Booklist Reviews
Gourmet's final editor reflects on the tumultuous years (1999–2009) she spent at the magazine's helm, transitioning from powerful New York Times restaurant critic to managing a complex editorial job for a periodical in crisis. When Reichl took over Gourmet, it had been absorbed into the world of Condé Nast. At the time, Condé heir S. I. Newhouse needed to expand Gourmet's audience beyond consumers of luxury goods and lifestyles: from gourmets and gourmands to the suddenly burgeoning world of foodies; from households that had salaried cooks to eager, informed people who cooked for themselves and ate in ethnic restaurants as a matter of course. Reichl's coterie of ambitious Manhattanite editors contributed both new style and substance to the magazine, recruiting edgy, avant-garde writers on the order of David Foster Wallace. But just as the magazine seemed poised to triumph, the advent of the internet and an economic downturn combined to deliver the magazine's deathblow. Reichl's sharp eye and descriptive gifts render both food and people vital. A few recipes support her text's narrative.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Author of several previous best-sellers, Reichl is one of the most recognizable names in food writing. Order enough to feed a crowd. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.
BookPage Reviews
Save Me the Plums
The initial phone call was a surprise. "Is this the restaurant critic of the New York Times?" a British voice asked. Ruth Reichl confirmed her identity, but the name of her caller meant nothing to her: James Truman, editorial director of magazine publishing company Condé Nast, was calling about Gourmet. The magazine had introduced an 8-year-old Reichl to the magic of food and its influence on the world. But she couldn't imagine why Truman was calling.
That phone call ultimately led Reichl to a role she'd never dreamed of: editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine. Truman's name was the first of many things she had to learn. During Reichl's first visit to the office, an editor gushed that she's great at the "teeosee." Reichl, whose background was in newspapers, didn't realize the editor was talking about the TOC, or table of contents.
Save Me the Plums, Reichl's memoir about her years at Gourmet, is filled with such endearing, revealing moments. Although she considered herself a writer, not a manager, Reichl reimagines the magazine that captured her youthful imagination. Alongside her talented staff, Reichl took the publication from a staid magazine that delivered the luxury readers expected (and no more) to a sometimes scintillating examination of not only food but also its impact.
Readers of her past memoirs will recognize Reichl's lighthearted but dedicated approach to her work, as seen in Garlic and Sapphires. They'll be welcomed by her big-hearted approach to the dinner table, as in Tender at the Bone and Comfort Me with Apples. And new readers will be equally delighted by Reichl's account of an influential magazine, its final days and the many moments that illustrate the ways food can bring people together.
Copyright 2019 BookPage Reviews.Kirkus Reviews
The renowned food writer recounts her adventures as editor-in-chief of the noted epicurean magazine Gourmet in its last decade. A native New Yorker, Reichl (My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes that Saved My Life, 2015, etc.) grew up reading the magazine, and food soon became her "own private way of looking at the world." While working as a chef in Berkeley, California, in the 1970s, she began writing about food, at New West and then the Los Angeles Times, before returning to New York to become the formidable restaurant critic for the New York Times. In 1999, at age 51, somewhat fearfully—she lacked magazine experience and faced managing a staff of 60—Reichl took the editorial helm of Gourmet, at six times her Times salary plus perks, with free rein from Condé Nast publisher Si Newhouse to revamp the staid magazine. In this fun, gossipy, and beguiling memoir, Reichl offers revealing glimpses of her parents, both introduced in earlier books, but the focus is on the he ady process of "magazine making," which meant turning an old-fashioned book into a modern, edgy monthly. She describes the exhilaration of working with talented, quirky staffers, and she provides vivid snapshots of Condé Nast honchos, including publishers Newhouse (supportive) and Gina Sanders (who "relished" fights) as well as the "large, loud," yet appealing CEO Steve Florio, who regaled her with tales of Newhouse ("You know that Roy Cohn was his closest friend?"). Throughout, the author tells winning stories—of goings-on in the celebrated Condé Nast cafeteria, midnight parties for chefs, zany annual meetings, and providing food to 9/11 firefighters. Her success in introducing provocative articles like David Rakoff's "Some Pig," about Jews and bacon, and David Foster Wallace's classic "Consider the Lobster," on the ethics of eating, taught her that "when something frightens me, it is definitely worth doing." A dream job, it ended in the late-2000s recession , when declining ads forced the closing of the venerable publication. An absolutely delightful reading experience. Copyright Kirkus 2019 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Reviews
October 5, 2009, was a dark day for food lovers, when
Publishers Weekly Reviews
In this endearing memoir, James Beard Award–winning food writer Reichl (