I share your sentiment. Recent news from CN was they were converting Gourmet into an 'online only' property — an iPad app. Not the same as a monthly publication filled with a curated mix of delectable food offerings, editorial on sojourns, style, and how to's.
Here here! Bon Appetit is just not cutting it. I want interesting and thought provoking articles, great recipes, and gorgeous photography. I'm really turned off by the harsh, flashed out photos that are used in Bon Appetit.
I agree. I've been a Gourmet subscriber for years and I'm very unhappy about the canceling of it. In an newspaper article that was published when they announced its cancellation, it was stated that consumers wanted recipes that can be thrown together quickly and cheaply and that there wasn't really a big enough market for Gourmet. Lord help us if they think this is true. Not all of us want to dump cans of soup into our recipes and vacation in Disneyland.
I want my Gourmet back, too! I was a faithful subscriber for 36 years – and isn't it us "mature" subscribers who still read print media? And are willing to pay for the pleasure of a truly great magazine? Come on, Conde Nast, spend a little less on Vogue and Vanity Fair and give us back Gourmet!
Amazing photo. Good food always comes with pictures of everyday situations, but full of magic and poetry. To remember good times around the table and imagine new tastes.
Here, here! bon appetit just doesn't cut it…and i've now subscribed to Saveur, but i agree. it was about way more than the recipes… the photos were gorgeous and definitely made me want to experience everything first hand.
I had only been reading Gourmet a short time when they pulled the plug- but I loved it and miss it! Bon Appetit is okay, but not as good. Let's start a letter writing campaign. They'll probably want us all to subscribe, but that would be okay with me.
I loved Gourmet also – I would get lost in the beauty, the lushness, the fantasy of each gorgeous issue. The photography and graphics were sublime. Oh and the recipes weren't bad either. I was shocked when it ended – I was just about to subscribe ! I feel the same way about Domino which was also a favorite. I have all my old issues of both mags, and often pull out a pile of each and look through them as if it was the first time….and the magic feelings instantly return. Sigh….
I share the pain and the urgency. Really really miss it! I think there is a webpage and an iPad app, but it would never be the same. Wasn't there a Facebook page asking for its come back?
I still feel sick about Gourmet being shuttered. I subscribed for 20 years (still have them all) and curse under my breath each time Bon Apettit shows up in the mail.
This motivated me to check out Gourmet.com Enjoyed the October 2009 issue, where different people were given $1,000 to select menus at restaurants in different cities.
I used to enjoy the "quick" recipes in Gourmet.com – which still took some time to put together.
No Kidding. They really messed up that deal. The art direction on Gourmet was spectacular and it was the travel guide ever! I'll support you in your reinstatement efforts!
While we're at it, can I have my Domino Magazine back too? Seriously, I'm still heartbroken they took it away. And then to add insult to injury they sent me Architectural Digest instead. I liked Domino because of it's fun style and mix of high and low pieces. AD doesn't even try to be accessible.
Oh, I agree! I miss Gourmet all the time, and wished I'd saved more of the issues I had. Having access to the recipes is in no way the same as enjoying their features, fantastic art direction, travel fantasies and cool general sensibility each month. Don't be proud, Conde Nast. Admit your mistake and bring back Gourmet!!
I subscribed to Gourmet a month before it was shut down! Talk about bad timing! They sent me bon apetit instead, which is just downright boring, not to mention their weird taste on photographs!
True that, Scott! (You may come over to peruse my small cache of back issues any time.) It was a beautiful publication and its demise is a sad commentary.
Unfortunately, in an environment of texting and twittering, fewer and fewer people are interested in the sort of in-depth treatment typical of specialist magazines like Gourmet.
My personal current favorite food publication is the advertising-free quarterly Art of Eating that covers food and the places and people in the kitchen, at the winery and on the farm. I highly recommend it.
I was blown away when Conde Nast chose to save Bon Appetit over Gourmet – and they had to rub it in by sending the hideous BA every month, until my subscription ran out.
Art direction and photography at Gourmet were stunning, I hope we can at least save the website I hear an App is in the works, too, but who wants to wiwld a gadget in the kitchen. I still flip through my old issues for inspiration ….
Try the Australian title- Gourmet Traveller: http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/ It has quite a bit of international content, and the website is great!
I remember as a kid looking through my mother's Gourmet's and I always loved the photo's and one of the smaller articles that had in its header Victorian designs. I miss it.
I have loved many issues of this magazine as well however, in the last couple years I have grown a great affection for Saveur. I recommend you take a peruse. My favourite issue was this past March as entire issue was dedicated to all the different layers of the Los Angeles food culture. So well done and so in depth. The void may not have been filled with the loss of Gourmet but there is seems to be a new kid on the block.
I miss it, too. I still look through my old copies that I wouldn't dare throw away. Even before they closed up shop, those issues were always a part of my library. I'd resubscribe in a heart beat! Bring back Gourmet!
Loved Gourmet! I hoped they would funnel some of the money spent on it to the replacement mag, bon appetit, but it seems like it almost got worse! Bring back Gourmet – and Domino, Vitals, Home Companion, ….
Just found 12 years of my old Gourmets in the basement (1988 to 2000). I sorted them all by month (not year), and I pull out each month's set of 12 magazines and use it as a cookbook for that month. Some very cherished memories and recipes in those magazines!
My grandmother use to have thick stacks of old issuse of Gourmet. When I was a kid I would drool over the pages, probably some of the best food styling to ever be published came from those covers.
I miss Gourmet very much as well and a couple of other good magazines that vanished lately. Incidentally, today's post on my culinary blog is exactly on this subject.
I prefer the magazine Gourmet Traveller. I think it is Australian. The food styling and recipes are superior to Gourmet (which I always regreted purchasing when it was still available.)
I'm not happy Gourmet is gone as I love food magazines generally but it really was dull in comparison to the others.
And, Conde Nast, would you kindly bring back "House and Garden" as well as "Gourmet"? Please? What a shame to not be able to read Dominique Browning's wonderful editorials each month.
Agreed… Anything that promotes great food and brilliant places and people should not be off the shelf… It should be all over the world… Bring it back!!
Amen to that! No remaining food magazine has the art direction or the mix of writing. I thought it was a bad joke when Conde Nast pulled the plug, and I still do.
I don't understand why they didn't explore making it (and Domino for that matter) an online only magazine.
It would have cut out the entire cost of printing and mailing and probably (at least in the case of Domino) been just as popular or maybe even more so online. Archives would be easily accessible too. They just aren't looking to change their business model and could care less about their audience. Tragic, really.
With all that being said, maybe a group of us should start our own online foodie publication…or collaborative blog with photos and recipes…
Feel free to contact me at tracy(dot)dauterman(at)gmail(dot)com
Add me to the list of commenters who still miss DOMINO! I scan home design websites every weekend, but it's just not the same as having and holding and flagging and dog-earing the pages of the magazine…which was plenty aspirational, but still felt attainable, for the average Brooklyn Jane.
This is like the time Jane magazine folded and they started sending me Glamour to finish out my subscription. Jane and Glamour? VERY different magazines. Or when Mademoiselle folded, which was a shame. And Domino, which was the best decorating magazine for real people. I remember when the Shop, Etc. notice came in my mailbox that it had shut down and would be sending me Good Housekeeping instead. What was a 23 year old girl going to do with Good Housekeeping?! Magazines are a dying breed. But, maybe your wish can be granted. Victoria Magazine folded and then came back!
i feel the same way about Domino magazine!!!! i loved everything about it. conde nast has a nack for cutting their best magazines. i have never read gourmet, but i feel your pain!
This woman is beguiling. The photo is perfect. And I am in complete agreement about multi-functioning magazines. Conde Nast could bring back Domino as well and I wouldn't be disappointed.
ps. Met you briefly in Denver and I'll tell you, it feels great to meet your heroes.
Yes, Gourmet was a wonderful magazine. Although I was an off and on again subscriber I always took note of it at my specialty market and bought it occasionally if I wasn't getting it thru the mail. I wouldn't be optimistic about it's return, the decision to shut it down was a BUSINESS decsion and business people are dead behind the eyes. Hang on to the old copies you have and cherish them.
I have yet to read any of the other comments. Generally, I will try to read most of them before I comment. But with this I so whole heartily agree. Gourmet is my all time favorite magazine. I am getting hungry just thinking about it.
Agreed. I nearly needed a support group when they discontinued it. The photography and writing were both modern and nostalgic at the same time. Ruth Reichl really made it special.
I have never read this magazine, but it sounds and looks amazing. You seem to have great taste in just about everything — not just fashion. In the future, you should post recommendations for magazines, books, movies, restaurants, travel spots, etc., etc., etc. — I don't want to miss out on anything cool, like I evidently did with Gourmet magazine!
How peculiar that in this age of the Internet being held accountable for pulling apart the personal associations of face to face relationships, blah blah, blah, that many of us are united in 1) fondness for Domino, 2) nostaglia for Gourmet and House and Garden, and 3) abhorrence of Bon Appetit. (Sorry, Saveur is just too didactic, maybe will develop.) That's a very wide range of target market. But we are also united in Sart. Thanks, Scott.
I wholeheartedly agree – Gourmet is a lifestyle magazine, not just a food magazine. I loved the travel stories as much as I loved hearing about the food and recipes.
My husband still wonders why I keep years of Gourmet magazines on my bookshelf in my parent's house.
They're timeless and all I have of that fine living magazine for now.
AGREED AGREED AGREED! The world of food magazines is totally disgusting without Gourmet. Plus, who can say no to a recipe for Belgian Fries and Spicy Jamaican Shrimp!?
Completely agree. My favorite magazine–reading it was an escape every month. Bon Appetit doesn't even come close. It is sad a magazine with a history like Gourmet can be gone seemingly overnight.
Food is an amazing and necessary part of travelling, discovering and meeting people. This magazine was the only stylish and yummy publication out ther, and the photos were always wonderful. Bring it back, even at a higher price, I will buy it.
Yes! I am still mourning Gourmet as well. Such beautiful photography and elegant recipes. I don't want understand why Conde Nast bet on a dumbed down Bon Appetit in a market already crowded with Sandra Lee, Rachel Ray and Paula Dean. They should have canceled Bon Appetit and put all of their effort towards Gourmet. Wasn't the circulation difference like 100K? Yeah, still not over it…
I miss it so much! I'm not a cook, but I loved the articles, the travel stuff, and the beautiful photos. They replaced my subscription with Bon Appetit, which I can't even look at. YES, bring it back!!!
I couldn't agree more. They tried to substitute Bon Appetit but I kept sending them back. I hope they had to pay postage. What a totally stupid business decision.
