Saveur publisher on why Gourmet failed

[Jenise]

In Forbes magazine on line (no registration required):

http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/07/magazines-gourmet-saveur-business-media-saveur.html?feed=rss_business_media

She says, "Bon Appetit is more about putting Hellmann's mayonnaise on Wonder bread, not living the good life."

Is she kidding?
In my opinion, Bon Appetit remained more of a cooking magazine over the years, with recipes I wanted to try to make while Gourmet seemed to be all about shopping and traveling, and their recipes just kept getting more and more obscure.

Harsh, but I actually found her honesty refreshing.

I think she was overstating things a bit with her comment about mayonnaise on Wonder bread. Bon Appetit goes well beyond that, but I don't think it aspires to reach the levels that Gourmet did in its heyday. It's a good source if you want relatively straightforward recipes. I do see Saveur as probably the most sophisticated of the American food magazines that are left but it's not a magazine to get recipes from the way Bon Appetit is or Gourmet was. As she (tellingly) states, it's a "food, travel, culture" magazine.

Her emphasis on these magazines' events was also interesting. I've never been to one of these events and I don't plan on ever going. I find most of the ads for them to be pretty off-putting. Why would I want to go spend a few hundred dollars to find out what Bon Appetit considers to be the latest in food style?

[Jenise]

Her emphasis on these magazines' events was also interesting. I've never been to one of these events and I don't plan on ever going. I find most of the ads for them to be pretty off-putting. Why would I want to go spend a few hundred dollars to find out what Bon Appetit considers to be the latest in food style?

Ditto.

But speaking of such things, I noticed an envelope from the Food Network addressed to me in yesterday's snail mail, but I didn't have time to open it. How strange is that?