News Amanda Hesser: Cookbook Author These 40 up-and-comers—all 40 years old or younger—are changing the way Americans eat and drink, from a vodka distiller who rewrote Nebraska's Prohibition-era laws to a White House chef who's fiercely fighting to improve school-lunch programs. By Food & Wine Editors Updated on March 31, 2015 Share Tweet Pin Email Amanda Hesser: Cookbook Author Photo © Sarah Shatz / W.W. Norton & Co. Amanda Hesser, 39, didn't just update the 1961 edition of The Essential New York Times Cookbook; she excavated more than a century's worth of recipes from the newspaper's archives for an account of the evolution of American cooking. (The green-pea fritter recipe from 1876, for example, still sounds great.) She's also at work on another project: Food52, a website she created with Merrill Stubbs where amateur cooks submit recipes to be tested by experts and voted on, with each week's winning dish earning a spot in a cookbook due out next year. Plus Go to the Food52 website More Inspiring Food Personalities 40 and Under Jennifer Rubell Siggi Hilmarsson Sam Kass Zach Brooks Robert Litt Brett Beach & Tim McCollum Geoff Bartakovics & Nick Fauchald Matt Timms Michael Kirban & Ira Liran Emily Olson & Rob LaFave Brendan Newman & Rico Gagliano Matthew Cain Anya Fernald Kenji Lopez-Alt Frances Ro Charles Bieler Chris Parachini & Brandon Hoy Tata Harper Annemarie Ahearn Minh Tsai Amanda Hesser Matt Jennings Alison Pincus Tracey Brandt Rob Cooper Christian Ettinger Peter Karpinski Nicolas Jammet, Nathaniel Ru & Jonathan Neman Zac Triemert Anthony Myint & Danny Bowien Jeremy Tooker Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit