm kind of putting that with everything. But I really like a cold salad with cilantro lime dressing, the shredded chicken and white rice. And then I can throw in herbs or shaved radishes or some grated carrot as a base. The rice and the chicken and the cilantro lime dressing is my current favorite.Suzy Chase: And I noticed that not all of the bases are lettuce. Can you talk a little bit about that?Kristy Mucci: Yeah. So most people think salad is like leaves on a plate with maybe some vegetables thrown in, and that's not necessarily true. A salad can be an entire meal and it can be a grain-based salad or a pasta salad or something that's a little bit heartier than I think what most people think of when they think of salad. They're like, Oh yeah, just like mixed leaves and maybe some tomato.Suzy Chase: Speaking of tomato, in the summer, there's really nothing better than a good cherry tomato in your salad, out of the salad or really wherever. You have an awesome hack for slicing all the tomatoes at once. Can you tell us about that one?Kristy Mucci: Yeah. I actually learned this from Amanda Hesser at Food 52 way back in the day when I worked there. You take two tops from deli containers and you fill one with cherry tomatoes and then you place the other top on top of that, and you just take your knife and slice right through. And then you have a bunch of halved tomatoes.Suzy Chase: You wrote an article when you were working at Food 52 about vinaigrette. This was way back in 2016. You wrote, "I used to love putting time into making a salad, carefully washing and drying the leaves, making a proper vinaigrette. using my hands to make sure the leaves were all evenly dressed. That's a lovely time. And I'd been depriving myself of all that enjoyment. Thanks to Nora Ephron, I felt inspired to get back to my old ways." Can you talk a little bit about that?Kristy Mucci: That is part of a series I did for Food 52 after I went through kind of a really messy time. I was going through your divorce and gosh backstory one day, my husband left and didn't come home for five months and refused to talk to me. So I kind of stopped cooking. I just totally stopped all of life. And then I moved into a new place. And then this messy divorce started, and so I took really a full year off of cooking, because I was just sad and trying to figure out a new life. And when I wanted to get back to cooking, it felt really awkward. I dropped a knife one. I've never done that in my life. I'm a professional food person. So I was just kind of getting my sea legs back in the kitchen and Kristen at Food 52 let me write a series about getting back to cooking, which is really getting back to my life. And I read Nora Ephron's Heartburn. I've read it a couple times, but there was one weekend I read it in the middle of writing this series and this light bulb went off because in the book, the character is food writer and she mentions her vinaigrette. recipe a lot throughout the book. It's so good. Her ex-husband is never going to find anybody who makes a vinaigrette. just like this, and she's not going to share the recipe. And I don't know if this is a spoiler, the book's pretty old, so hopefully everybody's read it. In the end, she shares the recipe. But this light bulb went off and it was really thanks to Nora Ephron. I was like, "What am I doing? I'm just throwing stuff in a bowl and drizzling some olive oil and maybe squeezing some lemon and not even caring if I got lemon seeds in there. And it was this nice reminder that there's this part of my life, and there's this wonderful thing that I love doing and I can give that to myself. So I started keeping a jar of her vinaigrette. in my fridge, and that was kind of really one of the first major steps to getting back to being a professional food person.Suzy Chase: You have a classic vinaigrette. and salad party. Was this one influenced by Nora?Kristy Mucci: Yes, yes. It was the first thing I thought of to include in the book. Everybody needs a classic vinaigrette. and I cannot think of one without thinking of her.Suzy Chase: One interesting recipe I saw in the cookbook was spicy fish sauce. Can you describe this? And what goes good with it?Kristy Mucci: So we have a combination of super savory fish sauce and lime, and I use the juice and the zest of the lime because I want all of the acidity and tang that a lime can provide. We have a little bit of grated garlic and some red pepper. And I only call for a quarter teaspoon of the red pepper flakes, but you can go as heavy as you like, as mild as you like, but I start there. And I really like it with the black rice and garlicky shrimp. And then I'll throw in a bunch of herbs to go with that, particularly cilantro and a little bit of mint. I also think it's really good with the broccoli, with lemon and almonds. And I like that to go on top of either the soba noodles or the sliced kale, and maybe I'll add an egg to that, to just make it a little bit more substantial. I really like it with the tender lettuces and the shredded salt and pepper chicken. And I'll definitely add some shaved radishes and more herbs, I kind of like to throw herbs everywhere.Suzy Chase: This just goes to show us that this book is so creative. You can do so much with it.Kristy Mucci: Yeah. And you don't even have to stick to the three components. If there are two toppings you really like, or however many toppings you think would be good, it doesn't have to just be a three component salad.Suzy Chase: Talk about a little bit about how you prep for the week.Kristy Mucci: Every week, usually it's a Sunday, I'll put on a grain. Right now I'm just really craving white rice, so that's the one I'm making. So I always make a grain, and then if I have some hardy greens, I slice those up or I prep them to be the shape that I want them to be for kind of just like grabbing and adding to a salad. I always set a pot, a very salty water on to boil. And then I just put a few different vegetables through there so I have things that are crisp tender and ready to go to add as garnishes to any meal. This week I did romanesco cauliflower and some carrots and asparagus and some new potatoes, all with the same pot of water. I always have two jars of dressing in the fridge. So basically, by the end of my few hours, my kitchen or my fridge is full of containers of things that are ready to go and putting a meal together is kind of just like assembling a puzzle. I don't know, it feels very minimal effort, but then the payoff is huge because I have everything I need just kind of at the ready.Suzy Chase: Now I'd like to chat about your personal website, Kristymucci.com. And on that you have the most wonderful resource page for getting good ingredients from small farms and businesses while social distancing. Plus, over on your Instagram page, you share a Google spreadsheet of black owned farms.Kristy Mucci: Yeah. I am a big supporter of farmers and I have very personal relationships with them and I do some consulting. And my whole passion, I would say is about supporting small farmers. So when the restaurants closed, I was really concerned about how all the farmers I knew were going to make up for those losses. So I reached out to them and started putting together a list of farms that were pivoting to CSA models or that we're offering some kind of contactless pickup. So I made that list. And then people were asking, "Where do you get your ingredients from, how are you going to do this while you're social distancing?" And luckily, a lot of the places I love to buy from have very easy online ordering. So I just put that together to help people out. And then in the past few weeks with all of the protests and all of this learning that we're doing, I thought it would be good to especially help black farmers. The history of prejudice against black farmers in the country is atrocious. And a lot of people don't know about it. And somebody put together this amazing spreadsheet with links to that information, and then just with links to all of these farmers that you can very easily support. And they're doing the same things, offering CSA or contactless pickup. It feels really important right now to be supporting small farmers and supporting black farmers as much as we can.Suzy Chase: So the other night I made tender lettuces, mushrooms with shallots and thyme, with maple and mustard vinaigrette. That was such a delicious, interesting combination.Kristy