Gourmet (2-year)

The new "Gourmet" is much more of a travel magazine than a cook's magazine. It particularly focuses on New York restaurants, and most of the recipes showcase famous dishes from various restaurants, not recipes that were designed for the home cook. While the old "Gourmet" certainly had its fair share of restaurant and travel coverage, the focus was on different culinary traditions and exciting culinary innovations. In other words, it was a more scholarly look at cooking. The new magazine feels like a bunch of fluff pieces set up by New York PR agents. Next time I'm planning a trip to New York, I'll probably pick up an issue to see what's new and hot, but this isn't the kind of information that's useful to me on a monthly basis.


Recipes, travel articles, wine notes, color photographs   April 5, 2003
Debbie Lee Wesselmann (the Lehigh Valley, PA)
32 out of 45 found this review helpful

The subtitle for GOURMET is "The Magazine of Good Living," and this perfectly describes the attitude of this publication. More than just a cookbook, GOURMET aims to cover not only the food of specific regions but also the physical terrain; the travel articles detailing places around the world (with an emphasis on the food, of course) are some of the best in the business. The magazine reviews restaurants, usually one in New York, one in California, and one elsewhere. Each issue features a famous chef and a few of his recipes. The photography is often first-rate, whether of a bowl of red chili peppers or a village in Tuscany.

Traditionally, GOURMET has excelled in recipes for main course dishes. Each issue's index now contains headings for vegetarian fare and low-fat recipes, a nod to changing tastes and health concerns. While some recipes require considerable preparation time, approximately half in a recent issue were noted as taking "30 minutes or less (of) active time."

I recommend GOURMET for people who not only like to cook but who like to read about food. GOURMET has made many concessions over the years to the busier lifestyle of American cooks, but they remain dedicated to bringing the context of world cuisine into households everywhere.


Look elsewhere for your recipes   May 26, 2004
chefdevergue (Spokane, WA United States)
31 out of 31 found this review helpful

I used to be a devoted subscriber, for years and years, to this magazine. Routinely, I could find about a score of recipes that I really wanted to try right away. It was a great magazine.

However, a few years back, there was an change in editorial staff, and the emphasis shifted away from cooking and focused on "gracious living." All of a sudden the reader was bombarded with many more advertisements than before, as well as articles focusing on some exotic vacation venue that most of us couldn't afford in a million years. Similarly, the recipes began to become more exotic and outlandish, looking like some out of Charlie Trotter's outlandish cookbooks.

Sorry, but I don't like having my nose rubbed in it. I like cooking with flair, but I can't afford the budget-busting that this magazine now seems to advocate. I cancelled my subscription a few years ago; occasionally I will pick up a recent issue to see if anything has changed, and unfortunately, everything looks all too familiar.

If you like fluff articles about some fabulously expensive get-away spot, more power to you. If you are looking for lots of interesting but feasable recipes --- there are lots of magazines out there that do a much better job these days.


Live Good... eat better.   March 2, 2003
Allan M. Gathercoal (Norcross, GA)
29 out of 32 found this review helpful

Gourmet is one of three food magazines that find a home on my kitchen counter. If you are considering this magazine it is because great food and superb wines tempt you.

Actually, `Gourmet' is not a true "food" magazine . Rather, it is an upscale "magazine of good living" that includes food (a "Robb Report" meets "Good Housekeeping"). You find much more advertizing from Tiffany, Ritz, Rolex, etc. than you will ever find in a normal "food" magazine.

The mouth watering recipes that are in `Gourmet' are not for the kitchen novice, nor the poor, nor those that want food fast. For example a "Mushroom Tortellini in Mushroom Broth" calls for three different mushrooms (none of which are cheap) and, unlike "Food & Wine", there is no reference in the recipes to the time it will take to make it (plan the better part of the afternoon).

So why get it? Well, of course to keep up with the Gates' and to be tempted, provoked and challenged by the color photos of tantalizing recipes that make one say "I can do that one" and "whoops" there goes the afternoon and the kids lunch money for the week. Recommended.


Bring back the old Gourmet   September 9, 2004
abt1950 (usa)
23 out of 24 found this review helpful

Gourmet used to be one of my favorite magazines, and for many years I either subscribed or bought it at the newstand. It had great recipes, a lot of information on ingredients and cuisines, and beautifully illustrated travel articles that gave me a real feel for the places. Gourmet may have been a little stodgy and old school (Bon Appetite, which I also subscribed to, was always trendier), but there was no higher quality food magazine.

All that changed a few years ago when the editorial staff was replaced. The look of the magazine is now totally different, as is much of the content. The increased number of ads makes it hard to find the articles and recipes. The tone of the editorial content is shriller and more hype-driven. The magaizne is seems more oriented toward Foodies out to stalk the current In chef than to home cooks who want to serve high quality food. Between the content and the layout, the magazine seems to be on overdrive. What I want in a cooking magazine (or for that matter a magazine of good living) is something that doesn't scream trendy at me. Unfortunately, that no longer describes Gourmet.