Sad news for food lovers across the pond as Gourmet magazine is set to close. Condé Nast Publications announced yesterday that it is shutting down the highly respected title after publishing it for nearly 70 years.
Gourmet, which launched in 1940, has been badly affected by the US media industry's advertising slump.According to the Publishers Information Bureau, the magazine's advertising pages were down 50% in the second quarter this year compared to 2008.
Jay Rayner, the Observer's restaurant critic and a former Gourmet writer, said working at the magazine "was like flying the Atlantic first class. It ruined you for other food magazines".
Gourmet was edited by Ruth Reichl, a bestselling author and former restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.
The closure was as much of a shock to Reichl as it was to its many readers and fans. "Like everyone else, I found out this morning," she told the LA Times. "I can't talk about it now, it's too raw. I've got to pack up my office."
Reichl added in a Twitter message: "Thank you all SO much for this outpouring of support. It means a lot. Sorry not to be posting now, but I'm packing. We're all stunned, sad."
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