Mucci: That sounds really good. I like that a lot. And I think in the colder months, that would be really nice with kale as the base.Suzy Chase: And what is also good about this cookbook is, I'm not going to the grocery store every day now. So I kind of chose this thinking about what things I had in my pantry and it turned out so good.Kristy Mucci: I'm so happy to hear that I want to help people make delicious meals as easily as possible. So if this is what you have on hand, you can definitely make a combination from this book.Suzy Chase: So other than this combination that I made, there are 3,374 more in this amazing cookbook. What went into testing all these combinations?Kristy Mucci: Oh boy. Having a few friends over and I would do three at a time and make all of the various combinations from that and then save leftovers and then make three more and then taste all of those. It was just a lot of eating. And when I was developing the cookbook or initially coming up with ideas, I was obviously thinking with that idea in mind, everything has to go well together. So I thought that I would try to keep the toppings. Obviously they are good on their own, but they can be a little bit more mild in flavor. And I would use the dressings as like the real kick.Suzy Chase: So when you were planning for this cookbook, did the layout come first and then the recipes come second? How did that work?Kristy Mucci: Yeah. My editor Dan, she reached out and said, "We have this really fun design idea, but we need an author and a concept and recipes. Do you want to do it?" "Did you really just ask me if I want to make a cookbook? Of course I do." And we decided on salads. We had talked about maybe pizza or pasta, but I felt like salads were really the most versatile and I'm so crazy about produce that it just made the most sense.Suzy Chase: Now for my segment called my favorite cookbook, what is your all time favorite cookbook and why?Kristy Mucci: I think it has to be An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler because that book has gotten me through many cooking ruts in my life. Every once in a while you just kind of turn off and stop cooking, and I pick that book up and I'm back to it. It's like a little reminder of everything I love and believe about cooking. I would say that one. And I think it's a book that would make any novice feel comfortable in the kitchen and a successful home cook.Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web and social media?Kristy Mucci: I'm on Instagram @Kristy Mucci. That's kind of the main thing I use. And then my website, people can get in touch with me through there.Suzy Chase: And your website is KristyMucci.com.Kristy Mucci: Yes.Suzy Chase: Well, thanks Kristy for coming on Cookery By The Book podcast.Kristy Mucci: Thank you so much for having me.Outro: Subscribe over on CookerybytheBook.com, and thanks for listening to the number one cook book podcast, Cookery By The Book.
Food writers Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs turned a book deal into a digital publishing and retail company. Then they spent 10 years turning that company into something worth more than $100 million. They tell Recode Media’s Peter Kafka what they learned along the way — and why he was wrong to count them out years ago. Featuring: Amanda Hesser (@amandahesser) and Merrill Stubbs (@merrillstubbs), Co-Founders of Food52 Hosts: Daniel Geneen (@danielgeneen), Producer, Eater Amanda Kludt (@kludt), Editor in Chief, Eater Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. Check out more great reporting from the Eater newsroom. Subscribe to Amanda’s weekly newsletter here. Follow Us: Eater.com Facebok.com/Eater YouTube.com/Eater @eater on Twitter and Instagram Get in Touch: digest@eater.com About Eater: Eater obsessively covers the world through the lens of food, telling stories via audio, television, digital video, and publications in 24 cities across the US and UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Amanda Hesser, CEO of Food52, talks about how the company is expanding into new areas and how the brand’s audience drives the business.
Food writers Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs turned a book deal into a digital publishing and retail company. Then they spent 10 years turning that company into something worth more than $100 million. They tell Recode Media’s Peter Kafka what they learned along the way — and why he was wrong to count them out years ago. Plus: A conversation with Pod Save America’s Dan Pfeiffer about the state of the 2020 race, the media strategies the candidates are using, and what they did and didn’t learn from 2016. Featuring: Amanda Hesser (@amandahesser) and Merrill Stubbs (@merrillstubbs), Co-Founders of Food52 and Dan Pfieiffer (@danpfeiffer) author of Un-Trumping America, co-host of Pod Save America Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Amanda Hesser is Founder and CEO of Food52. Kristina Wasserman is Director of Five Two, the line of crowd-sourced home products Food52 launched in 2018. On this episode of ITS, Ali talks with Amanda and Kristina about growing and staying connected with its community of 16 million people since 2009, and how Food52 leveraged its relationships to develop the highly successful and super-innovative product line.In The Sauce is powered by Simplecast.
If you’re looking for some dinner inspiration, look no further than Food52. And this week, we sat down with its co-founder and CEO, Amanda Hesser. She’s had some of our dream jobs, including apprenticing in kitchens across Europe and writing about food for The New York Times. In this episode, she reveals how she turned her passion for cooking and writing into a company. Episode highlights: Amanda shares how she learned to trust her gut (8:57), why she struggled in corporate environments (11:34), and how she acts on feedback from the Food52 community (22:40).
A conversation with Amanda Hesser. Amanda Hesser is CEO and co-founder of food, home, and lifestyle brand, Food52. Now in its 10th year, Food52 has evolved wildly from the recipe-sharing site it used to solely be, and recently closed a very large funding round (which we’ll get to in a bit). Amanda and I will be picking up where UK food writer Sybil Kapoor and I left off last week. We discussed what “taste” means, how it is biologically, culturally, and socially constructed, and why it’s important to continually challenge our own… and today, we’ll be exploring how “taste” is determined in our -- supposedly-- algorithmically-optimized worlds, if our unique “taste” is indeed our own, and whether SEO-driven content hurts or helps us.Meant to be Eaten is powered by Simplecast.
Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs worked together for five years before cofounding Food52 in 2009. That was enough time for them to recognize a gap in the online landscape. Americans were getting more serious about food and cooking as rewarding pursuits and social opportunities but the internet had yet to reflect that movement. "We felt that aside from food blogs, which were really exploding, there was no platform for real people to have a say, to share their knowledge and expertise, to have a social experience with one another," said Stubbs on this week's episode of the Digiday Podcast. Their answer was a website that serves as a content publisher, a forum and a good place to shop for pots and pans. And people do turn to the site for kitchenware: Food52's revenue comes roughly 75% from commerce and 25% from ads, Hesser said. The Chernin Group recently paid $83 million for a majority stake in Food52. In our latest podcast, Hesser and Stubbs discussed the 19th-century antecedent to crowdsourced recipes, the majority stake acquisition taken up in Food52 by the Chernin Group and a few straightforward recipes that everyone should know.
Founded as an online resource for recipes in 2009, Food52 has evolved into a unique and wildly popular hybrid of editorial content and e-commerce that recently attracted an $83 million dollar investment from The Chernin Group. On this episode of the Business of Home podcast, host Dennis Scully chats with co-founders Merrill Stubbs and Amanda Hesser about why their site defies easy categorization, how their readers helped them design one of their bestselling products, and why they prefer to think of Food52 as a world, not a brand. This episode is sponsored by Chairish and Google.
