Food Magazines

Are there any particularly reliable places to get food magazines other than the ones that are everywhere? Are any of these places in the northern or northwestern suburbs, or are they just downtown (assuming they exist at all)?

I've been searching unsuccessfully to find someone who carries Gastronomica, and my search turned up another magazine I now need to find, the Art of Eating.

So does anyone have a place to get these magazines? (Other than subscribing sight unseen.)

Cynthia wrote:I've been searching unsuccessfully to find someone who carries Gastronomica, and my search turned up another magazine I now need to find, the Art of Eating.

I've seen both of these at Fox & Obel.

I am a subscriber to Art of Eating and I highly recommend it. I subscribed, sight unseen, a while back and I've never been disappointed.

Best,
Michael

I just picked up the latest Gastronomica (The Food Magazine That Costs As Much As a Meal at French Laundry) at that newsstand in Evanston on Main or wherever it is:

http://citynewsstand.com/

Since it's the same owners, I expect the one near Six Corners would have it too.

In the case of both Art of Eating and Gastronomica, a single issue costs so much you might as well subscribe if you expect to buy more than one. I agree with Michael, I like Art of Eating a lot, it's the LTHForum poke around and write about the cool thing you found ethos taken to its highest point of learnedness and thoughtfulness. Gastronomica is more academic/scholarly in the traditional sense, I find about half of the articles in a good issue bloodless, polemical and obvious-dead-horse-beating, but there's usually 2 or 3 great pieces-- the current one has a fascinating piece on the early 20th century campaign against bread, yes bread, as a silent killer of the working classes.

Art of Eating is an excellent publication -- diverse articles, very top notch writing, and so much information you'll bleed gourmand goodness out your ears. It is worth looking through one on the newsstand and considering if it is for you before subscribing, but honestly, you could blindly gift someone with a love for food with Art of Eating as a Christmas or birthday present and they would have an excellent investment for their culinary tastes.

57th Street Books in Hyde Park used to carry Gastronomica. I think they still do, but I am not positive. It's worth a call (actually, the whole store is worth a visit if you've never been).

57th Street Books
1301 E. 57th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
773.684.1300

Excellent. Thanks. I'll have to plan a buying trip.

Has anyone looked at the magazine Saji? I first read about it on Selectism and am just trying to figure out whether it's good enough to have a friend send it to me from another city. I haven't found a Chicago source yet. Don't know if this is something Mitsuwa's bookstore might carry...

If you find it, let me know - I want the issue you linked to!

Mhays wrote:If you find it, let me know - I want the issue you linked to!

Aren't the illustrations awesome?! I'm less interested in the fashion-food photography, but I want those other images. You, on the other hand, probably actually want to read the articles...

well, yes...of course

German food magazines crack me up. Here's a new one: Beef, "like Esquire but with meat."

From the publisher's fact sheet:

The new lifestyle magazine for men who like to cook.
BEEF! is written for German men aged 30-54 who consider
themselves gourmets.

A totally new kind of magazine.
In the past, cooking magazines were for women, and men's
lifestyle magazines were for men. BEEF! combines the two in a
fresh, informative and entertaining manner.

Clear editorial structure.
The editorial contents of BEEF!:
●1/3 food recipes
●1/3 food reportage
●1/3 lifestyle

For men who don't cook often, but well.
BEEF! is for men who are interested in recipes –as well
as Tokyo's tuna market, the sharpness of knives and the
water pressure in their espresso machine. For men who
find noodles boring unless they've made them themselves.

Centrefold with a difference.
Like many men's magazines, BEEF! also features a
six-page fold-out centrefold –but with easy-to-follow
instructions on creating a memorable four-course dinner.

High target reader demographics.
The average target reader is better-off, in white-collar
occupations and is a member of the upper social-
economic class.

I'm trying to imagine the cover photo...NOT!

Cabinet magazine isn't dedicated to food, but I have recently fallen in love with it, and the Spring 2010 issue contains at least two worthwhile food/drink-centric articles. Part of the first article is reprinted in the September 2010 issue of Harper's, which just arrived in my mailbox today. The second article is available online (linked below).

