The last three Saveur 100 issues
Every January for more than a decade now, I've looked forward to "The Saveur 100" a regular feature of the magazine's "favorite places, tools, ingredients, cookbooks recipes, restaurants, and more." I even saved issues devoted to this list. In going over some of them, I re-connected with a lovely remembrance by Liz Smith about her good friend, Norah Efron, or reacted in total horror at the price of an artisanal cast iron skillet that costs hundreds of dollars. One of the most odd inspirations from the sous vide side of food news was the conversion of vodka to gin in a sous vide machine. Clearly the general manager of a tony New York restaurant has lots of time on his hands to come up with these things. Or how about a 20-second recipe for mayonnaise using a hand blender? I love pie and would even travel to Topeka, Kansas to sample any of the 20 pies "on offer at a time," at Bradley's Corner Cafe.
Imagine my distress in late December when I went looking for this annual issue and found out it was no more. No explanation in the replacement issue for its apparent demise, and only old news from past 100 lists. Saveur has a relatively new editor, and perhaps he thinks it was time for the magazine to move on. However, I miss the thrill of new products, rediscovering old favorites, and just enjoying. Sadly, that anticipated joy is gone. It's like reading the news that an old favorite restaurant has closed
--a bit wrenching, really.