Right about now you might be thinking about doing a little garden cleanup and preparation for fall. One of the questions I get from gardeners this time of year has to do with whether or not to let some of your plants go to seed. After spending most of the summer deadheading and illuminating all of the brown stuff on our foliage, it can be tough for some gardeners to let things go to seed. But there are many benefits to letting some of the plants in your garden bolt in all their glory. First of all, there is tremendous ornamental value that extends into winter if you allow your perennials to keep their seed heads. (Think of the seeds heads offered by cilantro, kale, arugula, basil and so forth). Second, seeds offer food and habitat to native bees and other creatures. Thirdly, saving seeds from the garden saves you money because it eliminates the need to buy seed for next year. (Think of your tomatoes and other edibles). This practice also allows you to keep heritage plants alive for future generations. That’s exactly how the heirlooms we know and love have been passed down through the generations. The main thing, is to allow nature to do most of the drying for you. Your seeds will have a much higher success rate if you let them dry as much as possible before you collect them. And finally, allowing plants to go to seed means that you will have less to plant and subsequent seasons thanks to volunteer plants. Each year my garden is blessed with Queen Anne’s lace, Indian Paintbrush, Columbine, Forget-Me-Nots, Lettuce, Dill, Foxglove, Valerian, Lovage and Beets. All planted by God; all perfectly placed and happy as a result. My volunteers find a way to utilize the tiniest nooks and crevices in my garden. Brevities #OTD It’s the anniversary of the death of the landscape and portrait painter Thomas Gainsborough who died on this day in 1788. Gainsborough is known for his painting of the Blue Boy today. You can visit Gainsborough’s house in Suffolk. There is a garden there with a spectacular mulberry tree dating to the early 1600s during the reign of James I who encouraged the planting of mulberry trees in order to establish a silk industry. The king and his advisers lacked the knowledge about Mulberry trees of which there are two kinds. The white mulberry feeds silk worms and the black supplies the fruit. Gainsborough’s Mulberry (as well as every other Mulberry cultivated in England) was the black Mulberry. Although England never successfully became known for silk worms, the craft of silk weaving became firmly rooted. In addition to the large Mulberry, the Gainsborough garden includes two Beds for Herbs and another that is strictly devoted to plants used for dying fabric. The rest of the garden is made up of plants that were available during Gainsborough's lifetime. #OTD Today in 1820 the first potatoes were planted in Hawaii. Turns out the, the American brig, the Thaddeus, brought more than the first missionaries to the island brought. #OTD On this day In 1938, the Belvedere Daily Republican, out of Belvedere Illinois, published a small article about a tree named for Benjamin Franklin. Here’s what it said: "About 200 years ago, John Bartram, an eminent botanist, discovered a strange flowering tree in a Georgia forest and named it "Franklinia" in honor of his fellow Philadelphian, Benjamin Franklin." #OTD It’s the anniversary of the death of the poet Wallace Stevens who died on this day in 1955. Stevens said, "Death is the mother of beauty. Only the perishable can be beautiful; which is why we are unmoved by artificial flowers." Stevens was one of the most skilled poets of the 20th Century he lived his entire adult life near Elizabeth Park in Hartford Connecticut. By day, Stevens worked at Hartford insurance company where he became a Vice President and by night he was a poet; it was in an unusual combination. Stevens lived 2 miles from his work and he walked to work every day; undoubtedly using the time to find inspiration and to write poems. The park across from his house was one of his favorite places. Elizabeth Park is huge; covering over 100 acres with formal gardens, meadows, lawns, green houses, and a pond. Stevens wrote the following poems About Elizabeth Park: Vacancy in the Park The Plain Sense of Things Nuns Painting Water Lilies By 1950, Stevens was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for his poetry. And, here’s a little known fact about Wallace Stevens: He once started a fist-fight with Ernest Hemingway in Key West. Unearthed Words Today is the birthday of the victorian poet William Watson who is born on this day in 1858. Watson was overlooked two times for the role of poet laureate because he had included his political views about the government's policy regarding South Africa and Ireland into some of his poetry. Late in his life, he was invited to write a poem to commemorate the Liverpool cathedral in 1924 to help raise money. He did the job, but the church wasn’t thrilled that Watson had written about the squalid conditions of the cities population - which was in stark contrast to the Grand Cathedral. Once Watson died, England embraced him. Rudyard Kipling said he was. "someone who had never written a bad line". Here’s a poem by William Watson that gardeners will appreciate. It’s called simply Three Flowers: I made a little song about the rose And sang it for the rose to hear, Nor ever marked until the music's close A lily that was listening near. The red red rose flushed redder with delight, And like a queen her head she raised. The white white lily blanched a paler white, For anger that she was not praised. Turning I left the rose unto her pride, The lily to her enviousness, And soon upon the grassy ground espied A daisy all companionless. Doubtless no flattered flower is this, I deemed; And not so graciously it grew As rose or lily: but methought it seemed More thankful for the sun and dew. Dear love, my sweet small flower that grew'st among The grass, from all the flowers apart,— Forgive me that I gave the rose my song, Ere thou, the daisy, hadst my heart! Today's book recommendation: The Cook and the Gardener : A Year of Recipes and Writings for the French Countryside by Amanda Hesser This award winning book offers a lovely blend of cookbook along with garden stories that allow you to live vicariously with Hesser on a culinary school of estate in burgundy France. Since the book is about traditional French gardening and cooking, it also captures the local customs and wisdom cultivated in provincial France. Each chapter covers a month. The book can be read one season at a time, following along with the changes on the calendar and in the harvest. Each season offers a recipe for stock. The little stories about the gardener are delightful and there are wonderful tips that gardeners will appreciate appreciate. For instance, Amanda learned not to pick cabbages before a frost because the frost enhances the flavor. There’s a lovely recipe for pumpkin soup as well as all kinds of preserves. This is my favorite kind of book because it’s part cookbook, part garden story, and part history. Best of all, the tone is cozy-cozy, charming, and conversational. Today's Garden Chore Propagate some slips of mint. Cut it with a sharp knife below a joint, take off leaves from the bottom 2-3 inches, and then put your cuttings in a glass filled with water for a week or so. It will take a week or two for the roots to form, but don't change the water. (Go ahead and add more if needed). This is one of the simplest ways to propagate mint, as well as other herbs. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart Just a quick heads up that tomorrow, August 3, is Garden Day at Longwood Gardens. There is a keynote presentation from Matt Ross who is the Director of Continuing Education there. Matt will give two Keynote talks titled, "Go Green, Go White, Get Variegated" and another one called "Hidden Gems: the Best Gardens in America You’ve Never Heard Of." In addition, there will be nine breakout sessions to check out. So, if you live near Longwood, please go on my behalf and then tell me all about it. Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."
