Gourmet Magazine to Stop Publishing
America’s Oldest Food Magazine Closing its Doors
On October 5th, 2009, publishing company Condé Nast made an astonishing announcement: Gourmet Magazine, America’s oldest current food magazine and a leader in the food-loving world since its founding in 1940, would be shutting down.
Gourmet will cease monthly publication in November 2009, leaving 950 000 disappointed subscribers with competitor magazine Bon Appétit, also owned by Condé Nast, for the remainder of their subscription. The announcement was a surprise to the public, including Gourmet Magazine editor, Ruth Reichl, who heard about the decision that morning. Reichl, former restaurant critic of the New York Times, had been with the magazine for the past 10 years and is a respected figure in the food-loving world.
Conde Nast to Focus on Bon Appetit
Condé Nast will be focusing on Gourmet’s competitor, Bon Appétit, and concentrating more on the epicurean category of Bon Appétit. Bon Appétit is a more economical, recipe-driven magazine, with fewer of the in-depth, well-read articles for which Gourmet had become popular.
The economic downturn has hit the publishing industry hard, with many magazines like Gourmet struggling for advertising dollars. The move to shut down Gourmet by Condé Nast executives is an economic one, especially as they own Gourmet’s main competitor, the more widely-read Bon Appétit. Gourmet had received some criticism for catering to a narrow food elite, and becoming less and less relevant to the times.
Gourmet a Cultural Icon
Since its foundation in the post-WWII years, the articles in Gourmet represented a well-traveled, thoughtful approach to food, with many pieces contributed by well-known writers and cooks such as James Beard, Laurie Colwin, and M.F.K. Fisher. For years, it inspired home cooks as well as aspiring chefs with its insightful articles and recipes, as well as its stunning food photography and design. Gourmet Magazine inspired chefs such as Alice Waters of the celebrated restaurant, Chez Panisse, who told the New York Times that a review in Gourmet used to mean everything. The publication was a cultural icon that represented good living and a whole-hearted enjoyment of food.
Readers looking for an alternative to food magazines that feature the quick, economical and easy recipes particularly popular in the global economic downturn mourn the loss of Gourmet as a cultural symbol.
Gourmet will continue to maintain its recipes on Gourmet.com and Epicurious.com, and will continue to publish cookbooks, but its last printed magazine issue will be published in November 2009.
Sources:
LA Times, "Gourmet Magazine to Stop Publishing" October 5, 2009
The New York Times, "Closing the Book on Gourmet" October 6, 2009
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