Saveur

"Coffee table" magazine? I don't
think so... "Food and Wine": now that
is a magazine more devoted to showing
breathless closeups of beautiful
food. You can't eat it, and you can't
find the ingredients, but it looks
lovely. Yes, the photography in
Saveur is very nice, but that
just enhances the experience for me.

I am a former subscriber to a LOT
of food magazines. Gourmet lost it
when they went PC, and you can never
find the very special ingredients
they mention, unless you live
on a particular street in NYC. F&W
already mentioned. Williams/Sonoma had a
nice magazine, but now sadly gone.

I also like the travel aspect to
the articles, which is generally
much more "real" travel than you get
in other food magazines. As an
example, Gourmet will send a reporter
to the most expensive hotel/restaurant
in Italy, while Saveur will explore the
wonderful food and drinks to be found in
the Italian countryside.

I think the best compliment is that
other food magazines are stealing
ideas from Saveur, in hopes of grabbing
the same audience. A theme shows
up in Saveur, only to be repeated
a month or two later in Food and
Wine.

Perfect? No, but Saveur is working
on it, having had some ups and
downs in the last few years. I
think that the patient is recovering
nicely at this time (6/03).


Fantastic magazine with excellent photography and stories   August 29, 2003
Barnaby Dorfman (Seattle, WA USA)
45 out of 47 found this review helpful

To me, Saveur is almost more about travel than it is about food. The articles tend to be about cuisines set in the context of their geographic and cultural origins. Rich photography and personal stories give you a flavor of the people and places behind familiar and new dishes. Articles in Saveur have inspired me to take several trips, to places I would not have otherwise considered, and seek out amazing little hole in the wall shops and restaurants.

If you love to travel, cook, and eat, you will love Saveur!


Not your typical cooking magazine   March 4, 2002
40 out of 43 found this review helpful

Saveur isn't in the same genre as other cooking magazines, and it is for precisely that reason that I give it a five-star rating. While I love my Bon Appetit and Cooking Light, Saveur is a completely different way of looking at food and cooking. It's far more cultural and in-depth than any of these other magazines can possibly be, given their target audiences. If you really want to take an in-depth look at food and culture, I highly recommend Saveur. The recipes that are included are very cookable. But this is a magazine you'll certainly want to read as much as you cook from it. It's not going to have recipes that you make on a busy weeknight. Rather, these recipes are cultural investigations and weekend projects. They're great for entertaining if you have friends who are as curious about culture and food and who love to experiment as much as you do. After reading Saveur and trying the accompanying and well-chosen recipes, you'll have a much greater appreciation for culture and food. Saveur really gets to the heart of the spiritual joy of eating and sharing food. If you can't travel, Saveur truly is the next best thing, and in this respect, is a highly "accessible" resource.


The secret delight...   September 17, 2005
Addison Phillips (San Jose, CA United States)
34 out of 36 found this review helpful

SAVEUR has been a guilty pleasure for me for some time. Guilty because it is hard to take serious a magazine with such a hoity sounding name... and admittedly some of the travel-and-food stories are just on the edge of self-indulgent, self-concious behaviour. They laugh at me at home (or used to) for reading it.

What makes it good is the content. The cover story each issue is usually a "destination" article, focused on a particular area and its food (cuisine is the wrong word here), written in a personal vein, with beautiful photos, and this is the heart of the magazine. But the other content is equally beautiful and it is amazing how many of the recipes actually are useful and have become mainstays for me... not just something good looking.

Hide the cover if you must, but I think this is the best "foodie" magazine.


International Travel and Food - What More Could You Ask For?   November 15, 2002
25 out of 26 found this review helpful

I have received almost all of the cooking and travel magazines out there and have to say that Saveur is by far one of the best. Not only are the recipes unique and delicious, the beautifully written articles on the cities and countries where the recipes are from are mesmerizing. The photo essays capture the food and culture of the city of focus, bringing the reader closer to the experience of the recipes shared. Some months focus on a particular region, while others pick out an ingredient of the season (such as apples in the most recent addition). After living in Japan for many years, a recent article on Sumo brought back to life the exquisite culture and cuisine I once shared.

I was afraid that the ingredients might be difficult to find given that it is based on international locations, but I have not found this to be a problem. They even took the time to create an 'where to order the food' list at the back for ingredients that aren't at the corner store. This would make a perfect gift for the cook in your life who has an interest in international cuisine and culture.