The Death of Taste: Reflections on the Shuttering of Gourmet Magazine

Ruth Reichl: Editrix, eater, Culinary mastermind and poet

The title of a yet released headline flutters in my head like burning blood: CONDE NAST TO CLOSE GOURMET MAGAZINE. I immediately feel utter disbelief welling up in my chest: how is this possible? Gourmet Magazine, to me, is so much more than a food publication; it has come to be likened in my eyes as an anthem of elegance and style, expressed in a layout of incomparably luxurious photographs and literary articles expounding the cosmopolitan cuisine of destinations throughout the world. It is a tome that I consult on a monthly basis.

Responsible for much of the magazine's image and position in the current magazine culture is the guiding vision of its longtime (since the 1990's) Editor-in-Chief, Ruth Reichl. It was she, in one of her many published memoirs, who instructed me on the subtleties and nuance of food, the poetry of apples, figs, prosciutto. Despite these taxing lessons learned regarding the transience of things (and yes, even beautiful things), there is always something to be thankful for.

Ruth Reichl's Red Wine Caramel Apples, in the October issue of Gourmet