Day of Mourning in Foodie Land

 

Wow! This hit was right in the kisser today. Gourmet Magazine is folding??? Next month's is the final issue. As a former journalist (book editor and freelance writer) and present-day chef, this was very sad news to read today. Gourmet is a food bible, and Ruth Reichl its lording Goddess. The Web site literally got up and running just this year (Gourmet was late to the online game, probably because the magazine has for so long captured its readers the old-fashioned way--through paper and print.), and now it may not survive the year. I was suspicious when its infamous Politics of Food column was dropped a few months ago. I suspect that's an expensive one for the mag to maintain, as it requires a journalist and a foodie to really get to the meat of the story. Even as an equally avid Bon Appetit fan, I was sorely disappointed to hear that one will stay afloat, while Ruth et al are on the streets looking for work. Having lived through a fair number of failures and takeovers in the book publishing world, I know this story too well. I just wish some famous food giant out there in celebrity chefdom would consider pitching some money at Conde Nast and keeping the Gourmet food dream alive. I can't imagine my mailbox this December without it. :-(