I'll be interested to see what the new EIC will do with the magazine. I was a happy subscriber for years, but cancelled a few months ago because I was so turned off by the recent changes. Specifically, I was uninterested in the contrived hipster recipes and bored with the trendy, dreary, grayed-out photos that plague so many magazine reboots. Elle Decor under Boodroo - same thing, and I cancelled that subscription too. I like my photos elegant and sunlit and properly exposed, thank you. New EICs/CDs: please move on from this tiresome fad of shooting every photo in low light under a basement window on a rainy day. May the Dana Cowins and Margaret Russells of the world regain their thrones.
It may be hard to believe for those in the NY hotbed of culinary creators, but there are amazing things happening in cities across the nation today. Here in Denver, we have many NY chefs who have moved here to start restaurants - the competition is fierce, and the innovation is at an all time high. This is true around the country as well.
But, in regard to Food & Wine. I stopped subscribing some time ago as it seemed to have gone the way of Bon Appetit with all of the bizarre recipe combinations and too much advertising. Gourmet was the best, and Fine Cooking has managed to keep a solid subscriber base due to a steady subscription price that is not discounted like the others.
I still prefer a good print magazine to digital - I love paging through these beautiful magazines and tearing out the sections I want to refer to again.
Food52 has very strange recipes that can be just awful. I'd rather go with Cook's Illustrated than rely on whoever is cooking up those nutty combinations on the online sites. The NYTimes is the only online source I feel I can count on, but I'll stick with Fine Cooking and my file drawer of recipes saved over the last 30 years!
1
Halloween issue can feature desserts that resemble KKK outfits in meringue and marshmallow.
3
There's only so many things you can do with yogurt
1
Maybe there is something to be said for having editors move from their comfort zone in New York City to a place like Alabama.
When I see The Times highlight apartments that are never under a million dollars, patio umbrellas that cost $5,000 and recipes that require a trip to Central Asia for the ingredients, I'm thinking that it wouldn't be bad for the editors to get out of their Manhattan cocoon and see the rest of the country.
The funny thing is that they wouldn't even have to go all the way to Alabama. They could simply venture out to Long Island, to that strange foreign land between Brooklyn and the Hamptons.
As in Birmingham, they would find just regular folks, leafy green expanses and even some level of sophistication. They could get to meet some of the readers who help to pay their salaries. They might even decide to start covering us instead of just plopping a Manhattan-centric publication in our driveways and taking our money. It could be fun!
When I see The Times highlight apartments that are never under a million dollars, patio umbrellas that cost $5,000 and recipes that require a trip to Central Asia for the ingredients, I'm thinking that it wouldn't be bad for the editors to get out of their Manhattan cocoon and see the rest of the country.
The funny thing is that they wouldn't even have to go all the way to Alabama. They could simply venture out to Long Island, to that strange foreign land between Brooklyn and the Hamptons.
As in Birmingham, they would find just regular folks, leafy green expanses and even some level of sophistication. They could get to meet some of the readers who help to pay their salaries. They might even decide to start covering us instead of just plopping a Manhattan-centric publication in our driveways and taking our money. It could be fun!
12
Nice try, NYTimes, spinning this move as broadening the 'national footprint' of the publication. This is a cost cutting move, no two ways about it. Took a while for the piece to get around to that reality. I particularly like the quote: "No one can afford to open a restaurant in New York anymore.” I would add few can afford to go to a New York restaurant anymore.
8
As a chef and a winery professional, Food and Wine is the only magazine of the type I still subscribe to, but that may have to change. I was already getting irritated with their tendency to completely ignore that New York state is the third largest wine producing state in the country, with an international reputation for rieslings, ice wines, and dry rose; I shudder to think what sort of thematic shift will occur from this move.
I can hope it maintains content more geared towards professionals and serious enthusiasts, but ALABAMA? Not exactly a hub of cutting edge food and bev scenes.
I can hope it maintains content more geared towards professionals and serious enthusiasts, but ALABAMA? Not exactly a hub of cutting edge food and bev scenes.
3
It was a business decision. Rent and utility costs are much lower in AL. A magazine can be produced anywhere today. BTW Alabama has been doing a pretty good job lately of attracting large employers like Hyundai. New York loses population and congressional seats in every census.
