Gourmet’s last big idea, conceived by Jackie Terrebonne, was a series of pop-up cookie shops for Macy’s. It is now out of print, but you can find used copies for as little as $1.95 and it would make a fine gift for a baker. It turned out to be an orphan by the time the book appeared the magazine had been closed for nearly a year. Speaking of the magazine… this was our last book. Aleksandra Crapanzano on falling in love in Pari s. Bruce Feiler's hilarious adventures as he tried to buy his way into restaurants. Yvonne Durant on being Black and eating watermelon in public. Nina Teicholz’s stunning piece about transfats, and how the bad news about them was kept from the public for more than 20 years. His early piece on problems with fish farming, which also had an impact. Barry Estabrook's piece on tomato slaves, which had a profound impact. David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster, which was such a turning point. The Latinx issue, with that terrific Junot Diaz piece. The first produce issue, September 2001, with all the articles on hard times for farmers, and how they coped. These are the ones that came immediately to mind: Stella's curled up next to me, purring. Hailey's at my feet. I'm getting ready to tape an interview with Terry Gross, and I've been thinking about the pieces that made me proudest at Gourmet. When the party ended, nobody wanted to go home. So we drifted, one huge amorphous group, across the street and into Grand Sichuan where we just kept eating and drinking. The chiles with black beans teased and tingled, and I realized that I'll never eat them without thinking about all the lunches in the conference room at the magazine, the table covered with little white boxes. It was always too much food we always ate it all. This morning I discovered that my fingers were still black with squid ink.

We all drank way too much, devoured all those delicious little tidbits - crisp mushroom croquettes, pa amb tomaquet, the tomatoes tasting very much like the last fruit of Fall, and wonderfully black chiperones. The last time we'll all be gathered in one room. Txikito threw a party for Gourmet last night, and it felt so. Sitting at La Guardia, way too early, waiting for a flight to St. I’ve loved this little Basque restaurant since it first opened… and as the restaurant re-opened I was reminded that in the fall of 2009 Alex Raij and Eder Montero very generously invited the Gourmet staff to one last party. Txikito, one of my very favorite New York restaurants, reopened a couple of weeks ago after a long Covid-induced closing.

Gourmet Today by Ruth Reichl