I can't believe you pulled it either! It was such a beautiful magazine, so inspiring, such a good read for making you want to travel and find some unique local dish to try. Think you should start a 'Bring Back Gourmet Magazine' campaign!
I totally agree with you! I had a subscription and they changed it to Bon Appetite which is really just a magazine version of hgtv. So sad. Gourmet had class and the photos were beautifully styled. So inspiring. I have no idea why they ended it. I am a huge Gourmet fan. I even have their giant anniversary cookbook that I use all the time and have read all but one Ruth Reichle books (the former editor of Gourmet). Sad stuff!
…and DOMINO too – miss it so much! but Gourmet Traveller is still available in Australia – you could always subsribe to our one http://gourmettraveller.com.au/ its a beautiful magazine – i love the travel photos and food styling!!! and Aussies are real foodies!!!
Yes, please!!! Can't you use your pull here Scott? I mean, damn it man!! It was without question a superb publication and I too want it back. It was transportive! One moment I am waiting for the B train to take me into Lower Manhattan and the next I am sailing lazily to Croatia, and sampling figs and ricotta drizzled with honey. Why is it the trashy magazines seem to thrive, but Gourmet, Domino, House & Garden….gone. What an awful "joke" indeed. Feels like you lost a friend, no?
I think they had close to a million subscribers when they closed. I find it hard to believe that some cost cutting would not have made Gourmet a keeper. I was a long time subscriber and gave it as a gift to friends and family.
I am just jumping in with everyone else…when Gourmet folded I felt such sadness.I know it sounds superficial in the scheme of 'bigger things' but it was a magazine we loved! I have stacks of copies and I still use them for inspiration and recipes.I too, wanted to go to those places and meet those people and the photos….were amazing! Thank you for this wonderful memory ….Let's bring gourmet back! ….L
oh, thank you thank you for this post! I couldn't agree more! What a shame. No matter how tech savvy this world has gotten, some classics are viable and needed. I LOVED getting my Gourmet– it is my Vogue of cooking. So glossy and amazing. I hope CondeNast heeds your call!
As a food blogger who dabbles in fashion, I was pleasantly surprised to see you post about this. We can only hope the powers-that-be will sit up and take notice of the quantity and enthusiasm of the responses here.
To Anonymous who catalogs his/her cooking magazines by month- what a great idea, I wouldn't have thought of that but it makes perfect sense!
I found this exact issue in a Thrift store! The photos from Italy in the cover story are so gorgeous. Cannot seem to find another magazine that matches the the artistic design and passionate content. The stories from Ruth Reichl were also always so nostalgic and honest. Reading this on an iPad would destroy the pleasure for me..
Amazing, when I opened the blog today and saw that cover shot, I instantly knew the spread you were speaking of. Aside from drooling over the insane salumi/dried aged meat platter the just smacks you in the face. I vividly recall this incredible spread, the people, the whole scene that was captured in this photo shoot for the magazine. The people were gorgeous and the food was so incredibly simple and well displayed. It was almost too surreal, but it was burned into my memory and I wasn't even a subscriber to the magazine. I wanted to be after seeing this! Interesting, was that there was a rocks glass with whiskey on the table, which almost gives this very Euro-ish table an American nod. Thanks for bringing back the memory. I love your blog!
I am one of a handful of people cook-through blogging The Gourmet Cookbook and you can't imagine our shock when we got this news. Devastating!! When I started the project I felt like I was writing FOR the Gourmet staff that had put such hard work into the book–and now they're scattered to the four winds. :-(
Bon Appetit is a poor second–bring Gourmet back!!!
I want my Gourmet mag…(sung to the tune of Dire Straits "I want my MTV")
There will never be another magazine like Ruth Reichl's Gourmet. I'm SO glad I never got around to pitching out all my back issues even though they threaten to take over my pantry shelves. Bon Appetit? Let's just say I NEVER have to worry about that magazine taking up too much space. I wouldn't subscribe if Conde Nast paid ME.
An iPad app? Gourmet was SO SO much more than a collection of recipes.
add me to the petition! i adored gourmet and it shocked me when i heard it was going away.
also, i contest the idea that their recipes were always involved affairs – it bears looking at the newer issues to see that that is an outdated stereotype. there were many recipes in the issues that reflected the paired down and simple aesthetic that so many (including myself) love today. but it was always clear that they never were limited by simple or complicated – passion for food rang out on every page.
i can only dream of gourmet being resurrected and its spirit respected, the way Victoria magazine came back…please!!!!!!!!!
Conde Nast needs to admit that they panicked and screwed up. And if they need to, kill Bon Apetit, which doesn't have the same magic as Gourmet always did. Saveur is a very worthy publication, and one I'll keep subscribing to, but Gourmet still deserves to come back. It was just one of the best magazines available, bar none.
I can only hope that Conde Nast reads your blog and reconsiders. Magazines aren't the same as online magazines or Apps, there is pride of ownership in magazines for one thing. And brand loyalty, which we've seen in the comments above. And being able to flip back through them when you feel like it, even ripping out pages if you feel like it. Not the same as printing off a page online.
ok let's start a campaign. there are so many readers and followers of this fantastic blog, we are a highly desirable demographic. how about an online blitz to conde nast letting them know they will receive subscriptions for a re-introduced Gourmet from a wide variety of discerning readers; even an international contingent. are you with me?
my romance with Gourmet was short – only 2 years but oh,how I miss it! at least I know I am not suffering alone. Hello? – pleae bring it back and dump BA! I will not renew.
You know what magazines I miss? Jane.. and Taxi. Does anyone remember Taxi Magazine? I was living in Malaysia and the Philippines when I would buy this one, so it was the 80's, but I cannot find ANY reference to it on-line now. Very weird. Perhaps I was mad! Or it wasn't called Taxi after all. But I could swear… Help?
You too?! And that particular issue is one of my favorites. It was around for 60 years or so, right? How do they just get rid of it? It doesn't make sense. The recipes were fantastic and it was my cheap, monthly mini-vacation…
I'm so glad I am not alone on this. I looked forward to getting Gourmet every month in the mail. The photography, art direction and articles were so well executed. I wish they had waited on pulling the plug. They sent me Bon Appetit to finish my remaining subscription and it doesn't even hold a candle next to Gourmet. It looks and reads just like a Rachel Ray type, cookie cutter design, low grade food magazine. This is very upsetting.
I couldn't agree more. Gourmet should be resurrected. I credit it and W Magazine with having an incredible influence on my taste (I'm a jewelry designer), and its absence is sorely missed by just about everyone I know. I loved the center spread every month, you know the one: the impossibly chic meal layed out in an impossibly chic setting. I wanted to just dive into the picture. I still do.
As someone trying to learn more about food photography, Gourmet was an amazing resource, one that hasn't been duplicated (not even close).
I could agree more with this commenter's point:
"I'm really turned off by the harsh, flashed out photos that are used in Bon Appetit."
Amen! Saveur has some nice photos, but nothing compared to Gourmet. Now I'm hoarding my old issues, along with all of the back issues I have of Domino. It was a tough blow when these two got cancelled within months of each other.
So nice to see all the positive comments about Gourmet. One thing I feel compelled to point out: It was not for lack of readers that the magazine was shut down. In fact, circulation was at its highest point. So you can't blame the Internet and short attention spans; likewise, I don't think any number of letters to CNP will change their minds. They had the readers, they just didn't have the ads. (Also, without the staff, particularly Ruth Reichl, it would not be the Gourmet magazine we're talking about, no matter what it's called or who publishes it.)
Amen! And what kind of swap was Architectural Digest for Domino? Conde Nast-bring Domino back! And House and Garden as well. If I had wanted AD, I would have already been subscribing to it.
I couldn't agree with you more on the demise of Gourmet.I,too,wanted to go to these places and meet those people…sometimes the fantasy was to be THAT person.I read Saveur and think the photography is comparable. but the stories don't capture me the way Gourmet did…Lorinda MacDonald
The disappearance of Gourmet left a huge hole in my heart! Ruth Reichl's writing and the gorgeous pictures made me yearn for delicious discoveries both near and far.
Maybe we can pursuade Conde Nast to bring by Gourmet by showing support for the online magazin: please consider signing the online petition "Save Gourmet"
I agree, Scott! Not only was Gourmet glamorous, but it was FAR easier to cook from than Bob Appetit, with the millions of precious ingredients that are impossible to find!
Agreed! Where are the Gourmet editorials on the website? Those deliciously and meticulously art directed editorial fantasies made so perfect by fabulous food, prop, and fashion stylists? They truly were aspirational and transportive- and isn't that the goal of any good lifestyle publication? AND, if this wasn't on your agenda already Scott- I think YOU should be contributing regularly- shooting REAL stylish people, food, fashion, and parties in far flung locales. The recession is history- and "the economy"- declasse. We're craving and ready to taste Gourmet again!
The tastemakers have spoken. Will you fill the niche Conde Nast?… Or will someone else?
I agree! I've been a devoted Gourmet reader for 25 years. And while I'm an avid reader of Saveur, Food and Wine and Bon Appetit each of which has its strengths, none can replace Gourmet. I loved the recipes, the mouth watering photography, the restaurant reviews, the wine/spirits articles, not to mention the wonderful travel pieces. Please bring Gourmet back!
Another victim of advertisers seeking the 21 to 34 demographics. Another institution that is discovered too late by a new generation. Perhaps if they changed the name to: Quick and Easy Microwave Gourmet. Support your magazines, the clock is ticking…………………..
I absolutely agree. My grandmother used to subscribe to Gourmet and I started to a few years ago myself. It was something I always looked forward to reading, in the mornings, in the evenings, on the weekends. It was always a stress reducer; it made me feel healthier, it made me feel happier and more peaceful. Living and working in NY, this was really important to me. Of all the magazines to go, I think this one was a REAL SHAME.
yes, yes, yes — bring back "gourmet"! i was a subscriber for nearly 40 years. i planned my first trip to paris based on recommendations made in "gourmet". i learned to cook from "gourmet". i miss it terribly.
I've made do with Bon Appetit. I have a supporting cast in Sunset (because, well, I live in the West) and Saveur (the best American food mag right now?) and La Cucina Italiana (beyond lovely, if you're into it). But I really miss Gourmet. And not primarily for the recipes either. It was an institution. I don't read online magazines and frankly, I wish I could subscribe to blogs and have them delivered daily to my door in print form, yay for WWD at least. The best I've done is Tivo'd Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth and when Bon Appetit comes, I read it.
Agreed! I would gladly pay upwards of $100 for a yearly subscription. This is why so many European magazines are still intact, and we have lost so many wonderful publications like Gourmet and Domino.
