What they are saying about the death of Gourmet
Lots of chatter about Conde Nast killing Gourmet magazine as it closed in on 70 years as am American institution. Here is a collection of comments from other newspapers, magazine and the blogosphere:
"I can't talk about it now, it's too raw. I've got to pack up my office," editor Ruth Riechl to the Los Angeles Times' Russ Parsons on Monday after she was told the magazine was closing.
“It will be a very different culinary world without Gourmet,” said Jacques Pépin, a dean of the French Culinary Institute in New York, author of numerous cookbooks, and a former contributor to the magazine. “When I came to the U.S. 50 years ago, there was Gourmet; that was it.” - www.bloomberg.com
"I haven't had a subscription or bought an issue in years. To me, in recent years it seemed to be speaking to a very particular sort of reader -- an upperclass-ish Upper East Side lady-who-lunches, maybe -- and was less about food than about that person's... idealized culinary lifestyle, I guess. Put another way, it was perhaps a little too New York for its own good, and I'm not at all shocked." - John Rosevear on www.egullet.com.
“The demise of Gourmet has terrible implications for cookbook publishing,” said Pat Adrian, former editor-in-chief of the Good Cook cookbook club. “It signals that people don’t want to know the cultural background of the food or recipe they prepare.” - www.bloomberg.com
"This is a sad day for anyone who loved the magazine for its recipes, lush photographs and endlessly curious, immensely smart travel and food writing," New York Times food critic Sam Sifton.
"I've read both of those magazines for 15 years, but they're totally different magazines," says Lorraine Fina Stevenski of Clearwater, a recipe developer and gourmet home cook. "Gourmet isn't really for the average home cook. Ruth Reichl is a home cook, not really a chef, so I'm surprised she's let this magazine get away from her like this. But the recipes aren't really easy to do, and the stories are more geared toward what's going on around the world." St. Petersburg Times
Unfortunately, Gourmet Magazine has gone the way of so many other food-themed publications - recipes that cater only to a select audience. The same can be said for Better Homes & Gardens, Good Housekeeping, etc. These days, you're either a gourmet chef or you're not. And who can afford ingredients that can only be used in one dish.......not this home cook!!!!
Posted by: Sue C. | October 10, 2009 at 06:27 PM
Sorry to see it go, but how much of an institution can it be if it can't stay in business? Readers have obviously turned elsewhere.
Posted by: Dave | October 14, 2009 at 01:42 PM