The End of Gourmet

Shock waves are ringing through the foodie world today on the news that Gourmet Magazine -- an American staple since 1941 -- would cease publication. The mainsrteam press has been zinging with food metaphors. From The Globe & Mail:

In media interviews, the chief executive of Condé Nast Publications Inc., said the reason was simple: Gourmet, the oldest culinary monthly in North America, was losing money. Ad pages had fallen like an overdone soufflé, down nearly 45 per cent between January and September. With a staff numbering around 100, circulation stubbornly below one million, and its corporate sister Bon Appétit proving both cheaper to produce and far more appetizing to advertisers, Gourmet was taken out back and slaughtered like a terrified Thanksgiving turkey. Readers reacted as if they had lost a loved one. "Gourmet is like a bible," the Toronto-based chef Susur Lee said yesterday. "I'm a little depressed. When I heard, I called my wife to tell her the news. Something like that, you want to share with your family."

On Twitter, Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl was necessarily -- and characteristically -- succinct. “Dishes done,” she tweeted. “All gone. Great gathering at the house tonight. I so love the people I've worked with at Gourmet. Hard to believe it's over.”

Indeed.