I agree and this cover was shot by photographer Martyn Thompson who contributed to the magazine for years. What a fabulous photographer…i will miss seeing his work for this magazine.
I feel like civilization declined when Gourmet stopped publishing. Never in my wildest imaginings did I think that a bastion of good taste, culture, exciting travel, and fabulous entertaining would end. It says everything about where we are as a society. So terribly, terribly sad.
I'm with you. As a 20+ year subscriber, I was heartbroken last Fall. I am happy to see the excellent writers showing up elsewhere, but I don't want an online replacement. I want the real thing back!
I miss this magazine arriving in my mailbox. Classy & informative- the type of magazine that made you feel like leaving your current obligations and create the best dinner party of your life…….
Please help me! Where can I get the recipes? By the way the cover is fabulous. I just wonder why magazine covers these days look all the same and so boring.
The magazine went down hill as soon as Ruth Reichl took it over. It lost its panache and went from "Gourmet" to "foodie" in tone; words that somehow sound similar but whose connotation reflect two entirely different gastronomic styles… I want Gourmet back without Ruth, s'il vous plait
Yasmin Le Bon, No? Classic beauty. This picture inspired us to have a luncheon al fresco this weekend. everyone who follows sartorialist invited. If you are coming from NY I have a wish list for italian and french provisions.
Gourmet was my favorite magazine. Not just because of the food, but the photos as well. They were so irreplaceable. It's ridiculous, and I know so many people who would be willing to pay twice the original amount they charged to get the magazine back. Their cookbooks just don't cut it. I was very disappointed that Conde Nast cut Gourmet over Bon Appetit.
I've loved Gourmet magazine since the 1980s. I loved the recipes, because they were true gourmet recipes, not afraid of obscure ingredients or complicated steps. The "foodie" magazines we have now are like Gourmet Lite, fancy food for dummies. How sad that such a lovely monument to gourmet cooking is gone.
I miss Gourmet and Ruth terribly (although I do follow her Twitter posts which I love and her website). Gourmet was yet another piece of American history which has sadly been lost. Don't be jealous everyone – but I own almost the entire 68 years worth!
Funny – that the cover you chose to show is my favorite cover of all time. The story/photo essay inside that issue is even better. Gourmet had started to shoot these lifestyle scenes – instead of just taking pictures of the food and ingredients – and I thought this new tactic was very successful. No other foodie magazine comes close in my opinion. Not only for the photo stories and travel articles but also for the recipes and the way the recipes are laid out. It was a great resource – and wonderful to look at. I've saved every single one.
I loved Gourmet! I started getting it just 6 months before it was closed down, and I looked forward to getting it each month so much. I was pretty devastated when Conde Nast chose *Bon Appetite* over Gourmet! What a travesty
I loved Gourmet! I started getting it just 6 months before it was closed down, and I looked forward to getting it each month so much. I was devastated when Conde Nast chose BA over Gourmet! What a travesty. I loved Gourmet's engagement with the political (the article on workers on tomato farms in Florida in particular), the international styles of food (their Argentinean recipes were approved of by Argentinean friends!), and the total deliciousness of the recipes. Not to mention that it just felt so much more sophisticated than BA does.
I couldn't agree more. The foodie world is suffering with the loss of Gourmet. I still flip back through the old issues and look for culinary inspiration according to each month. But, you're right, the fashion and travel pieces were iconic…
Two more votes for the Domino and Gourmet, two undispensable sources for my inner and domestic life. Who runs Conde Nast and what were they thinking!!! ?????????
On my first solo trip to Europe, when I was 21, I had a six hour layover in Amsterdam and decided to explore the city instead of the airport. Equipped with my first real camera (Canon), I walked around snapping shots of bicycles (another story) and ended up in a little restaurant for lunch. I did what I always do when dining alone. I pulled out my notebook and began writing down thoughts. The place was empty because it was past lunch hour and the owner of the restaurant came over to tell me they weren't serving again until dinner. What?! I was starving and exhausted. Seeing my notebook and camera, he suddenly asked if I were a journalist. I paused, looked up and finally answered, "Yes. I write for Gourmet." I've never lied in my life before or since so I don't know what came over me at that moment. Hunger for sure but maybe also being so far away from home for the first time…maybe the adventure of it all carried me away… whatever, it worked. You surely know the rest. I proceeded to have an amazing meal and a sampling of delicious desserts. I even took a photo with the owner in front of his restaurant. I hope he wasn't too disappointed when he never found his article…sigh. Of course I felt badly later on but for one afternoon I lived out my fantasy career and it was sublime.
Ever since, I've looked to Gourmet to take me away to far away places when I couldn't travel and for coveted and vetted addresses when I could. The recipes were great too, of course. And Ruth Reichl? Well she's one of my heroes. So yes, I too want my Gourmet back! What can we do??
PLEASE come back Gourmet. We have gone from college to Switzerland to Spain to New York and then Portland, Oregon together. I miss you all and Gourmet kept me in the loop with happenings in THE WORLD.
yes yes bring it back now! especially irritating when such a ton of garbage graces news stands .. & no, i don't agree about making it an iphone app – give me a break – part of the thing with magazines is their physical presence .. if The Sartorialist were available in magazine form I'd buy it, I mean I love that its online, & a monthly best-of would be great don't you think?
Oh, so sad for me, my wife, my children, and my belly! The picture he chose is still my favourite issue – on my bedside table for years now, slightly tattered and worn, but still delicious in the reading, if not the trialling of the recipes!
How is it that they keep on the insufferable advertisement that is LUCKY, but pull the plug on the magazine that helped inspire Julia Child to cook???
An absolute travesty…
Cooking is the ONLY thing in the world I adore more than fashion…
Ruth Reichl came on just as my grown up self bloomed into a full bodied foodie…I'd often blow my entire paltry paycheck on a 5 star meal…which up until then, was only blown on Prada…
I suggested the exact same plan…take it down to every other month or quarterly…why end the legacy?
I remember that Gourmet cover because my mother, Ruth Cousineau, was the food stylist for that article and she recounted how they staged that scene to look like Italy (really a NYC street). The beauty of the imagery holds up year after year. My mother and all the talented staff of Gourmet have moved on…but my anger rises every time I get Bon Appetit in the mail. What an absolute insult to the photographers, creatives, and talented home cooks – to think BA could be any substitute. Gourmet nourished us for decades. I throw Bon Appetit right in the recycling.
maybe we should just start a website promoting this – seeing as the impossible project was able to bring back polaroid film, and who would have thought…
Devastated! I bought my first copy of Gourmet in South Africa where international magazines are triple the price, so I would save and save to buy these. My heart bleeds!
My sentiments exactly. Gourmet was a trove of wonderful recipes as well as a great source for travel/restaurant/lifestyle bits. I'm afraid the other 2 competing magazines which are somehow still available just cannot match Gourmet.
But there's nothing to bring back. They fired everyone. Why do people think you can just start printing it again? The editors are gone, the art dept. is gone, the writers are gone, the photographers are gone. The magazine as a living organism is gone. You can't "bring it back." There is no "it."
I distinctly remember the first Gourmet (and first foodie mag!)I ever bought – it was an early summer issue, with lobster and limes on the cover. The photo was so stylish, so fresh. It spoke of an entire lifestyle, not just a meal. I was hooked immediately. I did not miss an issue from that point on.
I agree with others about BA being a poor substitute. It lacks the style of Gourmet. And the photography style that they've adopted in the last year or so strikes me as dark and heavy – almost as though I'm looking through an issue from 30 years ago. The only redeeming quality about BA is Molly Wizenberg's column!
and on top of it all they foist Bon Appetite on you as a consolation prize. Each month when I receive that magazine it is like another slap in the face.
I am the woman on this cover, and it's bittersweet to see this photo again after some time. I can tell you that the energy on set that day was as beautiful as this photograph. The people at this magazine were so passionate about the art and beauty of the the images they published, and the food was always as lovingly and deliciously prepared as it appeared.
In the summer of 2008, I was sitting in a doctor's office in Paramus, NJ. I opened up a magazine I never really had looked at and it was a revelation…
Gorgeous photography, understated graphics, a sense of classical and leisurely living, great clothing, and food that was photographed not as artificial and fake food stylists would do it, but as documentary shooters might see it and as cooks might taste it.
Conde Nast was short sighted in letting Gourmet expire. Gourmet was too food writing what Bergdorf Goodman is to fine dressing.
Ax Bon Appetit with it heinous and cheap commercialism and screaming ugliness.
I read that magazine…that very one, from cover to cover in a waiting room somewhere! I agree, I wanted to not only create the food, but to travel to the places there, and eat with the people, too. If Gourmet comes back, let us know!
AGREED. It seems to me that in this modern time many companies are willing to forgo class and sophistication for convenience and affordability… Such has become the industry's understanding of what the so-called "average" consumer wants. Who says that we all want to surround ourselves with the average and mediocre? Where is the fun and fantasy in that? Don't we read magazines for the pleasure we gain from exotic stories and beautiful photographs? Does that not inspire us and brighten our days?
Conde Nast has forgotten that like all things, quality should not be forsaken at the hands of cost cutting. My great aunt used to tell me that it is far better to have fewer things that are very nice as opposed to many that are mediocre. Some of the titles Conde Nast has retained in the wake of cutting Gourmet could have been sacrificed to keep a good thing around.
It's a shame what we throw away these days… I was very surprised to hear of Gourmet's departure. But at the same time, it doesn't surprise me in these strange times.
I could not agree more. It was a brilliant magazine and equally brilliant website. I understood that an IPad app is being developed, which is better than nothing.
my dad is trying to clean house.. he is a chef and for years has used Gourmet magazines as a resource to gather wonderful recipes to create. regrettably my mom has said that his collection has to go. there are YEARS of magazines that are all bound by year.. it basically looks like a stack of encyclopedias! if anyone is interested in them please contact me @ mrsjarthur75 @ aol. com. We are looking to sell them since my mom has also decided to add another room to the house.. I would keep these myself, but all my very favorite recipes my dad has taught me over the years. as my dad has said many times, " a true gourmet dish will live on forever", and I hope that someone gets all the use out of these books as my parents, my parents' daughters and parents' grandchildren have.
I totally agree. What I loved most about this magazine was that is was more anthropological study, than just a food magazine, which is probably why it was pulled in the first place. Most people just want a recipe magazine. I loved their special issues on markets, breakfast, or focusing on all the different varieties and types of a food like salt or avocados.
OMG!!! yes please please please bring this magazine back!! I miss it sooooo much. I would read it cover to cover. The little article at the back with the theme and like 3 recipes was my favorite part. But this magazine was a great read from cover to cover :( I want to cry when i think of all the great articles i'm missing and all the new foods and cultures and places that i'm not being introduced to. Pretty please with a cherry on top?
