If you haven’t already heard, today’s news that 68 year old Gourmet magazine would be shuttering has completely rocked the food world. I can’t lie — I grew up reading Food & Wine magazine, and hadn’t gotten into Gourmet until 
very recently. But I must say, after subscribing to it this year, I had planned on it being the ONLY food mag I would continue to receive. My F&W subscription just ran out; Bon Appetit will do the same in a few more months, and I was fine with letting one — probably both — fall to the wayside. Something in Gourmet had spoken to me though, and I couldn’t wait to show my support of Ruth and the gang and renew in a few months time.
I guess now I’ll just be reading it online.
It’s disappointing to say the least, but not surprising. Rumors of a Gourmet shutter have been circulating for months, but the assumption amongst the industry was that BA would be the one to get the axe.
Still, I’m hopeful that an online version of the magazine will be spectacular. Just look at the recently launched Lonny Magazine, which fills a void in the design magazine space left wide open since Domino folded. (If you like looking at pretty rooms and getting inspired, check out Lonny. Seriously, it’s amazing!)
I haven’t even read the October issue of Gourmet yet, with its beautiful red cover featuring a glistening candied apple. And the November issue should be gracing my mailbox shortly — maybe even today. I think tonight, since Joe is out at a work dinner, I’ll curl up with my back issues and a glass of rosè and enjoy the goodness the magazine offered all these years. And also, laugh about this: [via Eater National]
[ADDENDUM: The ironic thing in all this is I still mention canceling F&W and BA subscriptions. And then I’ll probably write a similar entry if one of those gets the axe (though really Condè Nast, where would that leave you? And I’m gonna go out on a (very thick) limb here and say that F&W is the crown jewel of AmEx Publishing, so I don’t think either of these will be disappearing from our newsstands anytime soon). Maybe I should renew everything, and add Saveur to the mix, too. Jesus, my mailman will think I’m a nutjob.
And I wonder if the slow death of the food magazine giants spells growth for any of the smaller books…say, any of these “10 Coolest Specialty Food & Drink Magazines“? Word on the street from BlogHer Food two weekends ago was that Edible SF was having trouble drumming up the funds to produce its next issue. I hope that if anything, Gourmet‘s closing will be a clarion call to food lovers everywhere. Eat! Read! Repeat!]