This week on Unorthodox, we're celebrating the publication of The 100 Most Jewish Foods: A Highly Debatable List with an episode dedicated to Jewish food. Throughout the episode you’ll hear from contributors to the book—including Jill Kargman, Gil Hovav, Gail Simmons, Shalom Auslander, Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs of Food52, and many more—who will be reading their entries. We talk to Tablet editor-in-chief Alana Newhouse, who edited the collection, as well as Gabriella Gershenson, who edited the recipes in the book. We also sit down with Dr. Beth Ricanati, the author of Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs, who tells us about the healing power of baking bread. Naama Shefi and Amanda Dell tell us about their work at the Jewish Food Society and their Schmaltzy storytelling events. Plus, Brette Warshaw explains the difference between corned beef and pastrami, listener Sonia Marie Leikam tell us about brewing kosher beer in Portland, and the story of a special pie delivery to Pittsburgh's Jewish community. Get your copy of The 100 Most Jewish Foods at Tabletmag.com/100JewishFoods. Tell us your Jewish food memories! Email us at Unorthodox@tabletmag.com or leave a message at 914-570-4869. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and join our Facebook group to chat with the hosts and see what happens behind-the-scenes! Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get new episodes, photos, and more. Get your Unorthodox T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baby onesies at bit.ly/unorthoshirt. The music on today's episode is by the klezmer duo Farnakht. This episode is sponsored by Hebrew College. The Jewish community needs rabbis who are creatively engaging with Jewish tradition, and Hebrew College’s rabbinical school is currently accepting applications. Visit Hebrewcollege.edu/unorthodox to find out more. This episode is brought to you by Unorthodox Wine, offering beautiful kosher wines from South Africa. Get free shipping on any order when you visit bitly.com/unorthowine. This episode is brought to you KOL Foods, delivering the best tasting, healthiest, most sustainable, and most ethically raised meat anywhere! Go to KOLFoods.com and use the code UNORTHODOX to receive a 10 percent discount on your next order. Unorthodox is supported by the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, which is presenting Diaspora Songs: Yiddish Meets Ladino, Thursday, March 28, at 7:30 pm. The event is a part of Carnegie Hall’s “Migrations, The Making of America Festival” and co-sponsored by The Yiddish Book Center. Visit jccmanhattan.org/music for tickets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
本期首先聊了这档节目的定位和决定做播客的初衷（0:45）；之后展开讨论了电视剧《我的天才女友》（6:12），以及它和原著《那不勒斯四部曲》的对比（29:50）；最后分享了近期喜欢的文艺作品（38:50）。 相关信息： - Ferrante's Weekly Column on The Guardian: https://theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/elena-ferrantes-weekend-column - n+1 article on Ferrante and Italian Feminism: https://nplusonemag.com/issue-22/reviews/those-like-us/ -「看过」Russian Doll, The Intern, Counterpart, Nigella Bites; -「读过」Fast Company Magazine, A New Way to Dinner by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, Woman of Substances by Jenny Valentish. 主持：小捌 & 赋格 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/GFtherapy/message
Kristen Miglore spends her days searching for genius—genius recipes and genius cooks, bakers, and pastry chefs. As the creative director of the Food 52 Genius franchise, she’s responsible for sussing out the most brilliant stuff around and sharing it with the Food 52 community via her Genius column and her two cookbooks, Food 52 Genius Recipes and Food 52 Genius Desserts. Kristen was hired by Food 52 founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs as the media start-up’s very first employee in 2009, and she has been with the company ever since. Tune in for her chat with Radio Cherry Bombe host Kerry Diamond as they discuss recipes, careers, and what makes something genius. Thank you to Le Cordon Bleu and Vital Farms Pasture Raised Eggs for supporting today’s show! Radio Cherry Bombe is powered by Simplecast
Amanda Hesser is responsible for the chic e-commerce and community site Food52, which she launched with co-founder Merrill Stubbs in 2009. Before she struck out on her own, the foodie had a thriving career as an editor for The New York Times and as a cookbook author, both unexpected paths seeing as the entrepreneur studied economics and finance in college. "I had no idea really what I wanted to do, but I knew the sort of lifestyle I wanted," she tells Hillary Kerr on episode 33 of Second Life. Here's how she made the leap from cooking to writing to running her own company.
Amanda Hesser is the co-founder and CEO of kitchen and home company, Food52, which she started with food writer, Merrill Stubbs, in 2009. From 1997 to 2008, Amanda was a reporter and food editor at The New York Times. She is author of Cooking for Mr. Latte: A Food Lover's Courtship, with Recipes, The Cook and the Gardener, and NYT bestseller, The Essential New York Times Cookbook. She co-author with Merrill Stubbs of several Food52 cookbooks including her most recent, A New Way to Dinner. This show is broadcast live on Wednesday's at 2PM ET on W4CY Radio – (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network (http://www.talk4media.com/).
Kristen Miglore is the Creative Director of Food52, a popular food and e-commerce website in the U.S. She's also the author of the just-released cookbook "Genius Desserts," a follow-up to her IACP award-winning, New York Times best-selling cookbook "Genius Recipes." Both books grew out of her beloved column on Food52, Genius Recipes. For the column, she finds the recipes that will become staples in your kitchen: either sharing the dishes that an entire generation knows and loves, or discovering and revealing little-known gems that ought to be shared widely. She also crowd-sources recipes from the F52 community and narrows it down to the ones you need to know. I love Kristen's path because it goes to show that there is often no "path" for following your passion. She was a picky eater as a child, then found a real love of cookbooks and cooking in college, where she was studying economics. Post-college, she was completely bored by her jobs in the econ industry, and her passion for food became stronger. "It became a clamor I just couldn't ignore." From there, the rest is history -- a Master's from NYU's Food Studies program and then Food52's first hire nearly a decade ago. The co-founders of Food52, Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, make a cameo in today's episode, too! I love these three ladies and I love this episode -- I hope you do, too!! --kristen miglore, genius desserts & food52-- instagram // @miglorious instagram // @food52 genius desserts // https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/552515/food52-genius-desserts-by-kristen-miglore/9781524758981/ --keep it quirky-- @keepitquirkypodcast - instagram @qkatie - katie quinn on instagram & twitter www.youtube.com/TheQKatie www.facebook.com/TheQKatie See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Secrets of the Southern TableA Food Lover's Tour of the Global SouthBy Virginia Willis INTRO: Welcome to the Cookery by the Book Podcast with Suzy Chase! She's just a home cook in New York City sitting at her dining room table talking to cookbook authors.Virginia Willis: My name is Virginia Willis, and my most recent cookbook is Secret of the Southern Table: A Food Lover's Tour of the Global South.Suzy Chase: This cookbook was a real education for me. In the forward, Sean Brock wrote, "There is a misconception around the world that southern food is a singular cuisine." Explain that statement.Virginia Willis: Well, I think to what Sean does, he sort of expounds on the fact that the south is roughly one million square miles, and so I really ... What he wrote in terms of we don't say, "I love European food," I think that that application applies to the south, that same sort of philosophy would apply to the south. The coastal cuisine of Louisiana is tremendously different from the coastal cuisine of Florida or the low country or Texas. So this southern food, when people say southern food or southern cuisine, there's actually many sort of pockets and micro-pockets throughout the south.Suzy Chase: In terms of the pockets and micro-pockets, describe the differences between, let's say the food in Appalachia to coastal Carolina to the gulf.Virginia Willis: So the food of Appalachia would be more of mountain cuisine, so corn grows there. It's not a great area for grains, so