The Mango Lassie

Today is a very sad day in the world of food journalism. Gourmet, the most vaunted title among food magazines and among the best-edited magazines ever, is going to be shuttered. Gourmet’s publisher, Condé Nast, announced today that it would be closing the 69-year-old magazine, along with three other titles.

Condé Nast has been struggling financially and recently hired the consulting firm McKinsey to tell it where to cut costs. Most outside observers thought Bon Appétit, the less-classic title, was more likely to face the axe. As it turns out, Gourmet was losing money and Bon Appétit has a larger circulation and blah, blah, blah. The real point here is that Gourmet has long been one of the only places to read serious essays about the politics, science and health issues surrounding food. Great writers like M.F.K. Fisher and David Foster Wallace wrote legendary pieces in its pages. The magazines recipes are also delicious and inspired, or if not, at least they look stunning in the photos.

Bon Appétit, on the other hand, has been reduced to a frivolous piece of fluff with very little serious reporting and poor fact-checking. As I have recounted in an earlier post, Bon Appétit blissfully ignores troubling issues like eating endangered species and focuses its energy on broad themes like Halloween(!) and the latest activities of the team on the Fox TV show Hell’s Kitchen. This is no replacement for Gourmet, and there is no way I will be transferring my subscription there. I would rather subscribe to Rachel Ray. (Well, maybe not, but let’s say it would be a hard decision.)

The only hope is that Gourmet can be resuscitated in some form by another publisher or by its talented staff, all of whom will be leaving the company this week. Ruth Reichl’s influence has not waned, and I’ll be surprised if she is not back at the helm of another important project soon.

My one request to you, dear readers, is this: If you see a copy of the November issue of Gourmet (which will be the last) on the newsstands, please buy it. In doing so, you’ll cast your vote for one of the last vestiges of responsible, inspired food journalism around.

The Mango Lassie is a blog about finding and sampling food that is delicious, unique and distinctive without being expensive. I define expensive as being more than around $12 for an entree. Of course, many of the eateries featured on this blog (i.e. roadside stands, ice cream shops) won’t even serve entrees, but let’s just say, I know expensive when I see it.

In my quest to sample the specialties of as many culinary gems as possible, there is no group more useful, than you, readers, for pointing out new places and suggesting your favorites. So please, feel free to offer up your favorite cheap eats or the ones you’ve always wanted to try. I have no dietary restrictions and will try anything at least once. If I give opinions you don’t agree with, write back and tell me what you think.

Thanks for reading, and happy eating to all.

The Mango Lassie