4
An essential advantage to having a chef's magazine in Manhattan is that it is a crossroads for professional chefs who keep challenging each other to innovate. The Birmingham facility will be the pre-eminent crossroads for food-magazine writers. Will they be connected enough to provide the content that F&W readers want?
11
I hope F&W won't lose the edge it had under Dana Cowin, a supremely gifted editor, or under Nilou Motamed, another great (confession: I've written for both of them), but it's hard to see how one can keep one's finger on the zeitgeist in Birmingham. For now, New York City is still the boiling, bubbling melting pot of America, and if you want to dip your ladle into American cuisine, there's no better place.
9
Dana Cowin was indeed a great editor and earned her reputation as such. Nilou Motamed? Not so much. She's only deservedly known for driving the magazine into the ground in just over a year and for being fired as a result.
7
Being a lifelong Californian, I wonder why any food magazine would want to be HQ'ed in New York City (imagine the Pace Picante Sauce commercial: "New York City!!!") -- oh sure, you have restaurants and money there, but ya gotta source the food, don't ya? And we've got the sources. But it's hella expensive to live here (note use of "hella" as my Golden State cred), so ... there you go. *sigh*
2
More diversity for starters in NYC. Better weather then CA-no droughts. But Alabama is cheaper, less taxes, etc. Hope the magazine likes the politics in Alabama too.
2
New York state is one of the largest agricultural producers in the United States. Sourcing food is not a problem. *sigh*
12
My subscription runs out in September, maybe its time to opt out. Food & Wine has gone down in the past few years. I too miss Gourmet and especially Ruth Reichl's writing.
15
Have to wonder how the Alabama political culture will influence the magazine. Food and restaurant culture is progressive, gay friendly and accepting of anyone who works hard and has talent.
Will these folks want to live in Alabama? Will the magazine itself become more conservative and how will that manifest itself in the content?
You can build a great test kitchen anywhere, but you can't get the creative people to run it if they're not accepted in there.
Will these folks want to live in Alabama? Will the magazine itself become more conservative and how will that manifest itself in the content?
You can build a great test kitchen anywhere, but you can't get the creative people to run it if they're not accepted in there.
8
I would imagine they'll do fine here. I'm not gay, but my representative to the Alabama Legislature is the only openly gay member of that body- representing Birmingham.
5
Yes, and it's worth adding that a third of Alabamans in the most recent presidential election voted for the candidate most closely aligned with those food and restaurant culture values you note: "progressive, gay friendly and accepting of anyone who works hard and has talent." Sure two thirds voted in the other direction, but we shouldn't be so quick to write off an entire state. We're talking about actual people, not just percentages.
3
Birmingham is a progressive oasis in Alabama, the way Austin is in Texas.
How Alabama will effect the magazine is a reasonable question-- however, it's also reasonable to ask how the magazine will effect the culture, and I think that it may have a positive effect on Alabama.
As a recent emigre from NYC after 20 years--- I can say that there is life and culture outside of New York City, which is in decline because of high rent.
I just wish one of these magazines would move to Chicago, which has a food scene to rival Cali and New York in my opinion!
How Alabama will effect the magazine is a reasonable question-- however, it's also reasonable to ask how the magazine will effect the culture, and I think that it may have a positive effect on Alabama.
As a recent emigre from NYC after 20 years--- I can say that there is life and culture outside of New York City, which is in decline because of high rent.
I just wish one of these magazines would move to Chicago, which has a food scene to rival Cali and New York in my opinion!
2
NYC, LA, and SF are just playgrounds for the super-rich now. Fortunately, there are dozens of fun, interesting cities all over the USA.
7
chefs will he knocking down the doors to get to Alabama....LOL
2
very much like Albany?
3
@Jay
BOOM! #MikeDrop
I still miss Gourmet and have been disappointed in Bon Appetit compared to what it offered in the past. Food and Wine is my only current subscription. I hope they do well with their move, but it is sad NY is losing them.
7
To prep for the move the Food & Wine staff can all watch Bob Rafelson's 1976 film "Stay Hungry" with Jeff Bridges, Sally Field and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's set in Birmingham which is an essential element in the story. Ah, the 70s!
1
I would have suggested Buffalo or Rochester, NY. The wines of the Finger Lakes and Niagara regions have become our first choices. They are wonderful, particularly ice wines. And, the culinary offerings of this area, particularly Toronto, are amazing. No offense to Alabama, but Rochester and Buffalo seem more logical choices.