"What Do Bubbles Taste Like?: An Interview with David Arnold"
Eben Klemm and David Arnold

"Hot on the Trail: The culinary genius of Alexis Soyer"
Thomas A. P. Van Leeuwen

I'm wondering if anyone else took up Christopher Kimball on his offer of a free copy of his inaugural issue of his new home-cooking magazine, Milk Street.

I got a copy and while it's a bit thin, it's very much a throwback to the old Cooks' style. No ads, very little white/wasted space, all color (Cooks was mostly b&w), odd shape (wider than a regular magazine; is he aiming to specifically avoid newsstand racks?), and a nice mix of techniques/recipes between daily use and things to trot out for a special event. Saving the rest of the magazine for curling up in bed with tea on a chilly evening...

(You can still get a free charter issue here if you like...)

I signed up, but haven't received my issue yet.

On another note, I'm still up in the air on whether or not to renew my subscription to Cook's Illustrated in the wake of Kimball's departure. So far, I haven't seen much of a change in the magazine, but my subscription is coming due and I've got to make a decision soon. Does anyone else have thoughts on the subject?

Got mine yesterday--read it on my flight this morning. Very much enjoyed it--sciency, interesting articles and recipes--it's been years since I subscribed to CI but I enjoyed this more I think. I'll probably subscribe.

I got mine, and content-wise*, it's almost identical to CI. I probably won't subscribe. Just as I didn't subscribe to Cook's Country, I didn't need another version of CI. We do get (and enjoy) Fine Cooking.
*one minor gripe - why does Milk Street have a wine column but no beer column?

I too signed up for a free copy but haven't received mine yet. Don't know if I'll subscribe to anything beyond that, but sure, I'll take a look at the free issue.

I have a subscription for online access to cooksillustrated.com and access it frequently, so I plan to keep my subscription. I stopped subscribing to the print version years ago; online access works well for me.

I've noticed an increase in typographical errors in the online versions of the latest issues' articles, not that I think that has anything directly to do with Kimball's departure, but it does make me wonder if in the midst of all the reshuffling and uproar, they're cutting corners a bit in getting issues out.

A relative of mine who's lived in Vermont for decades does not care at all for Kimball's fauxsy persona and Cooks Illustrated's charge-for-everything business model. I'm more neutral on him and the profiteering, although I will say what I pay for the online subscription to cooksillustrated.com is all I feel I need to spend on them, despite their frequent invitations to subscribe to their other sites and services. It doesn't appear that Kimball's departure has changed CI/ATK's marketing zeal in that respect.

I will also say I enjoy listening to the America's Test Kitchen podcasts, which are completely free. I particularly like the interviews and the call-in Q-and-A that Kimball does with Bridget Lancaster. I've listened to dozens of episodes and haven't heard him be anything less than cordial and helpful to callers, Lancaster, and people he interviews. I'm not certain about this but I thought I read that Kimball will continue to do the podcasts even though he won't be on the TV shows anymore. My only criticism is that I could really do without the conversations with Adam Gopnik; for me, he adds nothing to the show, and I've started skipping over those segments.

I am signing up based on my free issue of Milk Street. Hope to make at least scrambled eggs this weekend. But I have some other projects I need to complete.

Interview with Kimball on Chewing podcast: https://soundcloud.com/chewingpodcast/e ... lobal-food

America's Test Kitchen sues Chris Kimball for "alienation of affection" in a "post-divorce" decree.

https://www.google.com/amp/mobile.nytim ... ent=safari

Stephanie Izard is starting a magazine

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... e-magazine

A New Generation of Food Magazines Thinks Small, and in Ink

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/dini ... zines.html

Odds coincidences in this month's Milk Street and Cook's Illustrated:
Both have Vietnamese recipes
Both have a Vindaloo (CI: pork, MS: chicken)
Both have alternative Panna Cotta (MS: yogurt, CI: buttermilk, plus a blurb on substituting kefir for buttermilk elsewhere).

Obviously a conspiracy is afoot.

Bon Appétit Editor Adam Rapoport Resigns
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/dini ... oport.html