Foodie Fiasco: Conde Nast Kills Gourmet Magazine

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Gourmet, America's oldest food magazine, dating back to 1941, will cease publishing before the end of 2009, Conde Nast has announced.

Gourmet joins other high-end Conde Nast periodicals on the chopping block, including Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, and Cookie (a parenting journal, not a nickname for "skanky bride"). Conde Nast, which will continue to publish 19 magazines, including Bon Appetit, is part of the privately held Advance Publications media empire that includes newspapers, cable television stations, news services and the Fairchild business publications.

Although Gourmet still boasted a healthy circulation of roughly 980,000, according to the Publishers Information Bureau, its advertising pages plunged more than 50 percent in the second quarter of 2009, compared to the same period last year. No word on the fate of Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl, though a combined 180 editorial jobs will be lost with the closure of the four magazines.

Gourmet recipes will still turn up on the Epicurious.com Web site, which is little solace for "TUOL," which will probably wind up dumping its arugula and balsamic vinegar supply down the disposal.