Fabiola "Fab"
July 21, 2010 at 5:31 pm
I want this magazine!!! I love to cook as much as I love vintage. Yummmm!
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 5:32 pm
I feel the same way about Domino! Nothing can compare to the pain one feels at the loss of a favorite magazine. I share your misery.
FASHION SNAG
July 21, 2010 at 5:34 pm
It looks like a great magazine! They should definitely bring it back. The cover photo on this issue is brilliant. x
http://www.FashionSnag.com
Phreak125
July 21, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Didn't they just revive it as an app for the iPad? "Gourmet Live" or something like that, yes?
Jimmy
July 21, 2010 at 5:35 pm
This magazine looks insane! Really dig the shot too. I'm going to have to research this now. Thanks for sharing…!
RaynaNyc
July 21, 2010 at 5:36 pm
I share your sentiment. Recent news from CN was they were converting Gourmet into an 'online only' property — an iPad app. Not the same as a monthly publication filled with a curated mix of delectable food offerings, editorial on sojourns, style, and how to's.
Katie
July 21, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Here here! Bon Appetit is just not cutting it. I want interesting and thought provoking articles, great recipes, and gorgeous photography. I'm really turned off by the harsh, flashed out photos that are used in Bon Appetit.
I'm curious to find out what the Gourmet Live is all about.
http://live.gourmet.com/
amethyst
July 21, 2010 at 5:37 pm
That cover is fabulously enticing and evocative…
Jeannine 520
July 21, 2010 at 5:42 pm
I agree. I've been a Gourmet subscriber for years and I'm very unhappy about the canceling of it. In an newspaper article that was published when they announced its cancellation, it was stated that consumers wanted recipes that can be thrown together quickly and cheaply and that there wasn't really a big enough market for Gourmet. Lord help us if they think this is true. Not all of us want to dump cans of soup into our recipes and vacation in Disneyland.
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 5:43 pm
I want my Gourmet back, too! I was a faithful subscriber for 36 years – and isn't it us "mature" subscribers who still read print media? And are willing to pay for the pleasure of a truly great magazine? Come on, Conde Nast, spend a little less on Vogue and Vanity Fair and give us back Gourmet!
Aya Rosen
July 21, 2010 at 5:45 pm
here here…
It was one of my favorite to and I'm really not that into food or travel – it was just a good read and awesome visual reference all around.
MandG
July 21, 2010 at 5:45 pm
And I thought I was the only one!
Maria Tereza
July 21, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Amazing photo.
Good food always comes with pictures of everyday situations, but full of magic and poetry.
To remember good times around the table and imagine new tastes.
=)
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 6:00 pm
wholeheartedly agree!
Samantha
July 21, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Here, here! bon appetit just doesn't cut it…and i've now subscribed to Saveur, but i agree. it was about way more than the recipes… the photos were gorgeous and definitely made me want to experience everything first hand.
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 6:11 pm
If you miss Gourmet, you should check out Saveur: great articles, great recipes, and great photography.
http://www.saveur.com/
Noelle
July 21, 2010 at 6:11 pm
I had only been reading Gourmet a short time when they pulled the plug- but I loved it and miss it! Bon Appetit is okay, but not as good. Let's start a letter writing campaign. They'll probably want us all to subscribe, but that would be okay with me.
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 6:12 pm
I loved Gourmet also – I would get lost in the beauty, the lushness, the fantasy of each gorgeous issue.
The photography and graphics were sublime.
Oh and the recipes weren't bad either.
I was shocked when it ended – I was just about to subscribe !
I feel the same way about Domino which was also a favorite.
I have all my old issues of both mags, and often pull out a pile of each and look through them as if it was the first time….and the magic feelings instantly return.
Sigh….
RJT
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 6:14 pm
YES! bring Gourmet back! ahhh, you are as wise about food as you are about fashion…
Ricardo
July 21, 2010 at 6:15 pm
I share the pain and the urgency. Really really miss it! I think there is a webpage and an iPad app, but it would never be the same. Wasn't there a Facebook page asking for its come back?
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 6:15 pm
I still feel sick about Gourmet being shuttered. I subscribed for 20 years (still have them all) and curse under my breath each time Bon Apettit shows up in the mail.
Bring it back!
Elaine
July 21, 2010 at 6:15 pm
This motivated me to check out Gourmet.com Enjoyed the October 2009 issue, where different people were given $1,000 to select menus at restaurants in different cities.
I used to enjoy the "quick" recipes in Gourmet.com – which still took some time to put together.
Elaine
July 21, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Would enjoy drinking the best champagne when the Dow reaches 13,000 again. LOL
Emily
July 21, 2010 at 6:18 pm
I'm with anon 5:32.
And with you. What was Conde Nast thinking?????
Little Hunting Creek
July 21, 2010 at 6:19 pm
I miss Gourmet too.
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 6:19 pm
No Kidding. They really messed up that deal. The art direction on Gourmet was spectacular and it was the travel guide ever! I'll support you in your reinstatement efforts!
Beth Gordon
July 21, 2010 at 6:23 pm
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/gourmet-magazine-revived-for-the-ipad/?scp=8&sq=magazine&st=cse
its not gone!
Simone
July 21, 2010 at 6:28 pm
I cried the same thing at Rachel Reichl when I saw her Spring Street early this year..sigh..I miss it soooo
Vfriedrich
July 21, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Ruth Reichl was my hero. I loved it too and followed it like a bible. I even remember this cover; was one of my favorite spreads ever.
Check out my take some time on the MAC/Rodarte makeup
controversy…let's just say I'm not offended.
XO V
http://imstarvin.blogspot.com/2010/07/rodarte-and-mac-unforgettable.html
Heather
July 21, 2010 at 6:35 pm
While we're at it, can I have my Domino Magazine back too? Seriously, I'm still heartbroken they took it away. And then to add insult to injury they sent me Architectural Digest instead. I liked Domino because of it's fun style and mix of high and low pieces. AD doesn't even try to be accessible.
Page
July 21, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Oh, I agree! I miss Gourmet all the time, and wished I'd saved more of the issues I had. Having access to the recipes is in no way the same as enjoying their features, fantastic art direction, travel fantasies and cool general sensibility each month. Don't be proud, Conde Nast. Admit your mistake and bring back Gourmet!!
(And, I agree, Domino, too!)
gabi
July 21, 2010 at 6:38 pm
hear, hear.
I subscribed to Gourmet a month before it was shut down! Talk about bad timing! They sent me bon apetit instead, which is just downright boring, not to mention their weird taste on photographs!
Maya
July 21, 2010 at 6:48 pm
YES. Bring my beloved Gourmet back, please.
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 6:50 pm
I mean, you can't compare the experience of flipping through a real Gourmet edition to the cold stupid online stuff!
Audrey
July 21, 2010 at 6:51 pm
ditto. for sure.
saudade
July 21, 2010 at 7:06 pm
True that, Scott! (You may come over to peruse my small cache of back issues any time.) It was a beautiful publication and its demise is a sad commentary.
J Kraus
July 21, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Unfortunately, in an environment of texting and twittering, fewer and fewer people are interested in the sort of in-depth treatment typical of specialist magazines like Gourmet.
My personal current favorite food publication is the advertising-free quarterly Art of Eating that covers food and the places and people in the kitchen, at the winery and on the farm. I highly recommend it.
JuliaSF
July 21, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Oui, my fave magazine subscriptions of all!
I was blown away when Conde Nast chose to save Bon Appetit over Gourmet – and they had to rub it in by sending the hideous BA every month, until my subscription ran out.
Art direction and photography at Gourmet were stunning, I hope we can at least save the website
I hear an App is in the works, too, but who wants to wiwld a gadget in the kitchen. I still flip through my old issues for inspiration ….
leanne1966
July 21, 2010 at 7:26 pm
try the Australian version…its beautiful. You can also get it on your iPad.
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Try the Australian title- Gourmet Traveller: http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/
It has quite a bit of international content, and the website is great!
SallyO
July 21, 2010 at 7:35 pm
I miss Domino!!
ScaryGodmother
July 21, 2010 at 7:38 pm
I remember as a kid looking through my mother's Gourmet's and I always loved the photo's and one of the smaller articles that had in its header Victorian designs. I miss it.
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Ruth is still writing – http://www.ruthreichl.com/words.html
it's not the same, but it's a fun follow.
Karen
July 21, 2010 at 7:39 pm
I have loved many issues of this magazine as well however, in the last couple years I have grown a great affection for Saveur. I recommend you take a peruse. My favourite issue was this past March as entire issue was dedicated to all the different layers of the Los Angeles food culture. So well done and so in depth.
The void may not have been filled with the loss of Gourmet but there is seems to be a new kid on the block.
jb
July 21, 2010 at 7:42 pm
yes, please bring back gourmet.
[if monocle went away i would be in bed in the fetal position]
jb
July 21, 2010 at 7:42 pm
yes, please bring back gourmet.
[if monocle went away i would be in bed in the fetal position]
Christopher Andrews
July 21, 2010 at 7:45 pm
I agree. Actually I am miffed with Condé Nast for pulling the plug on a couple other mags. and reducing some to thin nothings. Yeah, bring it back!
Anna
July 21, 2010 at 8:01 pm
I miss it, too. I still look through my old copies that I wouldn't dare throw away. Even before they closed up shop, those issues were always a part of my library. I'd resubscribe in a heart beat! Bring back Gourmet!
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Ditto! And Same for Domino! It had such a great aesthetic and while a small, a loyal and powerful audience. Conde Nast gives up quality for quantity.
Daeja Porte
July 21, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Bring it back please!!!!
Such an inviting cover!
http://daejaporte.blogspot.com
elizar33
July 21, 2010 at 8:24 pm
how about domino magazine?
I am terribly missing it…
lintmag
July 21, 2010 at 8:34 pm
Loved Gourmet! I hoped they would funnel some of the money spent on it to the replacement mag, bon appetit, but it seems like it almost got worse! Bring back Gourmet – and Domino, Vitals, Home Companion, ….
Caroline
July 21, 2010 at 8:35 pm
YES! Bring back Gourmet Magazine! What a loss! And to add insult to injury, they've replaced my subscription with Bon Appetit. Ugh, no thanks!
Thank you for touching on this!
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 8:52 pm
Just found 12 years of my old Gourmets in the basement (1988 to 2000). I sorted them all by month (not year), and I pull out each month's set of 12 magazines and use it as a cookbook for that month. Some very cherished memories and recipes in those magazines!
sarah j.