1
As a Rochesterian, chef, and winery professional, I agree! We have a top notch wine country, agricultural sourcing, and the rise of a big food culture in both of those cities.
I have always found it suspect that Food and Wine almost never mentions New York state wines, despite us being the third largest producer in the US and internationally known for rieslings, ice wines, and dry rose.
I have always found it suspect that Food and Wine almost never mentions New York state wines, despite us being the third largest producer in the US and internationally known for rieslings, ice wines, and dry rose.
Alabama just had a Governor that resigned just before impeachment, the Speaker of the House that was convicted of ethics violations and a Chief Justice that was suspended because he refused to follow Federal Law. However, we not not have a lottery because to bet on one would be a sin. We are a very religious group of people and have strict rules on all things prohibited by the Bible.
There are some good magazines that are published in Birmingham, I think by the Hoffman organization, and I certainly wish this magazine well in the future.
There are some good magazines that are published in Birmingham, I think by the Hoffman organization, and I certainly wish this magazine well in the future.
5
If Food and Wine wants to compete against digital magazines, it needs to upgrade its website. I enjoy reading the print version, but searching for recipes on its website is frustrating due to frequent crashes.
8
I was in Birmingham AL two months ago - as an ex-motorcyclist I was delighted to discover the world's largest motorcycle museum there - amazing !
So for anyone that loves motorcycles that's a reason to visit Birmingham AL right there !
So for anyone that loves motorcycles that's a reason to visit Birmingham AL right there !
4
Too bad the magazine is Food and Wine, not Hogs and Bikes...
1
Wow, a publishing icon moving to a Trump red-state.
I guess Democrats and their love of taxes and regulation just can't compete with the pro-Business environments of GOP run states.
I guess Democrats and their love of taxes and regulation just can't compete with the pro-Business environments of GOP run states.
6
Ah yes. The thriving economy of Alabama. Thanks for the astute analysis
9
Alabama has quite a regressive tax structure. You even pay taxes on groceries. About a decade ago there was a plan to reform its labyrinth code supported by a Republican governor which would have made it more fair but it was defeated by the likes of the Christian Coalition and Grover Norquest.
3
Are you familiar with the history of Time, Inc.?
3
Sounds like punishment.
17
Have you ever been there, Eustice Tilley?
1
I can understand getting out of New York, but Birmingham, Alabama?
11
Care to share the assumptions behind your question about Birmingham?
6
Have you been to Birmingham?
4
I have been there. It is a southern town that used to be a Southern Pittsburgh or Gary.
Then there is the fact it is Alabama.
Then there is the fact it is Alabama.
4
Don't cry for the staff because of geography. Be more concerned they won't have jobs. I would expect few transfers to Alabama. They don't need everyone down there, a few editorial people at most, perhaps. Maybe not even those people. They'll let go people surplus to requirements and start fresh in Birmingham at far lower than Manhattan rates. Alabama is also a "right to work state," unions are toothless, so no Newsguild issues either. Writers and reporters can live and work anywhere these days and don't need to come into the office. Might be tax breaks from the state and city as well. I'm more surprised TimeWarner doesn't move all their offices to places like Alabama.
15
It is the beginning of the end. The investment in the facility notwithstanding, in corporate America, when the next rounds of cuts are necessary, it is always easier to close the branch offices and outlying facilities and bring the work back to headquarters.
2
I hope this move works!
Fascinating story. Hyperlinks in this story, to digital food and cooking resources, are very valuable to readers interested in food and cooking.
My husband and I, both retirees and a little snobbish, are continuing our "See the Other USA" tour. We purposely go to areas of the country that are out of the way, not on the typical touring list, and are preferably "red" with negative stereotypes. We began with a most enlightening trip to Idaho--fantastically beautiful and most progressive in Boise. Trips to Mississippi and Nebraska are on the list as well as North Dakota.
Our trip to Alabama was another gem. We toured Montgomery, visited and bought a quilt in Gees Bend, visited a Frank Lloyd Wright home in Florence, AL, and had a most wonderful stay in Birmingham, or 'Ham, as it's known.
The food scene in "Ham is most exciting and innovative. Restaurants can easily open and experiment because the low real estate and labor prices. Foodies will love exploring Birmingham.
