Conde Nast is shuttering Gourmet, which is a huge blow to food nerds everywhere. The vaguely more with it Bon Appetit remains, but man, what sad news. Gourmet was one of the first grown-up magazines I got in to, and when I started giving a hoot about cooking and dining, it was Gourmet‘s lifestyle pornography that drew me in. Its recipes read more like adventure stories than how-tos (my fleeting interest in cooking has completely fled at this point), but I was nonetheless captivated.
I obviously work in media, and am thus no stranger to the hits my industry has taken over the last few years and the rough and mysterious road ahead. That just makes it all the scarier that a publication as iconic as Gourmet is as good as gone.
Will you miss Gourmet, PopWatchers?
NOOOOOOOooooooo!!! this is surely a sign of the coming end of civilization! i cant believe they are doing this (and do i get a refund on my subscription??)
Probably they’ll try to substitute Bon Appetit. If you cancel, give Cooks Illustrated a try. It is an amazing little magazine. I subscribe to the online version and get free access to all their archives and recipes. TO DIE FOR!
It is a huge loss. Each issue explored food and culture in the most engaging ways. It allowed me to travel the world and bring a bit of cooking beyond chicken nuggets to my kids. Very sad.
This is terrible news. Gourmet is a great magazine and I will definitely miss it.
Magazine was more flash than practical.
Really? Just last night I made a pork tenderloin recipe from the most recent issue. It had 6 ingredients total (I just made the tenderloin, not the compote), took exactly how long they suggested (less than 30 minutes total) and was definitely the best thing I have ever cooked in my life. I think they have a great mix of simple and complex dishes, and I will definitely miss it.
Oh wow. They’re one of the giants in their field. I haven’t even gotten the notification from our subscription agency (I’m a serials librarian) that they’ll be going defunct. This is right up there with Scientific American getting bought out by the Nature Group–and raising their rates to $300/year (from about $60/year).
$300 a year? For a magazine subscription???
Subscriptions for most actual scientific journals are hundreds of dollars a year, and they are technically almost 100% advertisement (since the scientitist that submit articles must actually PAY if their article is accepted for publication during a prrer review process.
Oh, that’s not even the worst of it. A lot of the specialized medical journals can go for thousands and thousands of dollars/year. Though the “generalized” journals (in any field, though medicine is the worst offender) usually don’t go over $600/year. But a jump of almost $250 from one year to the next is really a low blow (especially to us libraries who *have* to keep a subscription for various reasons).
What a shame. I love that magazine if only to look at the picture. Why can’t they shut down Glamour, useless piece of crap zine it is?
Well, there is no shortage of simpering idiots out there to buy rubbish like Glamour…
yes! shut down glamour and cosmo, those trashy wastes of paper! although i heard a rumor that the first lady will be on glamours december cover…if its true, thats a shame.
You should still be able to get free archived Gourmet (and Bon Appetit, Cooking Light, etc.) recipes at epicurious.com – great site. The day I’ll curl over in a ball on the floor is the day Cook’s Illustrated (America’s Test Kitchen) stops printing.
And Cook’s Country. Amen to that.
Hear, hear. I’m an Cook’s Illustrated/American’s Test Kitchen/Cook’s Country fanatic. If they ever stopped, I’d have to slit my wrists
Amen. Just started getting Gourmet as a gift, however. Wonder if we’ll get Bon Appetit in its place. I LOVE Cooks Illustrated.
lifestyle pornography?
They’d do profiles on chefs or groups who get together to have dinner parties and live the “fabulous life” in whatever city they’re in.
Well, as a subscriber of Gourmet for the last six months, I can say there really haven’t been any ‘living the good life party’ articles at all. There are usually several (small) features on chefs, highlighting new restaurants and food trends. There are usually a lot of tiny recommendations of places to get the best of certain types of food in various cities in the US – which is great for travel planning or just to learn where the best spots are in a big city.
Thank you, I was wondering the same thing!
Booooo! My limited cooking pursuits involved Gourmet mag, so I will be sad to see it go.
LAME. Nobody does food porn like Gourmet!!
I agree with Sabrina; there are other magazines that they could have shut down. However, crap sells nowadays. End of story.
Will I get a refund? don”t they have an obligation to fulfill contract?
Gourmet has been sliding on its ability to captivate its audience ever since the January Cupcake Cover. 2 months after that issue, they actually posted a recipe on how to roast a chicken. REALLY???? My subscription was promptly cancelled. Epicurious.com and Cooking Light have taken over for the lack of enthusiasm Gourmet has been showing. Just showing up and resting on your reputation is just not good enough in an environment of online competition.
I loved the cupcake cover.
boooo, don’t like bon apetit, but I suppose I should prepare for the worst that it will be substitued for the rest of gourmet subscription.
From the very first time I came across a copy of Gourmet magazine, I was hooked. I felt like I traveled the world and ate all the amazing food this world had to offer. My very own wedding cake, I made from one of these receipes. Certainly will be greatly missed.
Food lover
Savage
I have been a devotee ever since I picked up an issue at the home where I was babysitting 41 years ago. While I groaned at riz l’imperatrice and oeufs en gelee — get real . . . I savored the articles and, of course, the stunning photography. Better than a course in world civilization. Tasteful explorer of what is, might be and has been. This is a loss of culture that I fear will not be replaced.