Wednesday, October 7, 2009

gourmet magazine folds




After years of being at the forefront of cuisine and months filled with whispers of trouble, Gourmet magazine has closed its doors.
So sad.
So many questions.
Why? Beyond dismal ad revenues, which could partially be attributed to the economic climate?
Which magazine will step up to be the classic, sophisticated authority on food that Gourmet was? Bon Appetit is nice, but focused much more on trendiness and unambitious, comfortable recipes.
Where will all the talented writers and cooks employed by gourmet go?
Will someone take the name and go independent? Ruth?
I feel so alone...

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Here are three suggestions! I haven't decided which one I'll pick up yet - still reeling from the news.
1) Saveur (Kinda love James Osland after top chef masters but i've never been so moved as to purchase on an impulse in the checkout line)
2) Gastronomica (people who read it say it's like the New Yorker of food - I dig)
3) The Art of Eating (had a subscription but dropped it. the writing is fantastic but it was tough to get through every quarter and the recipes are less accessible than gourmet or bon apetit.)

I'm glad you picked the food porn cover for your post. I'm also assuming you read Christopher Kimball's article about it in the NYTimes.

m*buckley said...

Hey...thanks for the thoughts.
I had Saveur for a while, but something about it just doesn't get me excited like Gourmet (or even Bon Appetit, or their photos, at least). I used to read Gastronomica when I had access to free copies, but it's pretty thick and not recipe oriented at all...
I will have to check out Art of Eating. I actually saw it at the grocery today and was mildly curious. About to go read Kimball's article...thanks for the lead!