there'd be less wheat production. The soil is rocky, and it's mountainous. It's a poor party of the country. It always has been. The cuisine of the deep south, of course, that's traditionally a long time ago would've been the plantations and cotton, but it's just huge expanses of land for crops. And then of course the coastal cuisines, the various different types of coastal cuisines would've heavily relied upon seafood. So each sort of geographic area by what grows in the region sort of dictates what the food of that region is.Suzy Chase: You wrote, "Memory shapes the story of our lives and allows us to interact with the world." I adore the visual of your grandmother Louise sitting you in one compartment of her double-sided steel sink while she shelled peas or snapped beans in her kitchen with blue and white gingham curtains!Virginia Willis: You can't paint a better picture, right? I mean, it's just ...Suzy Chase: I know! So how did this memory shape your life?Virginia Willis: Well, my earliest memories are being in the kitchen with my grandmother and with my mother ... my grandfather. I mean, really, truly I was three years old when my family moved from Georgia to Louisiana, which also had tremendous influence. The best times of my life have sort of been in the kitchen. That's always been what grounded me, what intrigued me, what excited me, and so that kitchen, my grandmother and grandfather's kitchen, those heart pine walls and the linoleum floor and the gingham checkered curtains ... That really distilled it for me about like where my love of food and cooking started.Suzy Chase: I love that. I want to go there right now! The kitchen sounds so cute!Virginia Willis: It was. She had it packed full. It was this tidy little kitchen with this little eat-in table for the two of them. And when I was a little girl, my sister and I both had stools that sort of were kept underneath the table that we would pull out so the two adults and the two children could sit and eat there. And of course we had a dining room, but I just remember grits for breakfast. And in the summertime, my grandfather would bring in tomatoes, and my grandmother would chop up fresh tomatoes for the top of the grits. So it really just truly ... I think my mouth is watering right now!Suzy Chase: I know! ... So talk about the questions of ownership of southern cooking. We often hear about the nameless black women who helped mold southern cuisine, but talk about the nameless faceless poor white women that we don't really hear about.Virginia Willis: Yeah ... It's so complicated, and it's so heavy. It is still ... It's only been a couple hundred years since the Civil War, right? In the scope of things, it just hasn't been that long, and of course the Jim Crow ... African-Americans have been kept sort of subjugated for the few hundred years since then. But in terms of the ownership and the faceless white women, one thing to consider is that there really has always been a 1%. I mean, we've sort of reflected upon that more recently with the crash a couple years ago and such, but there really has sort of been always this 1%. And so in the south, there's this perception of great plantations and people owning multiple slaves, and this was true, and this was also part of the 1%. So there was undoubtedly a system that kept different classes and cultures in place, and I'm actually reading this really sort of academic book called Masterless Men, and it's about poor whites in the antebellum south. And because slavery existed, there really wasn't a working white class because of course there was slavery, and so that was technically free, if that makes any sense. I mean, other than the cost of the person. So it's truly complicated, but one thing that does come back is that there has always been poverty in the south for a great many of the people, both black and white included. And so one of the things that I like to take into consideration or I want us to start taking into consideration with our dialogue is addressing and understanding the implications of slavery but also understanding the implications that there were poor whites as well that didn't have slaves. And so there always has been this sort of faceless women cooking food for people.Suzy Chase: Why have we never heard that story? I'm sitting here thinking, "Well yes, there were white people who were out of work because of slavery."Virginia Willis: It's really ... The thing is, is that I don't think that we've actually come to grips as a country with the fact that we were proponents of slavery for centuries, and it did live and exist in the south for far longer than it did in the north, but let's not kid ourselves. There was slavery in the northeast when the colonies were founded, and there was a tremendous slave trade between the Caribbean and salt cod in New England and Europe. So I feel like that's part of the complication. We really ... In this day and age, it's hard for us to sort of grasp the fact that the United States is so deeply involved with slavery for so long, for centuries, truly for centuries ... And it did last longer in the south, and it did become ... It was the primary instigation for the Civil War. But you, I have an expression like, "The truth is always in the middle." It's easily not one side or the other. The truth is always somewhere in between, and I feel like that's just part of it. We're still trying to figure it out. I feel it's just part of my organic desire as a southerner and a food person and a cook to try to figure out some of these questions, and then also just my place as a person, right? This is a person. How does this happen? How does this play out? How does this affect people's lives? You know, it's a tumultuous time.Suzy Chase: The largest population of Vietnamese in the United States outside of California is Houston. Talk a little bit about the Vietnamese shrimpers in Texas.Virginia Willis: So that is such a fascinating story because when I tell people that there are more Vietnamese in Houston than anywhere outside of California in the United States, people, their eyes just pop up. People think, Houston, Texas and cowboys or oil, right? There are some people who are little bit more geographically aware might realize that it's on actually pretty close the coast, and there's this seafooding industry. But essentially, after the Vietnam War, when the Vietnamese were displaced and there was this humanitarian crisis, the UN placed these Vietnamese refugees, they were unceremoniously called the boat people ... The UN placed them in different places throughout the world, and Texas was one of them. And so one of the things that's so fascinating there is that the Vietnamese came in. Of course, Vietnam has two coasts. It's a seafaring country, and so the Vietnamese entered the fishing and shrimping industry. And in my research, I learned that of course sort of history repeats itself time and time again. When a new population moves into an area and they start taking the jobs, then the dominant population reacts, and the dominant population, being white shrimpers in Houston and Galveston and in the area, it became sort of like the battle zone. And the KKK protested and became involved. It was fraught. Ships were burned, and shots were fired, and all these things. So how does that play into my cookbook? I felt like it's important to tell those stories too. I mean, southern food isn't solely dewy-eyed women with gingham aprons, right? So there's the good, the bad, and the ugly, and if you love something or if you love a place or you love someone, you love it all or have to acknowledge it all. So I wanted to tell that story, but what has also happened ... There's this sort of twofold realization that I had. The Vietnamese culture is still fairly closed. I mean, it was only like 40 years ago, so in time, that's not much time. So my goal in visiting Galveston and the Houston area was to try to talk to Vietnamese shrimpers and to talk to them about their experience. I gave it my best journalistic shot, and I couldn't get anyone to talk to me.Suzy Chase: Really?Virginia Willis: I couldn't get anyone ... Yeah. I contacted the Texas seafood marketing association and part of the department of agriculture and asked for assistance getting me in touch with the Vietnamese shrimpermen. They had nobody. It was eye-opening. It was really ... It was a lesson, right? It's like only 40 years later, and this community is still pretty closed. I literally found myself like wandering the docks, walking into a clearly Vietnamese-owned seafood company, and they're like, "Oh, we're busy." And I'm like, "Oh, that's fine. I'll wait." "No, we're busy, and we're