Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir

October 5, 2009, was a dark day for food lovers, when Gourmet magazine suddenly ceased publication. No one was more surprised than editor-in-chief Reichl, who had prevailed over its revitalization. This latest memoir focuses on the author's wild ride after leaving her post as restaurant critic for the New York Times to take on the unexpected challenge of leading Gourmet. Initially hesitant and feeling woefully unprepared, Reichl finds herself in the alternative universe of Condé Nast: luxurious, fashionable, and status-conscious in a way that Berkeley-loving, frizzy-haired Reichl never aimed to be. Yet it's her love of what the magazine had been in her youth and could be again—progressive, thoughtful, and forward-thinking—that drives her. During Reichl's tenure Gourmet published some of the most memorable food essays of the early millennium and broke new ground in design and presentation. She offers sharp observations about the magazine world, but none of this is about blame.