July 21, 2010 at 9:00 pm
My grandmother use to have thick stacks of old issuse of Gourmet. When I was a kid I would drool over the pages, probably some of the best food styling to ever be published came from those covers.
Rachel D,
July 21, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Amen.
Bogna
July 21, 2010 at 9:05 pm
I miss Gourmet very much as well and a couple of other good magazines that vanished lately. Incidentally, today's post on my culinary blog is exactly on this subject.
Keep the good job!
http://mypotsandfrills.blogspot.com
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 9:06 pm
I prefer the magazine Gourmet Traveller. I think it is Australian. The food styling and recipes are superior to Gourmet (which I always regreted purchasing when it was still available.)
I'm not happy Gourmet is gone as I love food magazines generally but it really was dull in comparison to the others.
Barbara
July 21, 2010 at 9:21 pm
And, Conde Nast, would you kindly bring back "House and Garden" as well as "Gourmet"? Please? What a shame to not be able to read Dominique Browning's wonderful editorials each month.
namhenderson
July 21, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Word, it was always my favorite "travel" magazine.
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 9:31 pm
I agree! And bring back House & Garden–there is nothing out there to replace it :(
BJHardy
July 21, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Agreed… Anything that promotes great food and brilliant places and people should not be off the shelf… It should be all over the world…
Bring it back!!
Alexandra G.
July 21, 2010 at 9:40 pm
I totally agree, we need our food porn back. It's not fair!
http://tovogueorbust.blogspot.com/
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Amen to that! No remaining food magazine has the art direction or the mix of writing. I thought it was a bad joke when Conde Nast pulled the plug, and I still do.
Tracy D
July 21, 2010 at 9:48 pm
I don't understand why they didn't explore making it (and Domino for that matter) an online only magazine.
It would have cut out the entire cost of printing and mailing and probably (at least in the case of Domino) been just as popular or maybe even more so online. Archives would be easily accessible too. They just aren't looking to change their business model and could care less about their audience. Tragic, really.
With all that being said, maybe a group of us should start our own online foodie publication…or collaborative blog with photos and recipes…
Feel free to contact me at tracy(dot)dauterman(at)gmail(dot)com
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Add me to the list of commenters who still miss DOMINO! I scan home design websites every weekend, but it's just not the same as having and holding and flagging and dog-earing the pages of the magazine…which was plenty aspirational, but still felt attainable, for the average Brooklyn Jane.
Shelley Coryell Jacobs
July 21, 2010 at 9:56 pm
This is like the time Jane magazine folded and they started sending me Glamour to finish out my subscription. Jane and Glamour? VERY different magazines. Or when Mademoiselle folded, which was a shame. And Domino, which was the best decorating magazine for real people. I remember when the Shop, Etc. notice came in my mailbox that it had shut down and would be sending me Good Housekeeping instead. What was a 23 year old girl going to do with Good Housekeeping?! Magazines are a dying breed. But, maybe your wish can be granted. Victoria Magazine folded and then came back!
Stef
July 21, 2010 at 10:09 pm
I COMPLETELY AGREE.
Not having gourmet in my life anymore is killing me. They started a new iPad app, but it's just not the same.
Consider this petition signed.
Thank-you for saying what needed to be said.
kristina
July 21, 2010 at 10:16 pm
i feel the same way about Domino magazine!!!! i loved everything about it. conde nast has a nack for cutting their best magazines. i have never read gourmet, but i feel your pain!
Yasamin
July 21, 2010 at 10:17 pm
This woman is beguiling.
The photo is perfect.
And I am in complete agreement
about multi-functioning magazines.
Conde Nast could bring back Domino as well
and I wouldn't be disappointed.
ps. Met you briefly in Denver and I'll tell you, it feels great to meet your heroes.
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Yes, Gourmet was a wonderful magazine. Although I was an off and on again subscriber I always took note of it at my specialty market and bought it occasionally if I wasn't getting it thru the mail. I wouldn't be optimistic about it's return, the decision to shut it down was a BUSINESS decsion and business people are dead behind the eyes. Hang on to the old copies you have and cherish them.
BlumeBloom
July 21, 2010 at 10:33 pm
I have yet to read any of the other comments. Generally, I will try to read most of them before I comment. But with this I so whole heartily agree.
Gourmet is my all time favorite magazine. I am getting hungry just thinking about it.
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Agreed. I nearly needed a support group when they discontinued it. The photography and writing were both modern and nostalgic at the same time. Ruth Reichl really made it special.
Anonymous
July 21, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Please, please, please bring it back! It was the best by far.
balsamfir
July 21, 2010 at 11:14 pm
Ditto!
1000hats
July 22, 2010 at 12:11 am
word.
Hadley Gets Crafty
July 22, 2010 at 12:36 am
I know, right?! So sad.
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 1:40 am
First it was House & Garden, then Men's Vogue, then Domino, then Gourmet! I hate Conde Nast!
kiss my spatula
July 22, 2010 at 1:41 am
totally agree! i look at my stack of old issues and tear up!
Kevin Lin
July 22, 2010 at 1:43 am
I have never read this magazine, but it sounds and looks amazing. You seem to have great taste in just about everything — not just fashion. In the future, you should post recommendations for magazines, books, movies, restaurants, travel spots, etc., etc., etc. — I don't want to miss out on anything cool, like I evidently did with Gourmet magazine!
Zenobiar
July 22, 2010 at 1:49 am
How peculiar that in this age of the Internet being held accountable for pulling apart the personal associations of face to face relationships, blah blah, blah, that many of us are united in 1) fondness for Domino, 2) nostaglia for Gourmet and House and Garden, and 3) abhorrence of Bon Appetit. (Sorry, Saveur is just too didactic, maybe will develop.) That's a very wide range of target market. But we are also united in Sart. Thanks, Scott.
Stacy Conner
July 22, 2010 at 1:52 am
All I can say is AMEN!!!
Lee Oliveira
July 22, 2010 at 2:27 am
We have a similar mag downunder. Gourmet traveller. One of my favourites. Love the food and travel mix.
LOx
DevonsRedSpecs
July 22, 2010 at 2:57 am
I have this very issue of Gourmet Magazine, it was a beautiful and well executed publication.
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 3:11 am
BRING BACK DOMINO MAGAZINE!! xxx
Rosa's Yummy Yums
July 22, 2010 at 3:32 am
I want it back too! The food world is not the same without our GOURMET Magazine!
Cheers,
Rosa
THESTREETFASHION5XPRO
July 22, 2010 at 3:37 am
I want this magazine!!! I love to cook
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 3:58 am
Anyone remember frank magazine, now it broke my heart when that folded
Chic 'n Cheap Living
July 22, 2010 at 3:59 am
I wholeheartedly agree – Gourmet is a lifestyle magazine, not just a food magazine. I loved the travel stories as much as I loved hearing about the food and recipes.
My husband still wonders why I keep years of Gourmet magazines on my bookshelf in my parent's house.
They're timeless and all I have of that fine living magazine for now.
Patricia
July 22, 2010 at 4:10 am
wow, that cover is five years old?! i would buy that magazine immediately if I saw it in a newsagent today.
lostandfoundinfrance
July 22, 2010 at 4:26 am
AGREED AGREED AGREED! The world of food magazines is totally disgusting without Gourmet. Plus, who can say no to a recipe for Belgian Fries and Spicy Jamaican Shrimp!?
Fauvette de mon âme
July 22, 2010 at 4:27 am
You should give Food and Travel Magazine (UK) a go. But always such a shame when something like this dies.
Zuzolińska
July 22, 2010 at 4:54 am
I couldnt even read that magazine, but I see that I can agree with you, just because I love eat and read about this ;)
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 5:00 am
agreed – the only food mag I ever subscribed to…. I let the transfer to Bon Appetit run out.
frabjously
July 22, 2010 at 5:47 am
now you're so eager to bring it back, I want to read it too!
pxlove
July 22, 2010 at 5:54 am
Completely agree. My favorite magazine–reading it was an escape every month. Bon Appetit doesn't even come close. It is sad a magazine with a history like Gourmet can be gone seemingly overnight.
Val
July 22, 2010 at 6:12 am
Food is an amazing and necessary part of travelling, discovering and meeting people. This magazine was the only stylish and yummy publication out ther, and the photos were always wonderful. Bring it back, even at a higher price, I will buy it.
Picot
July 22, 2010 at 6:23 am
Yes! I am still mourning Gourmet as well. Such beautiful photography and elegant recipes. I don't want understand why Conde Nast bet on a dumbed down Bon Appetit in a market already crowded with Sandra Lee, Rachel Ray and Paula Dean. They should have canceled Bon Appetit and put all of their effort towards Gourmet. Wasn't the circulation difference like 100K? Yeah, still not over it…
Heidi
July 22, 2010 at 6:44 am
I miss it so much! I'm not a cook, but I loved the articles, the travel stuff, and the beautiful photos. They replaced my subscription with Bon Appetit, which I can't even look at. YES, bring it back!!!
Sasha
July 22, 2010 at 7:08 am
I couldn't agree more. They tried to substitute Bon Appetit but I kept sending them back. I hope they had to pay postage. What a totally stupid business decision.
Julia
July 22, 2010 at 7:14 am
I loved Gourmet too, and even paid for the international subscription. Conde Nast, please bring it back!
Sandra (Frankfurt)
July 22, 2010 at 7:28 am
And bring back the German Vanity Fair, too!
Secret Salons
July 22, 2010 at 7:45 am
I can't believe you pulled it either! It was such a beautiful magazine, so inspiring, such a good read for making you want to travel and find some unique local dish to try. Think you should start a 'Bring Back Gourmet Magazine' campaign!
Dana
July 22, 2010 at 7:53 am
I totally agree with you! I had a subscription and they changed it to Bon Appetite which is really just a magazine version of hgtv. So sad. Gourmet had class and the photos were beautifully styled. So inspiring. I have no idea why they ended it. I am a huge Gourmet fan. I even have their giant anniversary cookbook that I use all the time and have read all but one Ruth Reichle books (the former editor of Gourmet). Sad stuff!
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 8:05 am
I know! I miss it too!
AnastasiaC
July 22, 2010 at 8:20 am
…and DOMINO too – miss it so much! but Gourmet Traveller is still available in Australia – you could always subsribe to our one http://gourmettraveller.com.au/ its a beautiful magazine – i love the travel photos and food styling!!! and Aussies are real foodies!!!
Nina Garbiras
July 22, 2010 at 8:28 am
Yes, please!!! Can't you use your pull here Scott? I mean, damn it man!! It was without question a superb publication and I too want it back. It was transportive! One moment I am waiting for the B train to take me into Lower Manhattan and the next I am sailing lazily to Croatia, and sampling figs and ricotta drizzled with honey. Why is it the trashy magazines seem to thrive, but Gourmet, Domino, House & Garden….gone. What an awful "joke" indeed. Feels like you lost a friend, no?