gonna be busy." I just met a gentleman mending nets and asked him if we could take his photograph, and he said no. He didn't mind his back being shown, but he didn't want to be a part of the story. So it was sort of disheartening on that end, and then we did meet some young, early 20-something Vietnamese kids that are probably third-generation now, maybe second, and they're like, "Hey, yeah. You can take our picture." So they were brothers, and one was sort of like a version of like a Vietnamese Ken, right? Ken doll? You know Ken?Suzy Chase: Yeah.Virginia Willis: Super clean cut and t-shirt and buff and clearly works out ... this really clean cut. And his brother was sort of the Johnny Depp of Vietnamese culture! He was great! I mean, seriously, it's like somewhere between Johnny Depp and Pirates of the Caribbean kind of Keith Richards look. And they were very open and would talk to us and had no problem. So I feel like the tides will turn, right, eventually. Assimilation does happen. It just takes awhile. And then the only thing I'd say lastly to that is that open or closed, the presence of so many Vietnamese in the Houston area has definitely affected the local food and culture. It's just present. We went to a place to eat, and they had ... They called them Vietnamese fajitas because everyone of course knows fajitas, but they were Vietnamese fajitas. But it wasn't a fajita at all. It was a Vietnamese rice paper wrap, right? And lots of restaurants have Vietnamese influence throughout. It's taken awhile, but the presence the Vietnamese in Texas is definitely affecting the local food wave there.Suzy Chase: And I think I read in the book that they call it Viet-Tex?Virginia Willis: Yeah! There's a Viet-Tex, and then of course there're Vietnamese all along the gulf because they didn't just sort of stay in Texas. They moved to Louisiana, and there's Vietnamese in Mississippi and Alabama as well. And so in Louisiana, there's a Viet-Cajun-Suzy Chase: Oh my gosh!Virginia Willis: Sort of this incredible mashup of like the creole spices and the southeast-Asian spices with like ginger and lemongrass and garlic. And it's this incredible mashups or fusions or just this natural evolution of what southern food really is.Suzy Chase: In addition to the recipes in each chapter, you have two essays about a farmer, catcher, harvester, or maker. One that caught my eye was Many Fold Farm. Talk a bit about Ross and Rebecca William, the new face of farming and their hurdles with a small farm.Virginia Willis: Oh, it's just sort of amazing. My goal of this book was to present this rich and diverse south, and so my goal was also to present the unexpected. So for example, in Georgia the average farmer is a 57 year old white male. I don't have any problems with 57 year old white men, and neither one did, but what I wanted to do is to not feature that, not to feature that man, to feature someone else. So Ross and Rebecca are this young couple. They've been high school sweethearts, stayed together through college, have purposefully chosen this region in Palmetto, which is 30, 45 minutes tops from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, the world's busiest airport. But it's completely rural, tranquil, quiet, countryside only 30 minutes away from Atlanta. And they have chosen this region because there are some pretty strict zoning laws that have been put into place by local governance to restrict sprawl. Atlanta has a ton of sprawl, like in all directions, and big buck stores and malls and traffic, traffic, traffic. We've got terrible traffic in Atlanta. So Ross and Rebecca started with chickens and have moved to goat cheese and different sheep milk cheeses ... winning award fast, but when I went and interviewed them, shortly thereafter, they had to put pause on the farm because the challenges that farmers face, right? They wanted to continue making this beautiful award-winning cheese, but to scale up, they would've had to have imported sheep's milk from the Midwest. And it sort of flew in the face of their values. So there's so many different considerations in farming, and the first one of course, you can be sustainable, but if it's not economically sustainable, it's not sustainable at all. And so that's sort of where it was left. They're hitting pause for a bit, so they can sort of regroup and figure out what they're doing.Suzy Chase: Then I read about the gospel of ham, Nancy Newsom. Newsom's country hams! Describe the country hams that she makes.Virginia Willis: Oh my god. I love Ms. Nancy. She is just amazing! So she's this sort of powerhouse of a woman and the ham is like nothing you've ever tasted before. It's just amazing ... So it would be ... For folks who aren't familiar with country ham, country ham is a traditional means of preservation that's hundreds and hundreds of years old. It's been long practiced in Europe, and then those traditions came to the south. And primarily hams are salted, and in the United States, in specifically sort of like in Appalachia, in the mountains, they were salted and smoked. So there's like a twofold process. Because it's so hot in the south, we have to have like extra layer of preservation. But Nancy's hams are this amazing salty and sweet and intensely savory ... absolutely incredible. It would be similar to one of the finest prosciutto hams from Parma. When sliced really thinly, it's exactly the same sort of quality of prosciutto.Suzy Chase: How did ham become a secret of the southern table?Virginia Willis: So pig is the meat of the south. If you kind of think about it, how did that happen? There's these large expanses, and in Texas, definitely beef is king. And there are cattle raised in the south, but for much of the south, these wide expanses would not have been used for pastureland. They would've been used from crops, for growing soybeans or cotton or corn or whatever it is. So pigs have long been sort of the meat that sustained the south, and then of course cured ham would be a natural extension of that. The pigs would be raised throughout the year, and then there would be a hog killing the fall. Of course when it got cooler, so that would be the perfect time to sort of cure the hams and put them in the smokehouse so that there would be meat for the wintertime. So ham is a very integral part of southern food throughout the south. So I say that southern food is different cuisines. Southern food throughout the south involves ham.Suzy Chase: What is one southern dish that you make that immediately brings you back to growing up in the south?Virginia Willis: There's so many, right? Like okra ... I literally have an okra pendant around my neck. I think okra is a sort of aggressively southern vegetable. It primarily grows in the south. But if I were to be really truthfully honest, even though I'm trying to present all these different recipes from the south, from different cultures, I think that biscuits are probably the food that takes me back ... going back to that gingham curtain and the kitchen of my grandmother's. I've been making biscuits since I was three years old in the kitchen, so that is firmly burned into my memory.Suzy Chase: You've wrote in the back of the cookbook, "As we drove across 11 states, the radio sat silent for hours upon hours as we examined our thoughts and beliefs regarding our homeland, perused its difficult past, contemplated its complicated current situation, and voiced our hopes for its future." Was there one person you met traveling while researching your cookbook along the way that made a huge impression on you?Virginia Willis: I can't truly weigh like one experience more than the other because it really was just a sort of journey of a lifetime, and pulling out one person, I think, would be too problematic because I met so many different voices. I might point towards Glenn Roberts at Anson Mills because I think that what he is doing is really incredible. Many people may have heard of Anson Mills. It's become sort of the darling of chefs in the past decade or so. But Glenn is a seed saver, and so what he's doing sort of extends past just the food of the south. He's sort of saving the world, which is obviously tremendous. But there have been so many seeds lost. There's been such an impediment to seed diversity. And Glenn is famous for grits and Carolina gold rice, but he's actually bringing back all these heirloom breeds and heritage breeds that have sort of almost fallen off the face of the earth. And he's working with Indian tribes and Rhode Island and Massachusetts like bringing heirloom corn from colonial times there. So he's, I think, indicative of this really sort of life changing things that are happening