R.I.P. Gourmet

I was saddened to learn that Gourmet magazine will cease publication this fall, another victim of the advertising drought affecting print media in particular.

Until I got a free offer to use mileage points to subscribe, I had never so much as looked at the magazine, thinking it was way too hoity-toity for me. And certainly there is that element: reviews of high-end restaurants I'll never dine at, spreads about fancy and fanciful dinner parties. But there were also a lot of down-to-earth articles, reviews and recipes. Ruth Reichl's total love of good food infused every page, and the photography was gorgeous -- truly food porn. I was impressed enough to renew as a paid subscriber.

It's quite a statement that a magazine with nearly a million circulation can't survive today.

Guess Not

Everything But The Kitchen Sink?

In this early-60s parody, Allan Sherman reminds us of a time before it was common to have multiple ethnic/international restaurants in even the smallest towns in America.