Founder Files: Basque-Style Cheesecake, Newsletters You Like & New Photos

Welcome to the latest edition of Food52 Founder Amanda Hesser’s weekly newsletter, Hey there, it’s Amanda, packed with food, travel, and shopping tips, Food52 doings, and other matters that catch her eye. Get inspired—sign up here for her emails.

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August is a weird month at Food52. It’s tomato season, which means we are locked and loaded to maximize nightshade intake (this year we’re doing a Tomato-thon; don’t miss the fried tomato sandwiches. But it’s also the beginning of our holiday freight train. Products from all over the damn world start showing up at the office, our photo studios go into overdrive, and Jojo, our GM, starts playing Andy Williams’ “It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” at planning meetings to get everyone in the mood.

In the coming months, I’ll share my bets for holiday best sellers, but in the meantime, here are a couple of items I’d order before they sell out:

• This 1920s-style Italian glassware, only available through us.
• These bread baskets made with wood pulp and manufactured right here in Brooklyn!
• These assorted colored tumblers. Our buyers nudged me to tell you about this brand’s other glassware but I like the texture of this set. Plus, it’s my newsletter. I’ll do whatever I feel like I wanna do, gosh! (I’ll send a set of the tumblers to the first person who emails me the movie reference: [email protected].)

Anyway, let’s get back to tomatoes, corn, and stone fruits. César did a really cool thing with a Triple-Burnt Corn Basque cheesecake by infusing the cream with charred corn kernels. And Nea paired a peach-and-charred-corn salsa with shrimp tacos.

Baking Queen Dorie Greenspan and farmer-turned-chef Abra Berens will be answering member questions for our upcoming Cookbook Club AMAs. Sign on up here.

A couple of weeks ago, I shared my newsletter reading list and asked for yours. Here are some of the responses:

From Maggie:

• I really love Restaurant Dropout, which accompanies Zoe Barrie's TikTok series—smart ingredient prep for a week's worth of dinners that always look really good and fresh.
• I always enjoy the deep dives on Anne Helen Petersen's Culture Study, and I love reading about upcoming cookbooks on Stained Page News by Paula Forbes.
• Gotta throw in a plug for my own new newsletter as well—What To Drink shares fun cocktail (and booze-free) recipes and tips, plus beer, wine, and books I recommend.

From Paul:

I don't have three recs worth sharing, but I often turn to this food newsletter for a laugh. I think you'll find it well written and perhaps a bit...ridiculous. (And Paul is right—I love it.)

From Stephanie:

• Stephanie’s Dish
• ZoëBakes – The best baker, hands down, with beautiful creations, and she is a good dancer!
• Ruhlman’s Newsletter – Drinks, fun and ratios

From Patti:

Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance

From Selinda:

Wondercade by Neil Patrick Harris – A world of food, drinks, entertainment, and magic

We’ve been experimenting with our product photography, and I wanted you to be the first to see. Let me know if you have any feedback at [email protected].

Merry tomato season!

Amanda