around southern food that extend past southern food.Suzy Chase: Last night for dinner, I made your recipe for catfish mulldown on page 203.Virginia Willis: Yum!Suzy Chase: Nothing knocks my socks off more than a simple delicious dish, and this blew me away! Describe this old-fashioned dish and give us a little background on your uncle Marshal, the fishing guide.Virginia Willis: Yeah, okay, so uncle Marshal was a river guide ... I don't know. Working on the river has always been sort of a roughneck, a rough position. I mean, if you think about the bars were on the river, and the gambling houses were on the river and all that. And I don't know anything about uncle Marshal doing that, but I do know that he was sort of perceived as this sort of character, right? And would take people fishing. So I'm not certain that he had it, but a mulldown was sort of a catfish stew, catfish and potatoes, more of like a stew, and it would've been put into a dutch oven and sort of layered and cooked in potatoes and catfish and salt pork or something like that, maybe a little bit of ketchup or something. And I've sort of turned it, sort of chefed it up a bit, for a lack of a better word, with cream and potatoes and catfish, and it just sort of becomes this sort of really rich but undeniably simple and satisfying supper. And of course catfish are native to the south. There are lots of catfish that live in our rivers, and Mississippi now is a big state for raising farm raised catfish. So catfish is a very southern fish for the inland, not the coast, not the ocean, but catfish is super southern fish.Suzy Chase: I love catfish. This dish was so darn good, and it only has four ingredients!Virginia Willis: My philosophy with food in general is to just use really good ingredients and do as little to it as possible to mess with it. Just trust the ingredient and honor the ingredient, and that comes from not sort of some recent chef driven revelation. My grandfather had a garden ... We had a garden my whole entire life. We ate summer squash in season. We ate eggplant in season. We ate okra in season. We ate collard greens in season. We ate sweet potatoes. I mean, everything was in season, and it wasn't some sort of highfalutin thing. It was just what it was. And so when you're dealing with something that's fresh out of the garden, not for a week in a produce department, or a week and a half in the produce department, it just tastes so much better.Suzy Chase: So before we wrap up, one last little story I have to tell you. In the 90s, I was a cookbook publicist in Kansas City. You'll see where this is going. And desperately wanted to move out of Kansas City to work with cookbooks on a larger scale, and it was a no-brainer to contact the absolute pinnacle of cookbook publicity at that time, which as Lisa Ekus. So she said she would talk to me if I wanted to come to Massachusetts, but I really wanted to move to New York City. So I was bummed that I never got the chance to meet her, and I never got the chance to learn from her. So fast forward, I was pleasantly surprised to see her name mentioned in the back of your cookbook. Talk a little bit about Lisa Ekus for the cookbook lovers who may not know her name.Virginia Willis: Well, I first have to divulge that Lisa is my partner, so she and I-Suzy Chase: Yes!Virginia Willis: She was first my agent, and then we became friends, and then it was like, "Oh wow, hey!"Suzy Chase: I love that!Virginia Willis: And so we fell in love! ... Gosh, I have such a smile on my face right now! I'm so glad. Lisa has been in the business of cookbooks and publishing and all things culinary for roughly 35 years. When I chose to send her the book proposal for Bon Appetit, Y'all, which was my first book that out ten years ago. I knew her to be the best in the business. I mean, that was just sort of, for me, being in food for roughly 25 years now, I at the time, 10 years ago, was like, "Well, if I'm gonna get an agent, I want it to be Lisa Ekus." So I sent her my proposal with an exclusive and said, "You're the only agent I'm sending it to. I'll give you six to eight weeks before I take it out anywhere else." She has worked with Julia Child and Jacques Pepin, Marcella Hazan and Amanda Hesser from Food 52 and on and on. It's just sort of comical when we go to a bookstore and she's like, "Oh, I worked on that book. Oh wait, I worked on that book." And so she is sort of a behind the scenes person that has had a tremendous amount to do with food and cookbook publishing for the past three decades, and I love her!Suzy Chase: I love that!Virginia Willis: Yeah!Suzy Chase: So for season four of Cookery by the Book Podcast, I'm kicking off a new segment called: my last meal. If you had to place an order for your last meal on earth, what would it be?Virginia Willis: I've been able to enjoy and taste and have so many crazy different things from food that the bazaar in Turkey to handmade Italian pasta to foie grois in France. I mean, I feel very fortunate about my life and my travels. I guess at the end of the day, if I were to say what I would want for my last meal, it would probably involve fried chicken and biscuits and butter beans because that's my comfort food. That's the food of my people, and that's what I grew up with. And hopefully I won't be putting in that order anytime soon.Suzy Chase: Definitely not! Where can we find you on the web and social media?Virginia Willis: Oh awesome! Well thank you Suzy! So people can find out probably more than they ever wanted to know by going to virginiawillis.com, and at the top of that page, at the home page, there are links to all of my social, but essentially it's @VirginiaWillis for Twitter and Instagram and all that. But if they go to virginiawillis.com, they'll be able to find my books and find my blog and social media and all that kind of good stuff and events that I'll be doing throughout the year.Suzy Chase: It was such a pleasure chatting with you! Thanks Virginia for taking us on a food lover's tour of the global south, and thanks for coming on Cookery by the Book Podcast!Virginia Willis: Thank you so much, and I'd say, Suzy, Bon Appetit, y'all!Suzy Chase: Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, and while you're there, please take a moment to rate and review Cookery by the Book. You can also follow me on Instagram @CookeryByTheBook. Twitter is @IamSuzyChase, and download your kitchen mixtapes, Music to Cook By, on Spotify at Cookery by the Book. Thanks for listening!
Women to Watch™ Media interview with Amanda Hesser Co-founder and CEO of Food52, a kitchen and home company serving a like-minded community of Foodies!
'The Partners'. Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs are the co-founders of Food52.com. Their goal was to create the first crowd sourced, online cook book. As you will see if you visit the site, they have already achieved much, much more than that - a fully realized food, cooking and lifestyle community and ecommerce destination. I talked to Amanda and Merrill about the birth and evolution of their partnership, about why they spent 5 years testing 1400 recipes and about the existential challenge of auditioning to play the part of you.
On this episode of HRN Happy Hour, former HRN host Helen Hollyman is back in the studio! Helen is the Editor-in-Chief of Vice's food channel, Munchies. After recapping our "Volumes & Vinegars" event and sharing some Tasty news, Kat catches up with Helen about her life since U Look Hungry, working with the legends of the food world, dealing truffles, and the intersection of food and pop culture. Helen Hollyman got her start at Food & Wine magazine and has worked under award-winning pastry chef Christina Tosi at Momofuku Milk Bar and food writers Mark Bittman and Amanda Hesser. She has written for a variety of publications which includes GQ, Saveur, Lucky Peach, and Time Out New York. She's a former cook, truffle dealer, and radio host. Helen's wildly allergic to pumpkin and bad press releases. You can check out more of her work at ulookhungry.com.
Amanda Hesser is the Co-founder and CEO of Food52, which has been described as an online food empire. Before Food52, Amanda was a celebrated food writer for the New York Times, the author of several cookbooks, including the New York Times Essential Cookbook, and had reached the top of her field. But she was determined to keep challenging herself and to forge a career that truly made her happy, and she made the bold leap to entrepreneurship. Neither of Amanda's parents went to college, and Amanda views this as an advantage -- she was not expected to conform to a set of rules or a particular path, so she carved her own.
