Tour The Eclectic, Aromatic Office And Test Kitchen Of Cooking Startup Food52 [PHOTOS]

Former New York Times food editor Amanda Hesser and writer Merrill Stubbs founded Food52 in 2009 as a way to fill a gap they observed in traditional food media.

Click here to go straight inside Food52's kitchen >

"As editors and writers, we had been deeply immersed in the food revolution that was going on, but if you looked online there was no place that really reflected that - where anyone who was engaged in cooking could go and get high-quality recipes, ask questions about cooking, buy a set of plates, or get inspiration for a weekend of entertaining," Hesser said to Business Insider. "We felt like there was a great need for this because food was becoming more important and interesting to people, and no one was tackling it."

Food52 is an inherently social model, featuring top-notch recipes accessible by cooks at different skill levels. Users can create their own content, peruse recipes posted by others, and even ask questions on the Food52 Hotline.

The site also recently launched Provisions, a boutique online marketplace that features the unique ingredients and tools users may need to cook the recipes they see listed on the site.

Hesser and Stubbs worked out of cafes and their own homes until being invited to share a space at Dogpatch Labs at the end of 2010. They then moved into General Assembly for two years before moving into their own Manhattan office in February of this year.

Finding an appropriate place for the company was no easy feat.

"We really wanted a space that could act as a set, where it could be for video shoots or for photo shoots, and that could work for both Provisions and Food52," Hesser said. "Some buildings don't want food smells, so we had a challenge finding a place that would allow us to build an actual functioning kitchen but that also had great natural light and was affordable."

The result is a space that is at once airy, eclectic, and filled with plenty of personal touches. Office designer Brad Sherman helped Hesser and Stubbs source materials like reclaimed wood and antique cookware from local flea markets.

We visited Food52's office and test kitchen to see the magic for ourselves.