Biography of Amanda Hesser

Amanda Hesser is a chef, cookbook author and food reporter. She is currently the editor for The New York Times style magazine, T Living. She is best known for the columns she wrote for the New York Times Magazine for several years, which were collected in her second book.

She was born in Doylestown, PA. After graduating from Bentley College in 1993, her interest in cooking sent her to work in New York, and eventually to study in Europe after receiving the Les Dames d'Escoffier scholarship. Her studies took her to Germany, Switzerland, Rome, and eventually France.

During her time in France, Hesser cooked at L'Essentiel in the Haute Savoie under Chef Jean-Michel Bouvier as well as the Chateau du Fey in Burgundy. While apprenticing as a personal cook to the family of the founder, Anne Willan, Hesser earned a Graduate Diplome from the Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne. It was during this time in France that Hesser's writings started appearing in books and newspapers, including The Washington Post.

Her first book, released in 1999, is titled The Cook and The Gardner. Hesser also wrote a book entitled Cooking for Mr. Latte, which was published in 2003. This bestselling memoir/cookbook details her relationship with, and subsequent marriage to, Tad Friend, a New Yorker staff writer. Both books received the International Association of Culinary Professionals' Literary Food Writing award. Her next book, a collection of New York Times recipes from 1853 until today, will be published in 2007.