Birmingham has taken its tortured civil rights history and celebrated it all over town rather than trying to cover it over. The Birmingham Civil Rights Museum is most impressive and focuses on Birmingham history.
The Birmingham Art Museum is a first class regional museum with a wonderful cafe for lunch. It is centrally located downtown. Note this, big city art museums: 'Ham's museum always free. The museum needs additional space to better display their impressive collections.
We flew out of Birmingham's new airport. Our ride to the airport from downtown took 7 minutes in rush hour. It took us 3 hours from JFK to downtown Manhattan.
Our trip to Alabama was another gem. We toured Montgomery, visited and bought a quilt in Gees Bend, visited a Frank Lloyd Wright home in Florence, AL, and had a most wonderful stay in Birmingham, or 'Ham, as it's known.
The food scene in "Ham is most exciting and innovative. Restaurants can easily open and experiment because the low real estate and labor prices. Foodies will love exploring Birmingham.
Birmingham has taken its tortured civil rights history and celebrated it all over town rather than trying to cover it over. The Birmingham Civil Rights Museum is most impressive and focuses on Birmingham history.
The Birmingham Art Museum is a first class regional museum with a wonderful cafe for lunch. It is centrally located downtown. Note this, big city art museums: 'Ham's museum always free. The museum needs additional space to better display their impressive collections.
We flew out of Birmingham's new airport. Our ride to the airport from downtown took 7 minutes in rush hour. It took us 3 hours from JFK to downtown Manhattan.
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I lived in Alabama for over thirty years and never heard Birmingham referred to as 'Ham.' Sounds like the locals trolled the outsider.
9
@Bill: Oh, come on - you must know that "3 hours from JFK to downtown Manhattan" is an extraordinary extreme, not a typical time. Unless you walked.
As for it taking only 7 minutes from downtown Birmingham to its airport: great, but there's a reason it was that fast. When I fly from a rural airport in upstate NY, I can get there really fast, too!
As for it taking only 7 minutes from downtown Birmingham to its airport: great, but there's a reason it was that fast. When I fly from a rural airport in upstate NY, I can get there really fast, too!
8
From the stubbornly insular attitudes displayed by some of the commenters here, what is clear is that they are completely lacking in knowledge of Birmingham and the South. It's a shame to comment and thereby show one's ignorance of the changes that have transpired over the years. The food and drink culture is vibrant and in growth mode.
The next time you're near a bottle of Salon, Mongeard-Mugneret or Chateau de Beaucastel, take a look and see Birmingham, AL, on the label. The fine wine importer Vineyard Brands moved to Birmingham in 1997 and the move seems to have worked out well for them and certainly hasn't kept them from bringing in more than 75 brands of fine wine from all over the world. Running a business from wherever one chooses gets easier all the time.
It is true that the Democratic party here is practically moribund, because of the fossils at the head of the state party, but that is true in a lot of places or else the party wouldn't be on such a losing streak nationally. There are a number of groups actively working to change things. Instead of criticizing what you don't understand, it would be nice if more progressive people moved in and helped facilitate that change.
The next time you're near a bottle of Salon, Mongeard-Mugneret or Chateau de Beaucastel, take a look and see Birmingham, AL, on the label. The fine wine importer Vineyard Brands moved to Birmingham in 1997 and the move seems to have worked out well for them and certainly hasn't kept them from bringing in more than 75 brands of fine wine from all over the world. Running a business from wherever one chooses gets easier all the time.
It is true that the Democratic party here is practically moribund, because of the fossils at the head of the state party, but that is true in a lot of places or else the party wouldn't be on such a losing streak nationally. There are a number of groups actively working to change things. Instead of criticizing what you don't understand, it would be nice if more progressive people moved in and helped facilitate that change.
33
I understand relocating to a market outside of NYC to cut costs, but Alabama? As an NYC transplant in Atlanta, a move to Atlanta to cut costs would make more sense. Close to an international airport, excellent and growing food scene, relatively cosmopolitan/diverse population to attract talent.
11
This is also the result in making NYC too expensive for people to live in. To all those who want to end rent control and are fighting the mayor's push for more affordable housing, more artists, chefs, writers, talented people have been leaving New York City in droves, so this move really does not surprise me.
16
Maybe now they will get the irony of running articles about sustainable and locally-sourced foods facing a full-page SUV ad.
