According to published reports, Conde Nast plans to cease publication of Gourmet magazine.
Though rumors of an impending demise of one of the company’s two food magazines, Gourmet and Bon Appetit, had been circulating for some time, bets were on the latter.
Gourmet is the grande dame of the food world, in continuous publication since 1940, not to mention the pulpit from which the Great and Powerful Ruth Reichl sends out her missives to the food masses.
Known as the most literate and lush of the food mags, and with rising readership, the surprise closure a stunner. Pubs had said only last year that the idea of closure was “ridiculous”. Though like most publications, most of Conde Nast’s magazines have seen a radical decline in advertising over the last several years. Also closing are Cookie (a modern parenting magazine), Modern Bride and Elegant Bride.
Word is that the pub’s last issue will be November, though there are conflicting reports that it may keep on until December. Foodies are already rallying to the mag’s defense, seeking a way to save the publication (though that seems a long shot. Follow @savegourmet on twitter. Reichl tweeted this morning: “Thank you all SO much for this outpouring of support. It means a lot. Sorry not to be posting now, but I’m packing. We’re all stunned, sad.”
Recipes from the magazine will live on at epicurious.com.
Personally, it’s never been my favorite food mag — seeming a New York-centric and out of touch with the times. But it was comforting to know it was there, ever-present in the background, bringing its unique perspective to the food world. I’ve been only moderately impressed with the revamp of Bon Appetit, a clear nod to the younger, 30-second attention span of Rachel Ray and Food Network audience.
What’s your take?
Not really surprising, it was a lifestyle magazine only with only a tenuous link to actual food anymore.
I think it was geared at people that want to think of themselves as cultured foodies but don’t want to actually eat in case it makes them fat, so it only contained the worst recipes and least appetizing photography to be on the safe side and as much zero calorie filler as possible. It was food for people that hate food, and where’s the sales pitch in that?
Shocked and sad. I find Gourmet to be much more than a “cooking magazine” and wonder if it’s stance about the politics of food had anything to do with it’s demise. While a bit east coast centric, I loved the inclusion of London’s restaurants as I am in England frequently for family visits. And there is no equal in terms of food photography. I have no intention of buying other Conde “Nasty” products and have told them as much.
I gave up my subscription a long time ago. Gourmet started to go downhill after Ruth Reichl took over as editor — too many self-important, navel-gazing articles about chefs and food and fewer recipes and actual useful content.
The photography was worth the price of admission and the writing WAS high quality. I had about a 2-decade long subscription, which my mother started as a birthday present. Since my waistline couldn’t handle it, a lot of my food appreciation was done via armchair means.
I thought Ruth Reichl did a great job of transitioning the content into the new millennium. The 5-ingred. recipes were easy and tasty. Newer sections addressed more technique and ingredient education. Sad… I too would have rather they had cut Bon Ap.
Used to be a good magazine in the 80s
Gourmet seemed to be one of the few cooking/foodie glossies that wrote about broader food and farming issues. Sorry to see that go away.
You raise very good points, I agree. I even use Martha Stewart Every Day Food more than those for weekday meals – so good! I rarely buy all of those magazines. Publications also needed to get into the online game more, especially robust, beautifully designed online password-protected content for subscribers.
I was saddened to hear about the demise of Gourmet magazine.I have been a subscriber for over 30 years and also have a great collection of early 1940′s issues. I have always found it to be exceptionally well-written and full of lovely photographs. The fact that I don’t travel in the often-monied circles never diminished my enjoyment of all of the articles. I too,am a world traveller,but I don’t eat at Michelin-starred establishments.I don’t consider Bon Appetit to be any kind of substitute!
Shocking, I tell you, shocking! I have been a loyal subscriber for over thirty years and have enjoyed a lot of their dinner menus and recipes as well as their beautifully photographed travel articles. I have used their city and resort guides many times, the most recent their guide to Rome in the the last year. I agree that they may have recently been a bit NY-centric, but in previous years they used to give equal time to both coasts by having Carolyn Bates review the California restaurants and a variety of columnists the NY and east coast places. Since I used to spend a lot of time on the east coast, the magazine fit my needs well. I guess I knew the end was near several years ago when I was able to pitch out boxes of old issues since some of my favorite recipes were now on Epicurious. Farewell, old friend; it was a lot of fun, and thanks for everything.
We had noticed that the issues were getting a bit thinner (less ad revenue) lately and some of the recipes seemed to be repeats with very minor variations of ones we had seen a couple of years back. So we were not going to renew anyway, for which I am now somewhat relieved. The one subscription we are keeping is Fine Cooking, which seems to be working pretty hard at coming up with original ideas. I suppose that’s hard for a cooking magazine to do consistently, and something Gourmet was not that good at. But I certainly learned things from Gourmet, and I wish Ms Reichl the best in whatever she does next.