Gourmet Magazine Folds

Gourmet Magazine sunsets multiple publications

Just received an email from a friend who works at a Conde Nast publication, saying, “I had to read this three times to make sure I was still employed,” referring to the memo, released this morning, saying the company is ceasing three of its publications, including Gourmet.

I will wager everyone over a certain age who cooks has a Gourmet story. Here’s mine: I started subscribing to the magazine at age 12, thinking it so beautiful, so sophisticated; all these articles and beautiful photos from places like Gstaad and Vienna. It wasn’t that I dreamed of going to these places, but of being the sort of person who went to these places. In the meantime, I baked from the magazine’s recipes. Yes, at age 12, I was making a 12-layer Dobosh Torte.

I kept my subscription for 20 years, keeping years worth of the magazines shelved in the guest bathroom of the very first home my daughter and I lived in alone. I thought it a beautiful touch. A year later, I was contacted by Bon Appetit, to begin writing for them. They sent me on ski trips and cruises; I ate in cities all over, swam in three seas, for articles with beautiful photos. I had become that person I dreamed of, which astounded me.

Bon Appetit (whom I continue to write for) and Gourmet are both published by Conde Nast, and today, there is no more Gourmet. The wedge cut this makes in my day-to-day life will not be visible (for now), but psychically, something direct has been taken. When I metaphorically close my eyes, I see a road once traveled by a few writers and editors who were moving on by choice, or because they were not suited to the work, now increasingly crowded, moving briskly, but in which direction?

You can read more of Nancy Rommelmann’s writing on her excellent website: NancyRommelmann.com