13
New York state is a huge agricultural producer, though. The local food scene is pervasive in New York. The ads aren't much to do with the content.
The only other magazine I recall moving from NYC to Alabama was "Horizon" and that did not go well.
6
California just banned its employees from traveling to Alabama on its dime due to anti-LGBTQ laws. Good luck in attracting talent to a place that legislates intolerance.
81
California did the same w/ Texas.
4
Yep, everyone in my extended family just cancelled their subscriptions.
2
The best kitchen in the world is nothing but a bunch of useless hardware unless you can get the ingredients you need for your recipe, and in the case of Food & Wine, that can be a long list of hard-to-find items. Just glancing through a few recipes in the latest issue, I see: shishito peppers, furikake, fresh lemon verbena leaves, birch syrup, dried apricot seeds, nasturtium leaves, bonito flakes, kombu, small green zebra tomatoes, black truffle butter, amberjack, guerre de barrette, shaved summer truffles, kombu tsuyu, gochugaru, and more.
I tend to doubt that they carry these things at the local Walmart, which is the top-rated grocery store in Birmingham, according toYelp.
I tend to doubt that they carry these things at the local Walmart, which is the top-rated grocery store in Birmingham, according toYelp.
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Believe it or not they actually have stores other than Walmart in Birmingham. When I lived there I was surprised at what you could find. Just a hint don't go by Yelp to get your info.
34
That's actually an incredibly inaccurate assessment.
19
Does Walmart carry Shishito peppers or nasturtium leaves, or even Kombu, which I can now buy in my neighborhood? That was the Ellen's point.
4
I think it's brilliant. The food publication world is in dire need of a shift. They've been hashing out the same types of stories for years. Subscriptions and ads are way down. Something has to give. As someone who appreciates physically opening pages filled with food trends and stories, along with gorgeous inspiring photos, I also appreciate being able to produce recipes through a few clicks.
8
I'm sure that given the emphasis on Southern cooking in the last years, there will be plenty to write about and Alabama will be a great home for writers looking to write well about food. However, Food & Wine isn't doing this for the quality, clearly, they're looking to cut costs. I stopped my subscription because they were impossible to receive abroad (after trying a few years and having 6 out of 12 issues delivered, complaining, rinse and repeat). Then I used to visit their website, until the number of ads and the impossible-to-understand layout completely turned me off. They also took their entire back catalog of recipes offline, so you couldn't search for them (I used to buy the yearly Food & Wine hardback books for reference...stopped doing that, too). They just made it too hard to access their real assets. I would have gladly paid if they made them in a consumer-friendly way.
Food 52 is more a collection of user-provided recipes, right? That's my impression the few times I've visited. Not at all the same thing as Food & Wine used to provide. And Eater used to be good for food policy and news but again, the disastrous site redesign makes it so unpleasant to read I hardly visit anymore. Ditto Serious Eats and Saveur (the print magazine for the latter is still one of life's greatest pleasures). Whomever is designing the websites for these food titles, they should all be fired and assigned the lion's share of the blame for declining revenue.
Food 52 is more a collection of user-provided recipes, right? That's my impression the few times I've visited. Not at all the same thing as Food & Wine used to provide. And Eater used to be good for food policy and news but again, the disastrous site redesign makes it so unpleasant to read I hardly visit anymore. Ditto Serious Eats and Saveur (the print magazine for the latter is still one of life's greatest pleasures). Whomever is designing the websites for these food titles, they should all be fired and assigned the lion's share of the blame for declining revenue.
32
Btw I find Food52 very unreliable as far as recipe testing. I tried it at first and gave up.
9
I agree about Food 52. Used to be a big Amanda Hesser fan, not so much anymore. I doubt anyone but the person providing the recipe tests them
2
1. Whoever!
2. Lion's share = all.
2. Lion's share = all.
I still miss Gourmet. It was sophisticated but approachable and well edited . They weren't chasing trends.
Look at the mess Bon Apetit is now, there is no one voice guiding it. It does have a whiff of desperate hipness to it tho.
Sorry for the snarky comment not nice maybe the downhill trend of food magazines brings me down.
Look at the mess Bon Apetit is now, there is no one voice guiding it. It does have a whiff of desperate hipness to it tho.