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 8:40 am
I think they had close to a million subscribers when they closed. I find it hard to believe that some cost cutting would not have made Gourmet a keeper. I was a long time subscriber and gave it as a gift to friends and family.
Ashley
July 22, 2010 at 8:41 am
I've never read Gourmet but the cover image is very inviting.
http://fashionroadkill-halifax.blogspot.com
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 8:45 am
I am just jumping in with everyone else…when Gourmet folded I felt such sadness.I know it sounds superficial in the scheme of 'bigger things' but it was a magazine we loved! I have stacks of copies and I still use them for inspiration and recipes.I too, wanted to go to those places and meet those people and the photos….were amazing! Thank you for this wonderful memory ….Let's bring gourmet back! ….L
Suzanne
July 22, 2010 at 8:51 am
oh, thank you thank you for this post! I couldn't agree more! What a shame. No matter how tech savvy this world has gotten, some classics are viable and needed. I LOVED getting my Gourmet– it is my Vogue of cooking. So glossy and amazing. I hope CondeNast heeds your call!
sk
July 22, 2010 at 8:52 am
hear hear!
EB
July 22, 2010 at 8:55 am
they truly didn't know what they had. i mourn it pretty regularly, too.
ticklishfromadistance
July 22, 2010 at 9:16 am
I am staring at this exact cover on my coffee table. I won't give up, either. So annoying and sad.
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 9:20 am
Bring it back. What a loss.
Christine
July 22, 2010 at 9:28 am
I am right there with you. I loved my Gourmet's. Now they sending me Bon Appetit, and it's just not the same.
noëlle {simmer down!}
July 22, 2010 at 10:10 am
As a food blogger who dabbles in fashion, I was pleasantly surprised to see you post about this. We can only hope the powers-that-be will sit up and take notice of the quantity and enthusiasm of the responses here.
To Anonymous who catalogs his/her cooking magazines by month- what a great idea, I wouldn't have thought of that but it makes perfect sense!
Kristina
July 22, 2010 at 10:17 am
I found this exact issue in a Thrift store! The photos from Italy in the cover story are so gorgeous. Cannot seem to find another magazine that matches the the artistic design and passionate content. The stories from Ruth Reichl were also always so nostalgic and honest. Reading this on an iPad would destroy the pleasure for me..
Johnny
July 22, 2010 at 10:31 am
Amazing, when I opened the blog today and saw that cover shot, I instantly knew the spread you were speaking of. Aside from drooling over the insane salumi/dried aged meat platter the just smacks you in the face. I vividly recall this incredible spread, the people, the whole scene that was captured in this photo shoot for the magazine. The people were gorgeous and the food was so incredibly simple and well displayed. It was almost too surreal, but it was burned into my memory and I wasn't even a subscriber to the magazine. I wanted to be after seeing this! Interesting, was that there was a rocks glass with whiskey on the table, which almost gives this very Euro-ish table an American nod. Thanks for bringing back the memory. I love your blog!
Melissa Bach Palladino
July 22, 2010 at 10:37 am
I am one of a handful of people cook-through blogging The Gourmet Cookbook and you can't imagine our shock when we got this news. Devastating!! When I started the project I felt like I was writing FOR the Gourmet staff that had put such hard work into the book–and now they're scattered to the four winds. :-(
Bon Appetit is a poor second–bring Gourmet back!!!
http://melissacooksgourmet.blogspot.com
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 10:40 am
I want my Gourmet mag…(sung to the tune of Dire Straits "I want my MTV")
There will never be another magazine like Ruth Reichl's Gourmet. I'm SO glad I never got around to pitching out all my back issues even though they threaten to take over my pantry shelves. Bon Appetit? Let's just say I NEVER have to worry about that magazine taking up too much space. I wouldn't subscribe if Conde Nast paid ME.
An iPad app? Gourmet was SO SO much more than a collection of recipes.
Cara Gray
July 22, 2010 at 10:44 am
Oh now that looks good, Hungry for food and fasshion now, lol x
GloamingDesigns
July 22, 2010 at 10:44 am
add me to the petition! i adored gourmet and it shocked me when i heard it was going away.
also, i contest the idea that their recipes were always involved affairs – it bears looking at the newer issues to see that that is an outdated stereotype. there were many recipes in the issues that reflected the paired down and simple aesthetic that so many (including myself) love today. but it was always clear that they never were limited by simple or complicated – passion for food rang out on every page.
i can only dream of gourmet being resurrected and its spirit respected, the way Victoria magazine came back…please!!!!!!!!!
Gina
July 22, 2010 at 11:10 am
Conde Nast needs to admit that they panicked and screwed up. And if they need to, kill Bon Apetit, which doesn't have the same magic as Gourmet always did. Saveur is a very worthy publication, and one I'll keep subscribing to, but Gourmet still deserves to come back. It was just one of the best magazines available, bar none.
And my god, what a photo that is.
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 11:25 am
I can only hope that Conde Nast reads your blog and reconsiders. Magazines aren't the same as online magazines or Apps, there is pride of ownership in magazines for one thing. And brand loyalty, which we've seen in the comments above. And being able to flip back through them when you feel like it, even ripping out pages if you feel like it. Not the same as printing off a page online.
westindya
July 22, 2010 at 11:27 am
I concur! I even framed photos from various issues. It is a great food and travel magazine. *sigh*
Liz at Butter and Onions
July 22, 2010 at 11:27 am
No kidding. You've made me really sad all over again.
robin
July 22, 2010 at 11:31 am
ok let's start a campaign. there are so many readers and followers of this fantastic blog, we are a highly desirable demographic. how about an online blitz to conde nast letting them know they will receive subscriptions for a re-introduced Gourmet from a wide variety of discerning readers; even an international contingent. are you with me?
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 11:50 am
my romance with Gourmet was short – only 2 years but oh,how I miss it! at least I know I am not suffering alone. Hello? – pleae bring it back and dump BA! I will not renew.
treetopbirdy
July 22, 2010 at 12:04 pm
You know what magazines I miss? Jane.. and Taxi. Does anyone remember Taxi Magazine? I was living in Malaysia and the Philippines when I would buy this one, so it was the 80's, but I cannot find ANY reference to it on-line now. Very weird. Perhaps I was mad! Or it wasn't called Taxi after all. But I could swear… Help?
Natalie
July 22, 2010 at 12:48 pm
You too?!
And that particular issue is one of my favorites.
It was around for 60 years or so, right? How do they just get rid of it? It doesn't make sense.
The recipes were fantastic and it was my cheap, monthly mini-vacation…
rochelleask
July 22, 2010 at 12:50 pm
I'm so glad I am not alone on this. I looked forward to getting Gourmet every month in the mail. The photography, art direction and articles were so well executed. I wish they had waited on pulling the plug. They sent me Bon Appetit to finish my remaining subscription and it doesn't even hold a candle next to Gourmet. It looks and reads just like a Rachel Ray type, cookie cutter design, low grade food magazine. This is very upsetting.
John Agee Paris
July 22, 2010 at 12:50 pm
I couldn't agree more. Gourmet should be resurrected. I credit it and W Magazine with having an incredible influence on my taste (I'm a jewelry designer), and its absence is sorely missed by just about everyone I know. I loved the center spread every month, you know the one: the impossibly chic meal layed out in an impossibly chic setting. I wanted to just dive into the picture. I still do.
Emily
July 22, 2010 at 12:53 pm
As someone trying to learn more about food photography, Gourmet was an amazing resource, one that hasn't been duplicated (not even close).
I could agree more with this commenter's point:
"I'm really turned off by the harsh, flashed out photos that are used in Bon Appetit."
Amen! Saveur has some nice photos, but nothing compared to Gourmet. Now I'm hoarding my old issues, along with all of the back issues I have of Domino. It was a tough blow when these two got cancelled within months of each other.
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 1:03 pm
So nice to see all the positive comments about Gourmet. One thing I feel compelled to point out: It was not for lack of readers that the magazine was shut down. In fact, circulation was at its highest point. So you can't blame the Internet and short attention spans; likewise, I don't think any number of letters to CNP will change their minds. They had the readers, they just didn't have the ads. (Also, without the staff, particularly Ruth Reichl, it would not be the Gourmet magazine we're talking about, no matter what it's called or who publishes it.)
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Amen! And what kind of swap was Architectural Digest for Domino? Conde Nast-bring Domino back! And House and Garden as well. If I had wanted AD, I would have already been subscribing to it.
First Taste
July 22, 2010 at 1:23 pm
I couldn't agree with you more on the demise of Gourmet.I,too,wanted to go to these places and meet those people…sometimes the fantasy was to be THAT person.I read Saveur and think the photography is comparable. but the stories don't capture me the way Gourmet did…Lorinda MacDonald
maureen
July 22, 2010 at 1:32 pm
The disappearance of Gourmet left a huge hole in my heart! Ruth Reichl's writing and the gorgeous pictures made me yearn for delicious discoveries both near and far.
JuliaSF
July 22, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Maybe we can pursuade Conde Nast to bring by Gourmet by showing support for the online magazin:
please consider signing the online petition "Save Gourmet"
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/gourmet/
Gina
July 22, 2010 at 1:59 pm
I agree, Scott! Not only was Gourmet glamorous, but it was FAR easier to cook from than Bob Appetit, with the millions of precious ingredients that are impossible to find!
Nora Hepburn
July 22, 2010 at 1:59 pm
I have so many copies of these! By far my favorite; Bon Appetite and Sunset are clearly no comparison. Could we start some sort of petition?
Rose
July 22, 2010 at 2:02 pm
First Domino, now Gourmet…you have to wonder what Conde Nast's publishing priorities ARE…apparently not good taste and accessable luxury.
CM
July 22, 2010 at 2:33 pm
I agree. I faithfully subscribed to the magazine, and purchased the books collecting recipes.
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Agreed! Where are the Gourmet editorials on the website? Those deliciously and meticulously art directed editorial fantasies made so perfect by fabulous food, prop, and fashion stylists? They truly were aspirational and transportive- and isn't that the goal of any good lifestyle publication? AND, if this wasn't on your agenda already Scott- I think YOU should be contributing regularly- shooting REAL stylish people, food, fashion, and parties in far flung locales. The recession is history- and "the economy"- declasse. We're craving and ready to taste Gourmet again!
The tastemakers have spoken. Will you fill the niche Conde Nast?… Or will someone else?
And while you're at it- we Domino back, too.
