Gourmet: Still Waiting

The big news in publishing this month may be the debut of Tina Brown’s new magazine, but in the rarefied world of food, the talk is all about Gourmet. After six months of buildup, advance copies of new editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl’s first real issue -- due on news stands Tuesday -- are finally leaking out.

Anticipation is high. Reichl, former restaurant critic at the New York Times and before that restaurant critic and food editor at this newspaper, is expected to bring new life to the magazine, a grande dame grown slightly tatty.

After being the Cadillac of American foodie magazines for decades, Gourmet has begun to feel a bit tired. Food & Wine and Bon Appetit are regarded as younger and hipper, Saveur and Cook’s Illustrated more serious-minded. And then there’s Martha Stewart Living and Cooking Light, both relatively new magazines that have eclipsed all contenders in terms of circulation and advertising.

It’s probably too early to say whether Reichl has succeeded; you don’t change the course of an ocean liner like Gourmet overnight. Indeed, in the first issue, the effort sometimes shows.

There’s a lot to praise: After 25 years of penning paeans, Caroline Bates is showing unexpected depth as a restaurant critic. John Willoughby’s story on exploring Laos is a fine piece of writing. The story on honeymooning in Umbria is Pat Conroy at his most nakedly emotional, which is either good or bad depending on how you feel about Pat Conroy. Some of the shorter features are neat too: There’s a great one on the variation among measuring spoons.

But on the whole, the magazine feels more like welded-together bits of other magazines than a coherent whole. In fact, it can be a bit disorienting to flip through it: One moment you’re in black and white feature photography and type that looks like the glory days of Vanity Fair, and the next you’re gazing at well-heeled thirtysomethings living the high life a la Food & Wine at its most pandering.

Somewhere along the line, Gourmet will have to stop resembling bits of other magazines and become its own new thing. All of those varied patches will have to coalesce into a consistent whole. Then we’ll be able to say whether the wait was worthwhile.