Perhaps I'm missing the point of this whole blogging thing...my goal is to get people to read what I'm writing about, yet this post is me telling you to go read someone else's writings. Regardless, go read Lucky Peach because it's a really cool and unique journal of food.
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| Momofuku/Lucky Peach's David Chang |
I first heard about Lucky Peach early in 2011, but, at that point, it was all about how there was a new app coming for the iPad that would be a magazine from Momofuku chef/owner/badass, David Chang. If you don't know about Momofuku, it's a restaurant group started in New York City by Chang in 2003 that has since expanded steadily and lead to a great deal of praise, Michelin stars, etc. for Chang and his restaurants.
Chang is all about the pig, so you'd think that might diminish my interest since I myself do not take part in porcine pleasures (insert rude joke here), but I am not one that judges and, instead, have general interest in all things culinary, so I was interested in the app. I kept checking the App Store for any mention of Lucky Peach and never saw anything...and still haven't. The journal itself makes mention of the app and that they had been filming video for it, but there's no mention of what is preventing its release. I'm assuming the app will indeed see the light of day eventually.
All of that being said, a few months back I read about an actual hard copy magazine/journal coming out through the highly respected McSweeney's publishing group, so I figured I'd pick that up and wait to see if the app ever materialized.
This might be my new favorite food publication, though I hesitate to take that "crown" off of the head of Saveur magazine (you should be reading that, too, so click here and thank me later). It's a very cool, stylish, original publication that just so happens to be about food. Chang has called in favors and the premiere issue features some heavy-hitting friends like Anthony Bourdain, Harold McGee, Wylie Dufresne, artist Tony Millionaire and more. The theme of this issue (and I'm assuming subsequent issues will continue to be themed) is Ramen, but that's not the focus of the ENTIRE issue. This is probably one of those publications you just need to pick up and look through to determine if it's for you, but I really dig it. It's certainly not a typical food magazine (an F-Bomb is dropped on the first page of the first article...tawdry!), but it's almost like Saveur mated with Juxtapoz and the unholy union was being edited by The Flaming Lips and They Might Be Giants.
Needless to say, I like it and highly recommend getting on board with issue 1. You can still find it on Amazon for $8 (2 bucks cheaper than the cover price) and then you can subscribe from the McSweeney's site and get it for $7 an issue. Too late to get issue 1 from them with a subscription, so that's why you have to go to Amazon or your local cool magazine store first.