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 3:25 pm
I agree! I've been a devoted Gourmet reader for 25 years. And while I'm an avid reader of Saveur, Food and Wine and Bon Appetit each of which has its strengths, none can replace Gourmet. I loved the recipes, the mouth watering photography, the restaurant reviews, the wine/spirits articles, not to mention the wonderful travel pieces. Please bring Gourmet back!
Laurent
July 22, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Another victim of advertisers seeking the 21 to 34 demographics. Another institution that is discovered too late by a new generation. Perhaps if they changed the name to: Quick and Easy Microwave Gourmet. Support your magazines, the clock is ticking…………………..
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 4:00 pm
I absolutely agree. My grandmother used to subscribe to Gourmet and I started to a few years ago myself. It was something I always looked forward to reading, in the mornings, in the evenings, on the weekends. It was always a stress reducer; it made me feel healthier, it made me feel happier and more peaceful. Living and working in NY, this was really important to me. Of all the magazines to go, I think this one was a REAL SHAME.
berkshire mems
July 22, 2010 at 4:08 pm
yes, yes, yes — bring back "gourmet"! i was a subscriber for nearly 40 years. i planned my first trip to paris based on recommendations made in "gourmet". i learned to cook from "gourmet". i miss it terribly.
margaretmarks
July 22, 2010 at 4:22 pm
I've made do with Bon Appetit. I have a supporting cast in Sunset (because, well, I live in the West) and Saveur (the best American food mag right now?) and La Cucina Italiana (beyond lovely, if you're into it). But I really miss Gourmet. And not primarily for the recipes either. It was an institution. I don't read online magazines and frankly, I wish I could subscribe to blogs and have them delivered daily to my door in print form, yay for WWD at least. The best I've done is Tivo'd Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth and when Bon Appetit comes, I read it.
Christine
July 22, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Agreed! I would gladly pay upwards of $100 for a yearly subscription. This is why so many European magazines are still intact, and we have lost so many wonderful publications like Gourmet and Domino.
christie
July 22, 2010 at 4:38 pm
my husband agrees, 100%!
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 4:59 pm
I would suggest reading Saveur then, it might not be exactly the same, but it is a good replacement.
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 4:59 pm
I agree and this cover was shot by photographer Martyn Thompson who contributed to the magazine for years. What a fabulous photographer…i will miss seeing his work for this magazine.
Megan
July 22, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Is this not the same magazine? Looks like they are going to the phone, instead of paper
http://www.gourmet.com/
It even says, buy back issues now
~~~
My favorite food/travel blog … http://www.travelerslunchbox.com/
Mahala
July 22, 2010 at 5:22 pm
I feel like civilization declined when Gourmet stopped publishing. Never in my wildest imaginings did I think that a bastion of good taste, culture, exciting travel, and fabulous entertaining would end. It says everything about where we are as a society. So terribly, terribly sad.
picnic food & catering
July 22, 2010 at 6:04 pm
I'm with you. Great articles and great images! Bring it back!
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 8:35 pm
I agree with you completely. I still savor the back issues for the recipes and destinations! Is there a petition we can sign??
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Check out the website. An iPad application is coming out for an online version of the magazine!
GeoGirlPhD
July 22, 2010 at 9:52 pm
I'm with you. As a 20+ year subscriber, I was heartbroken last Fall. I am happy to see the excellent writers showing up elsewhere, but I don't want an online replacement. I want the real thing back!
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 9:54 pm
"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 10:07 pm
I know! I want it back too. They sent me Bon Appetit for the rest of my subscription and I tried…but it wasn't cutting it.
Joaquin de Jesus
July 22, 2010 at 10:57 pm
I'm just staring at the jamon on the magazine's front cover. hahaha!
Anonymous
July 22, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Her eyebrows are perfection.
kristin
July 23, 2010 at 12:11 am
bon appetite sucks! Gourmet rocks! I hope they bring it back, but only if it is as good as before.
beth
July 23, 2010 at 2:15 am
right on! i miss my magazine too!
jamesandthegiantcupcake
July 23, 2010 at 4:41 am
I miss this magazine arriving in my mailbox. Classy & informative- the type of magazine that made you feel like leaving your current obligations and create the best dinner party of your life…….
phil
July 23, 2010 at 9:40 am
Please help me! Where can I get the recipes? By the way the cover is fabulous. I just wonder why magazine covers these days look all the same and so boring.
On the Glam
July 23, 2010 at 10:05 am
It's STILL shocking that they decided to pull the plug on this one. I thought it'd be around forever…and ever…and ever.
http://ontheglam.com
.jon
July 23, 2010 at 10:11 am
The magazine went down hill as soon as Ruth Reichl took it over. It lost its panache and went from "Gourmet" to "foodie" in tone; words that somehow sound similar but whose connotation reflect two entirely different gastronomic styles… I want Gourmet back without Ruth, s'il vous plait
Cindy Ann
July 23, 2010 at 10:32 am
I cried real tear when I heard the news. I want Gourmet back too!!! BA just doesn't compare.
Laurent
July 23, 2010 at 11:26 am
Yasmin Le Bon, No? Classic beauty. This picture inspired us to have a luncheon al fresco this weekend. everyone who follows sartorialist invited. If you are coming from NY I have a wish list for italian and french provisions.
Auroravfs
July 23, 2010 at 11:56 am
This brings back the pain of the loss of my favorite magazine all over again!
m.edwin
July 23, 2010 at 12:46 pm
what a great cover to make your point
Sophie
July 23, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Yes yes yes! Bring back Gourmet and bring back Domino. Please!
Anonymous
July 23, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Ohhhhh I couldn't agree with you more! Bon Apetit has been a sorely disappointing alternative!
Dayna
July 23, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Gourmet was my favorite magazine. Not just because of the food, but the photos as well. They were so irreplaceable. It's ridiculous, and I know so many people who would be willing to pay twice the original amount they charged to get the magazine back. Their cookbooks just don't cut it. I was very disappointed that Conde Nast cut Gourmet over Bon Appetit.
Cat in a Basket
July 23, 2010 at 1:58 pm
I've loved Gourmet magazine since the 1980s. I loved the recipes, because they were true gourmet recipes, not afraid of obscure ingredients or complicated steps. The "foodie" magazines we have now are like Gourmet Lite, fancy food for dummies. How sad that such a lovely monument to gourmet cooking is gone.
nyackgirl
July 23, 2010 at 3:01 pm
I miss Gourmet and Ruth terribly (although I do follow her Twitter posts which I love and her website). Gourmet was yet another piece of American history which has sadly been lost. Don't be jealous everyone – but I own almost the entire 68 years worth!
Anonymous
July 23, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Totally agreed, and thanks for the post. STRENGTH IN NUMBERS! PLEASE BRING BACK OUR GOURMET!
Anonymous
July 23, 2010 at 3:44 pm
I could not agree more!!
Bonnie
July 23, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Amazing magazine & cover, indeed!
I was so saddened that I hosted a wake for Gourmet. (Click on my name to see event photos.)
belvedere beads
July 23, 2010 at 6:08 pm
agreed, i miss it too.
Tom
July 23, 2010 at 6:27 pm
What!? Nooooo, I saw this picture and I thought "huh, should finally get a subscription to that" … this is terrible news (news to me that is)
Anonymous
July 23, 2010 at 11:00 pm
Funny – that the cover you chose to show is my favorite cover of all time. The story/photo essay inside that issue is even better. Gourmet had started to shoot these lifestyle scenes – instead of just taking pictures of the food and ingredients – and I thought this new tactic was very successful. No other foodie magazine comes close in my opinion. Not only for the photo stories and travel articles but also for the recipes and the way the recipes are laid out. It was a great resource – and wonderful to look at. I've saved every single one.
Tina
July 24, 2010 at 12:26 am
I loved Gourmet! I started getting it just 6 months before it was closed down, and I looked forward to getting it each month so much. I was pretty devastated when Conde Nast chose *Bon Appetite* over Gourmet! What a travesty
Tina
July 24, 2010 at 12:30 am
I loved Gourmet! I started getting it just 6 months before it was closed down, and I looked forward to getting it each month so much. I was devastated when Conde Nast chose BA over Gourmet! What a travesty. I loved Gourmet's engagement with the political (the article on workers on tomato farms in Florida in particular), the international styles of food (their Argentinean recipes were approved of by Argentinean friends!), and the total deliciousness of the recipes. Not to mention that it just felt so much more sophisticated than BA does.
David McCarty
July 24, 2010 at 9:47 am
I agree. And I was a monthly subscriber. How about they at least create an iPad subscription version.
Culinarian
July 24, 2010 at 10:32 am
I couldn't agree more. The foodie world is suffering with the loss of Gourmet. I still flip back through the old issues and look for culinary inspiration according to each month. But, you're right, the fashion and travel pieces were iconic…
Anna Joyce
July 24, 2010 at 12:00 pm
And DOMINO too please!
Maria S.
July 24, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Two more votes for the Domino and Gourmet, two undispensable sources for my inner and domestic life. Who runs Conde Nast and what were they thinking!!! ?????????
Miss them both so much. Back issues treasured.
Anthea Liontos
July 24, 2010 at 5:08 pm
On my first solo trip to Europe, when I was 21, I had a six hour layover in Amsterdam and decided to explore the city instead of the airport. Equipped with my first real camera (Canon), I walked around snapping shots of bicycles (another story) and ended up in a little restaurant for lunch. I did what I always do when dining alone. I pulled out my notebook and began writing down thoughts. The place was empty because it was past lunch hour and the owner of the restaurant came over to tell me they weren't serving again until dinner. What?! I was starving and exhausted. Seeing my notebook and camera, he suddenly asked if I were a journalist. I paused, looked up and finally answered, "Yes. I write for Gourmet." I've never lied in my life before or since so I don't know what came over me at that moment. Hunger for sure but maybe also being so far away from home for the first time…maybe the adventure of it all carried me away… whatever, it worked. You surely know the rest. I proceeded to have an amazing meal and a sampling of delicious desserts. I even took a photo with the owner in front of his restaurant. I hope he wasn't too disappointed when he never found his article…sigh. Of course I felt badly later on but for one afternoon I lived out my fantasy career and it was sublime.
Ever since, I've looked to Gourmet to take me away to far away places when I couldn't travel and for coveted and vetted addresses when I could. The recipes were great too, of course. And Ruth Reichl? Well she's one of my heroes. So yes, I too want my Gourmet back! What can we do??
Anonymous
July 24, 2010 at 5:21 pm
PLEASE come back Gourmet. We have gone from college to Switzerland to Spain to New York and then Portland, Oregon together. I miss you all and Gourmet kept me in the loop with happenings in THE WORLD.
PLEASE COME BACK TO ME!!!!!!!
