Amanda HesserSpeaker and Booking Agent Information

Hesser was involved in two cases of conflict of interest while working at the Times. In 2004, she awarded the restaurant Spice Market a three-star rating without disclosing that the year before, the restaurant’s owner, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, had provided a complimentary jacket blurb for her book Cooking for Mr. Latte. In 2007, Hesser published a favorable review of Vegetable Harvest by Patricia Wells, without noting that in 1999, Wells had provided a jacket blurb for Hesser’s book The Cook and the Gardener. In both cases, the Times subsequently pointed out the conflicts of interest with editors’ notes.

While Hesser left the Times in March 2008 to focus on the development of Food52 she continued to write the "Recipe Redux" feature for the Times magazine until February 27, 2011.

As co-founder and CEO of Food52 she has raised two rounds of investment from parties including Lerer Ventures and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments. Food52 has won numerous notable awards including the James Beard Award for Publication of the Year (2012) and the IACP Award for Best Website (2013).

Hesser was featured in Food & Wine's 40 under 40 list, was named one of the 50 most influential women in food by Gourmet Magazine, and had a cameo as herself in the film Julie & Julia.

Hesser lives in Brooklyn Heights with her husband, Tad Friend, a staff writer for The New Yorker, and their two children.