Sorry for the snarky comment not nice maybe the downhill trend of food magazines brings me down.
61
They are clones of each other. Nothing to see here, move along.
2
Bon Appetit lost me when Gwyneth Paltrow was on the cover - I get it, she wants to be a chef and has cooked fun things... but this is about the food, not the person hawking it. Another sticking point with them, and F&W is the lifestyle pandering - not all of us have sprawling estates with fanciful monochromatic friends and eclectic mixed plates that still cost more than a set at IKEA.
2
“Food 52 and Eater are just taking over that space, and they’re building audiences fast,” she said. “If you’re a legacy magazine, you’d better figure out a way to do things that are more original, and you need resources to do that.”
But these digital publications are based in NYC...so that's not really a legitimate excuse to move to Alabama. I know the article says the digital team will stay in NYC but how much say will they have over F&W when the heads are all in Birmingham?
But these digital publications are based in NYC...so that's not really a legitimate excuse to move to Alabama. I know the article says the digital team will stay in NYC but how much say will they have over F&W when the heads are all in Birmingham?
7
Used to like food 52 but it kind of went by the wayside. Really, really miss gourmet, still look at my old ones. Last print magazine or newspaper I subscribed to.
3
The employees will find Birmingham warm and hospitable but overwhelmingly conservative. Maybe F&W can help lighten up their views. It is much cheaper to live there than NYC.
14
Birmingham is surprisingly open, welcoming, and tolerant. Alabama overall is a very tolerant if people would stop listening to people who don't live there. Actually meet some people who live there you might find it is totally different than what you have been led to believe.
24
Have met a lot of people from Alabama and Birmingham, but they moved away. If it's so tolerant, why did they pass a bill recently that anyone can refuse any services to anyone if it "offends their religious beliefs". Targeted to the gay community, it can be used as an excuse to refuse services to anyone you don't care for.
I'm from the south, NC, and love southern food culture.
But even in cities, many many don't like gays in particular and use their religious beliefs as a weapon.
I'm from the south, NC, and love southern food culture.
But even in cities, many many don't like gays in particular and use their religious beliefs as a weapon.
32
63% of Alabama voters went for Trump. In New York state, 37% of voters picked Trump. Where you choose to live depends on who you want your neighbors to be and where you want your children to assimilate. Birmingham is not a magnet for the ambitious. It won't be easy to recruit New York caliber talent to Alabama.
72
Your response is a perfect example of why Trump supporters have a disdain for "the elite" (and I'm a "bleeding heart" liberal who voted for Hillary!). Perhaps their presence in Birmingham will open the minds of their neighbors. Per Wikipedia, the University of Alabama at Birmingham is "one of the largest academic medical centers in the United States." I guess all the physicians working there aren't ambitious.
18
Richard Feder, the last election demonstrated quite clearly that the divide among voters in America is increasingly urban vs. rural, not simply north vs. south. Birmingham might not appear urban to a New Yorker, but consider it much like significant parts of New Jersey (just without the toxic superfund sites along the coastline). Ambitious individuals move to where job opportunities present themselves, not to some city trafficking in a long-outdated reputation. And as anyone paying attention to real estate costs would have noticed "New York caliber talent" has been on the decline for decades.
11
The "New York caliber talent" already left NYC in the restaurant industry. The best and brightest chefs who are setting the trends around their world are often not in the largest cities anymore.
NYC is great and all that, buy the food producers and the people who write about them can't afford to live there anymore.
NYC is great and all that, buy the food producers and the people who write about them can't afford to live there anymore.
7
That's like moving to another country! Does 45 know about this?
8
It does seem odd to put Food & Wine in Alabama. Very low taxes, I suppose, but it will not be easy to lure gourmets to Alabama which is almost the opposite of New York City. New Orleans would have been a better choice, it seems to me. But Time didn't have a huge building full of test kitchens there. Still it is hard to imagine Food & Wine in a Southern Living culture.
On the other hand, this country is a lot more than New York City, though I am sure there are plenty of New Yorkers who don't buy it. I have notice that F&W seemed to be struggling lately. Hope they don't fold.
On the other hand, this country is a lot more than New York City, though I am sure there are plenty of New Yorkers who don't buy it. I have notice that F&W seemed to be struggling lately. Hope they don't fold.
11
Apparently you actually didn't read the article.