~chetna~
July 25, 2010 at 1:26 am
yes yes bring it back now! especially irritating when such a ton of garbage graces news stands .. & no, i don't agree about making it an iphone app – give me a break – part of the thing with magazines is their physical presence ..
if The Sartorialist were available in magazine form I'd buy it, I mean I love that its online, & a monthly best-of would be great don't you think?
cake&icecream
July 25, 2010 at 4:48 pm
And to think they did for Rachel Ray!!! What a tragedy!!
Anonymous
July 25, 2010 at 5:02 pm
I agree! Bring it back already!
Denis
July 26, 2010 at 5:17 am
very sad indeed, it was a great pubblication
Dig a Cherry
July 26, 2010 at 5:57 am
That would be great to have Gourmet back !
The Clever Pup
July 26, 2010 at 8:27 am
I loved Gourmet, especially in its larger format. It felt so special, so classy.
As a Canadian I dreaded those "Best Restaurants in America Issues" I just couldn't relate. But I adored all the other issues.
And yes, travel too. My scrapbooks are filled with destinations found inside Gourmet's pages.
Driftwood & Turtles
July 26, 2010 at 11:42 am
Yes, bring back Gourmet.
Driftwood & Turtles
July 26, 2010 at 11:42 am
Yes, bring back Gourmet ~
Jon
July 26, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Oh, so sad for me, my wife, my children, and my belly! The picture he chose is still my favourite issue – on my bedside table for years now, slightly tattered and worn, but still delicious in the reading, if not the trialling of the recipes!
Anonymous
July 26, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Here! Here!
How is it that they keep on the insufferable advertisement that is LUCKY, but pull the plug on the magazine that helped inspire Julia Child to cook???
An absolute travesty…
Cooking is the ONLY thing in the world I adore more than fashion…
Ruth Reichl came on just as my grown up self bloomed into a full bodied foodie…I'd often blow my entire paltry paycheck on a 5 star meal…which up until then, was only blown on Prada…
I suggested the exact same plan…take it down to every other month or quarterly…why end the legacy?
Lindsey
July 26, 2010 at 9:43 pm
agreed!
Anonymous
July 26, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Every time I get that damn Bon Appetit now being sent to me as a replacement for my Gourmet subscription, I want to cry….it was my favorite magazine!!
Luce Cousineau
July 27, 2010 at 2:48 pm
I remember that Gourmet cover because my mother, Ruth Cousineau, was the food stylist for that article and she recounted how they staged that scene to look like Italy (really a NYC street). The beauty of the imagery holds up year after year. My mother and all the talented staff of Gourmet have moved on…but my anger rises every time I get Bon Appetit in the mail. What an absolute insult to the photographers, creatives, and talented home cooks – to think BA could be any substitute. Gourmet nourished us for decades. I throw Bon Appetit right in the recycling.
kristina - no penny for them
July 27, 2010 at 5:44 pm
oh yes, bring it back!
maybe we should just start a website promoting this – seeing as the impossible project was able to bring back polaroid film, and who would have thought…
Anonymous
July 28, 2010 at 7:30 am
Devastated! I bought my first copy of Gourmet in South Africa where international magazines are triple the price, so I would save and save to buy these. My heart bleeds!
marianne
July 28, 2010 at 11:34 am
My sentiments exactly. Gourmet was a trove of wonderful recipes as well as a great source for travel/restaurant/lifestyle bits. I'm afraid the other 2 competing magazines which are somehow still available just cannot match Gourmet.
Maddiane
July 28, 2010 at 12:48 pm
I miss it too!
Anonymous
July 29, 2010 at 2:20 pm
I adored this photo when this issue came out!
Anonymous
July 29, 2010 at 5:04 pm
i agree totally. my mom has been a subscriber since the late 70s! even though we live in germany. we need that magazine back!
jorth
July 30, 2010 at 6:04 am
Abso-bloody-lutely agree. The world is a poorer place without Gourmet, dammit!
Anonymous
July 30, 2010 at 2:26 pm
But there's nothing to bring back. They fired everyone. Why do people think you can just start printing it again? The editors are gone, the art dept. is gone, the writers are gone, the photographers are gone. The magazine as a living organism is gone. You can't "bring it back." There is no "it."
Jen/YVR
July 31, 2010 at 2:00 am
I distinctly remember the first Gourmet (and first foodie mag!)I ever bought – it was an early summer issue, with lobster and limes on the cover. The photo was so stylish, so fresh. It spoke of an entire lifestyle, not just a meal. I was hooked immediately. I did not miss an issue from that point on.
I agree with others about BA being a poor substitute. It lacks the style of Gourmet. And the photography style that they've adopted in the last year or so strikes me as dark and heavy – almost as though I'm looking through an issue from 30 years ago. The only redeeming quality about BA is Molly Wizenberg's column!
I love Saveur, but miss my Gourmet dearly.
Anonymous
July 31, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Yes, I agree completely. I miss Gourmet so much. What were they thinking?
Anonymous
August 2, 2010 at 12:13 pm
and on top of it all they foist Bon Appetite on you as a consolation prize. Each month when I receive that magazine it is like another slap in the face.
Anonymous
August 2, 2010 at 7:51 pm
All my friends have heard me say it a dozen times. I miss my Gourmet subscription! I appreciate the efforts of the staff at Bon Appetit (be nice to magazine folk, they are underpaid and overworked), but there is nothing out there with the same degree of excellence in art direction, writing, recipe consistency, location choice, styling, testing and relevancy. Condé Nast, I hope you figure out how to bring it back.
Anne
August 2, 2010 at 11:20 pm
I agree with you.. it was my favorite food magazine as well! I miss it!
Asha
August 2, 2010 at 11:36 pm
I am the woman on this cover, and it's bittersweet to see this photo again after some time. I can tell you that the energy on set that day was as beautiful as this photograph. The people at this magazine were so passionate about the art and beauty of the the images they published, and the food was always as lovingly and deliciously prepared as it appeared.
I miss the days of Gourmet too.
Andrew
August 3, 2010 at 9:26 pm
In the summer of 2008, I was sitting in a doctor's office in Paramus, NJ. I opened up a magazine I never really had looked at and it was a revelation…
Gorgeous photography, understated graphics, a sense of classical and leisurely living, great clothing, and food that was photographed not as artificial and fake food stylists would do it, but as documentary shooters might see it and as cooks might taste it.
Conde Nast was short sighted in letting Gourmet expire. Gourmet was too food writing what Bergdorf Goodman is to fine dressing.
Ax Bon Appetit with it heinous and cheap commercialism and screaming ugliness.
Melinda
August 4, 2010 at 9:29 pm
What a beautiful image, everything about it– the woman, the child, the dress, the food.
Amy H.
August 11, 2010 at 9:11 am
I read that magazine…that very one, from cover to cover in a waiting room somewhere!
I agree, I wanted to not only create the food, but to travel to the places there, and eat with the people, too. If Gourmet comes back, let us know!
All the best….
Anonymous
August 13, 2010 at 10:12 pm
AGREED. It seems to me that in this modern time many companies are willing to forgo class and sophistication for convenience and affordability… Such has become the industry's understanding of what the so-called "average" consumer wants. Who says that we all want to surround ourselves with the average and mediocre? Where is the fun and fantasy in that? Don't we read magazines for the pleasure we gain from exotic stories and beautiful photographs? Does that not inspire us and brighten our days?
Conde Nast has forgotten that like all things, quality should not be forsaken at the hands of cost cutting. My great aunt used to tell me that it is far better to have fewer things that are very nice as opposed to many that are mediocre. Some of the titles Conde Nast has retained in the wake of cutting Gourmet could have been sacrificed to keep a good thing around.
It's a shame what we throw away these days… I was very surprised to hear of Gourmet's departure. But at the same time, it doesn't surprise me in these strange times.
Tina
August 16, 2010 at 5:50 pm
100% agreement with you! I miss my Gourmet…one of the only magazines that I ever felt worthy of a subscription! Loved it and miss it dearly!
ann
August 17, 2010 at 12:19 pm
yes!
Dana
August 18, 2010 at 7:10 am
Just noticed this:
http://live.gourmet.com/2010/08/were-starting-to-simmer/
Stephan
August 19, 2010 at 3:10 am
I could not agree more. It was a brilliant magazine and equally brilliant website. I understood that an IPad app is being developed, which is better than nothing.
Anonymous
August 21, 2010 at 3:17 pm
The art direction was incredible. I was truly crushed when I heard. They started sending Bon Ap instead – such an insult.
Steff
August 24, 2010 at 8:51 pm
I loved that magazine. In fact the cover you posted is one of my favorite issues.
Josie
August 27, 2010 at 10:09 am
my dad is trying to clean house.. he is a chef and for years has used Gourmet magazines as a resource to gather wonderful recipes to create. regrettably my mom has said that his collection has to go. there are YEARS of magazines that are all bound by year.. it basically looks like a stack of encyclopedias! if anyone is interested in them please contact me @ mrsjarthur75 @ aol. com. We are looking to sell them since my mom has also decided to add another room to the house.. I would keep these myself, but all my very favorite recipes my dad has taught me over the years.
as my dad has said many times, " a true gourmet dish will live on forever", and I hope that someone gets all the use out of these books as my parents, my parents' daughters and parents' grandchildren have.
Crystallyn
August 30, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Gourmet is sort of coming back!!
http://gawker.com/5625776/gourmet-is-slowly-creeping-back-into-print
Anonymous
September 12, 2010 at 3:49 pm
I totally agree. What I loved most about this magazine was that is was more anthropological study, than just a food magazine, which is probably why it was pulled in the first place. Most people just want a recipe magazine. I loved their special issues on markets, breakfast, or focusing on all the different varieties and types of a food like salt or avocados.
Susan in the Boonies
December 4, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Bring back Gourmet!!!
tisha
February 21, 2011 at 12:25 pm
OMG!!! yes please please please bring this magazine back!! I miss it sooooo much. I would read it cover to cover. The little article at the back with the theme and like 3 recipes was my favorite part. But this magazine was a great read from cover to cover :( I want to cry when i think of all the great articles i'm missing and all the new foods and cultures and places that i'm not being introduced to. Pretty please with a cherry on top?
Maria
May 18, 2011 at 1:30 pm
I so completely agree with this post. I am still in mourning, May of 2011. A neighbor reccommended Saveur; does anyone have any comment?
Diana Lee-Delisle
June 10, 2011 at 7:29 am
Gourmet is a classy magazine – bring it back now! – Diana
Alison
October 3, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Seeing this post a little over two years out from when you first wrote about it; I’ve gotten used to no Gourmet.
Also Bon Appetit has really stepped up their game since then. I think its young and fresh.