Amanda Visits East Fork’s New Brooklyn Store

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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Important matters first: my brother-in-law returned from Japan with these Kit Kat Santas, and my first thought was, Why does Japan always have cooler stuff than us? But then I learned that we have Kit Kat Santas too—at Walmart, on Amazon—and then I was bummed that my fantasy about the perfection of Japan had been spoiled. Desire is illusory.

We do have Teddie’s Apple Cake, which reminded me how much I like a traditional, fully-loaded 1970s fruit-and-nut cake.

Hotline is re-launching! Read all about it here.

When you have an e-commerce company, it’s like coaching a sports team. Every day, you try out new players—that is, products—and see how they do. Behind the scenes, there’s a lot of calling new plays and chatter among the staff. Sometimes there’s bellyaching (“Why didn’t the Reel we did perform?”) and there’s certainly plenty of Monday morning quarterbacking (“The photos should have shown the handle feature!”). And on good days, it feels like watching the Kansas City Chiefs crisply move the ball down the field to score, time after time.

On Sunday, we sent out an email and posted a Reel about a whipped cream canister that you can use to make mountains of fluffy cream. By mid-morning, I got a text from a colleague, “We are selling so many of these whipped cream canisters. It’s wild.” I checked our sales dashboard, and got that giddy feeling that happens only when we find a product that we think is great, that we think you’ll love, and then you do! Fairly often, this doesn’t happen. (Like this time and this time.) For the whipped cream canister, the stars aligned. If you haven’t yet seen it, here it is. Get in on the fun. We’re all making peppermint whipped cream for our hot chocolate this year!

The next one I’m betting on is a water bottle that can carbonate your water on the go. Watch for it!

… that, today, Food52 has exclusive one-day early access to the 4-quart Staub Cocotte sale. Here. There, I cooperated!

This is the week that I order holiday wreaths for my mom (this one), my sisters and brother (this one), and my extended family (this one).

We’re in it. I was reminded of this on recent trips to San Francisco and Sag Harbor, where the pastry mojo is revving high. I sent my friend Liz a photo of the black sesame croissant loaves from Juniper in San Francisco, and she immediately texted back a photo of a mini cardamom croissant loaf from Saint Bread in Seattle. The croissant loaf is no small undertaking, but for stouthearted weekend bakers, here’s a recipe.

Breads are generally in a pretty good place, too. For Thanksgiving, you can’t go wrong with Nea’s milk bread buns. But In case you want to shake things up, try folding some pepitas into your focaccia dough and layering on some butternut squash.

East Fork Pottery, our friends in Asheville, North Carolina, who were hit hard by Hurricane Helene, surprised us all and went ahead with the opening of their new store in Brooklyn. Here’s to resilience! This longtime Shop partner and darling maker of plates, bowls and other tableware now has a smartly designed shop along a strip of Atlantic Avenue that, to the surprise and delight of this longtime Brooklynite, is becoming a shopping destination. There’s Mud nearby, as well as Michele Varian, Assembly Line, and Toast. Add it to your travel list!

Our Cookbook Club Sweets Swap at Food52 HQ is coming up on December 5. Bring your favorite cookie or dessert from Renato Poliafito’s Dolci! (he’ll be there!). Details here.

I ended my hustle-and-bustle week with a meeting at Union Square Hospitality Group’s offices, in Manhattan, where this poster hangs. The small text reads: “The road to success is paved with mistakes well-handled.” Over the weekend, I went for an evening walk with Tad, and the moon won the week.

Here’s to taking it all in—have a wonderful week!

Amanda