Gourmet Folds After 68 Years

The November issue of Gourmet magazine, founded in 1941, will be its last, publisher Condé Nast announced Monday. “It’s Rachael Ray’s world now—we’re all just cooking in it,” The New York Times reports. By all accounts, the announcement stunned everyone at the magazine, included star editor Ruth Reichl. The magazine, according to the Times, “poured money into sumptuous photography, test kitchens, and exotic travel pieces, resulting in a beautifully produced magazine that lived, and sold, the high life.” Condé Nast will continue to publish the more recipe-focused Bon Appétit. In choosing Bon Appétit over Gourmet, the Times reports, “Condé Nast reflected a bigger shift both inside and outside the company: influence, and spending power, now lies with the middle class.” Charles H. Townsend, Condé Nast’s chief executive, said Gourmet could have some undetermined future on the Web or in other media, such as books, broadcast, or Web businesses. Reichl’s immediate future is also unclear. In a farewell tweet, she said, “Sorry not to be posting now, but I’m packing. We’re all stunned, sad.”