Part of the calculus of the move was to go where the action is in the food culture, which is in the SunBelt. That's not in NYC in terms of trends and experimentation as it's just too expensive. That's also not New Orleans which caters to a certain style that's too singular to be producing the next wave.
Part of the calculus of the move was to go where the action is in the food culture, which is in the SunBelt. That's not in NYC in terms of trends and experimentation as it's just too expensive. That's also not New Orleans which caters to a certain style that's too singular to be producing the next wave.
1
Gotta roll with the tide...
22
While costs are always a concern in NYC, this looks like more of a media company in big trouble and is going to Ala. to die.
If you want to make it in NYC, you have to pay the piper and some people, companies can't do it.
BTW, they will have to change the title to Food and Wino with the move.
If you want to make it in NYC, you have to pay the piper and some people, companies can't do it.
BTW, they will have to change the title to Food and Wino with the move.
18
Let me apologize/clarify to the good people of Ala. re my post. I use the term wino not in its classical sense of the street corner bum but in the sense the wine drinkers of Ala. are not the super rich people you might find at a Food & Wine or NY Times wine tasting party...the good people of Ala..are like me...they just love a good, inexpensive wine....
1
A second apologize/clarification re my post..to the good people of Ala....re they are going to Ala. to die.
Food & Wine (and many hard copy mags and other pubs.) are dying(the internet gave them a nearly certain fatal blow). They are going to places like Ala. to get some relief from costs and to prolong their life but they are on life support and will most likely die unless they come up with a killer application....
Food & Wine (and many hard copy mags and other pubs.) are dying(the internet gave them a nearly certain fatal blow). They are going to places like Ala. to get some relief from costs and to prolong their life but they are on life support and will most likely die unless they come up with a killer application....
2
Birmingham? Hardly what I would consider the gourmet capital of the world. Good luck with that!
19
don't count b'ham out. it is a gem.
15
Birmingham is rated the number one worst city to live in in the US.
Wall Street lenders helped make it that way.
Wall Street lenders helped make it that way.
17
The website Ranker has New Jersey with of 20 of the worst cities in the top 100. Birmingham is not in the top 100.
2
I feel sorry for the employees. Moving from NY to Alabama. I'm from the south and I've been to Birmingham. What a come down.
61
I lived in NYC for five years. It is a byproduct of its own hype. It has become homogeneous. Even if their salaries are reduced by 10-20%, they will still live like kings and queens in Birmingham. I have visited Birmingham and this "bleeding heart" liberal loved it.
25
@Dsalcoda: While you're on that topic, these people could also live like kings or queens in upstate NY. The move to Alabama is a big step down, no two ways about it.
4
@L Upstate NY? Not on you life.
“The media, and particularly the food media, is facing an inflection point, and so are the restaurants we cover,” Mr. Lewis said. “You can create and do business in food anywhere now, and this move is a reflection of the hybrid approach we’re going to take to covering food.”
I think this will become true for more and more businesses and occupations in the coming years. NYC and its environs is at, maybe past, the tipping point in terms of cost of living. If you add in our deteriorating infrastructure, it becomes an even less attractive place to live.
I think this will become true for more and more businesses and occupations in the coming years. NYC and its environs is at, maybe past, the tipping point in terms of cost of living. If you add in our deteriorating infrastructure, it becomes an even less attractive place to live.
38
I agree, Const. The game is over for New York media except for the biggest publications, which are cutting staff and trimming costs. It's hard for the word-business workers to accept, but their century was the last one. If they can't do computer programming or surgical assisting, they'd better think about moving or ending all discretionary spending. It's hard: As Shaw said, "Educated people are content with the best of everything."
9
I've never understood why Gourmet ceased publication - it was the one food magazine I looked forward to receiving every month. Saveur is indistinguishable from Food & Wine, which is indistinguishable from Bon Apetit, which is indistinguishable from ... Moving Food & Wine to the same quarters as other downmarket magazines seems to guarantee more sameness.
51
The shutteret gourmet because it was a choice between maintaining that or bon appetite and felt that the latter could maintain a wider customer base and had less rigidity since it didn't have the inherent legacy subscriber base to placate. Simple large scale short term economics.
8
i recommend you buy the Gourmet Cookbook... it's designed pages are a bit flawed but you could cook from it forever!
They chose poorly.
5