Every episode of Tech Bites ends with a question. We ask guests for an actionable piece of advice we can all use in real life. Get advice here on everything from running a successful start-up to being a networking super-star to making a great dinner on the fly. Featuring: Episode 6: Ryan Sutton, restaurant critic Eater. Episode 12: Amanda Hesser, CEO and CO-founder Food52. Episode 45: Mitchell Davis, Vice President James Beard Foundation. Episode 52: Ben Leventhal, CEO/Founder Resy. Episode 57: Kerry Diamond and Claudia Wu, Co-Founders Cherry Bombe Magazine, Jubilee & Radio. Episode 71: Khee Lee and Rachna Govani, CEO/Founder Foodstand. Episode 77: Laurie Woolever, Writer, Editor and Bourdain Gatekeeper. Episode 83: David Sax, Writer. Episode 90: Damien Morgavero, Entreprenur and Author.
One presidential term goes down in history as serving borderline inedible food to the thousands of guests who dined there. What was on the menu, who was responsible, and the revenge theory behind it all. This episode of Burnt Toast was produced by Gabrielle Lewis and Kenzi Wilbur. Thanks also to Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, the founders of Food52— and to Laura Mayer and Andy Bowers at Panoply. Our ad and theme music is by Joshua Rule Dobson; All other music in this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions. Our logo is designed by Abbey Lossing. Please let us know what you think of the show—leave us a review on iTunes. Or get in touch: You can email us at burnttoast@food52.com.
One presidential term goes down in history as serving borderline inedible food to the thousands of guests who dined there. What was on the menu, who was responsible, and the revenge theory behind it all. This episode of Burnt Toast was produced by Gabrielle Lewis and Kenzi Wilbur. Thanks also to Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, the founders of Food52— and to Laura Mayer and Andy Bowers at Panoply. Our ad and theme music is by Joshua Rule Dobson; All other music in this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions. Our logo is designed by Abbey Lossing. Please let us know what you think of the show—leave us a review on iTunes. Or get in touch: You can email us at burnttoast@food52.com.
Chatting with Amanda Hesser & Merrill Stubbs, Founders of Food52. Music edited from 'Something Elated' by Broke For Free. freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_Fo…mething_Elated From the Free Music Archive. CC Attribution 3.0 Produced by Rachel James. Positively Gotham Gal is proud to be made in NYC.
What’s going on in the food media today? We talk to three leaders in the space to find out. We’ll chat with Adam Rapoport, editor in chief of the iconic Bon Appétit, about what it’s like to lead the iconic magazine and what chefs and restaurants are on his radar. And Food52 founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs stop by to talk about the much-loved website they started from scratch, plus their latest cookbook, A New Way to Dinner, and their NYC holiday pop-up.
We go behind the scenes of the Food52 Shop, which celebrates it's third anniversary this summer, and talk with founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs about what it's like to run a food business, what we've learned, and the mistakes we've made--including, yes, shipping fresh turkeys on Thanksgiving.
We go behind the scenes of the Food52 Shop, which celebrates it's third anniversary this summer, and talk with founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs about what it's like to run a food business, what we've learned, and the mistakes we've made--including, yes, shipping fresh turkeys on Thanksgiving.
Ellen Bennett of Hedley & Bennett joins us to moderate the latest panel in our Cherry Bombe Jubilee coverage, focused on how to be be the boss of others or just yourself. This panel was part of our third annual Jubilee conference, which was held earlier this year at the High Line Hotel in New York and featured interviews and talks with some of the most interesting women in the world of food. More than 300 guests attend the sold-out conference each year to network, hear the speakers, and enjoy food from the city’s hottest female-run businesses. The “How to Be the Boss” panel welcomed four powerhouses who shared their advice and perspectives on growing a business, managing others, and finding balance. Our panelists included Jodi Berg, CEO of Vitamix; Amanda Hesser, co-founder and CEO of Food52; Katrina Markoff, founder of Vosges Haut-Chocolat; and Christina Minardi, president of the Northeast region of Whole Foods Market. Our moderator, Ellen Bennett, is the founder and CEO of Hedley & Bennett, the apron brand beloved by many of the nation’s top chefs and kitchens.
On today's foodcast episode, Food52 co-founder Amanda Hesser talks about why she left the New York Times to start her own company. Plus, we catch up with senior editor Julia Kramer on day 12 of her great American road trip in search of the country's best new restaurants. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today we’re answering your questions about dinner parties. We talk tips and tricks, and then we’ll get to the good stuff: What to do if the food doesn’t come out, how to gracefully ask lingering guests to leave for the night, and why doing the dishes passive aggressively is never a good move.
Today we’re answering your questions about dinner parties. We talk tips and tricks, and then we’ll get to the good stuff: What to do if the food doesn’t come out, how to gracefully ask lingering guests to leave for the night, and why doing the dishes passive aggressively is never a good move.
Since it’s launch in 2009, Food52 has grown from crowdsourcing recipes to cooking apps and commerce, becoming a fixture of culinary life online. Today on Tech Bites, we’ll talk with Food 52 co-founder Amanda Hesser about creating a content + commerce brand online, and her advice to food tech start-ups. This program was brought to you by Visit Napa Valley. “We’re really a platform for great curious talented home cooks to reach a larger audience and share with others.” [21:00] –Amanda Hesser on Tech Bites
Here at Burnt Toast, we talk about the things that don’t make it onto Food52.com. Join hosts and founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, plus a rotating cast of smart, salty guests, for controversial cooking topics, food culture, and occasional good-spirited debate.
Here at Burnt Toast, we talk about the things that don’t make it onto Food52.com. Join hosts and founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, plus a rotating cast of smart, salty guests, for controversial cooking topics, food culture, and occasional good-spirited debate.
Amanda Hesser is a culinary icon named by Gourmet as one of the top 50 women in food. Tune in to hear Amanda's thoughts on writing, editing, cooking and launching Food52, an online community with great resources, delicious recipes, cooking contests and even a hotline.… Read more about this episode...
Amanda Hesser has written for The New York Times for years. She's currently an Editor for the Sunday Magazine, but has also spent the past five years sorting through the Times' extensive archives (back more than 150 years) and pulling together the greatest recipes, ever.
David Leite chats with food writer and cookbook author Amanda Hesser about her monumental tome, "The Essential New York Times Cookbook."
This week on Let’s Eat In Cathy spoke to Amanda Hesser, & Merrill Stubbs. The authors of Food52 created a system for vetting recipes, tips and tricks in forums both online and in the real world. They then compiled the most successful recipes and techniques (as voted by the Food52 community) into one compendium: the Food52 Cookbook. Tune in to hear Amanda & Merill describe the spark that lead to the creation of this new kind of cooking guide, and how they developed the process for vetting the huge amount of source material. Photo by Sarah Shatz
Culinary Divas, Amanda Hesser and Merill Stubbs pay a visit to the Savvy Talk Cafe to dish about their mega successful "Food52" Web site.
Culinary Divas, Amanda Hesser and Merill Stubbs pay a visit to the Savvy Talk Cafe to dish about their mega successful "Food52" Web site.
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