New Lucky Peach to hit newsstands in mid-November
The vast array of food publications certainly gives those in culinary arts programs an endless archive of reading material and resources to learn more about their craft. Perhaps one of the most creative contemporary examples is the culinary quarterly journal Lucky Peach, which explores gastronomic themes through a wide range of essays, photographs, art and recipes, according to the publication’s website. Now having been in circulation since summer 2011, the 13th issue of Lucky Peach is slated to hit stores on Nov. 13, 2014. According to Eater, the new issue includes contributions from Anthony Bourdain and editor Peter Meehan, as well as work from Jessica Lamb-Shapiro and Michael DeForge. Simply titled “The Holiday Issue,” it will assuredly tackle the upcoming culinary celebrations that go along with Thanksgiving and Christmas.
About Lucky Peach
Lucky Peach was founded by McSweeney’s editor Peter Meehan and Momofuku chef-at-large David Chang. The quarterly’s title is the English translation of the name of Chang’s restaurant empire. Lucky Peach is renowned for its avant garde take on food journalism, and at first glance may seem more like an experimental literary publication. Of course, nothing less could be expected from the duo of Meehan and Chang, both of whom are rather innovative food writers.
During a time when many magazines are cutting corners with costs, from day one Lucky Peach has instead focused on quality. Each issue is printed on thick matte paper and is chock-full of esoteric essays, brilliant recipes and bizarre graphics, all focusing on one central theme. For example, the first issue was centralized around ramen noodles, which makes sense considering Chang’s culinary talents.
Lucky Peach has been praised for doubling down on quality content and ignoring magazine tropes, so much so that The New York Times lauded Lucky Peach for breaking the conventions not only of food journalism, but also magazine journalism altogether. With that said, Lucky Peach is somewhat emblematic of larger changes happening in the food industry overall. A new wave of dedicated, experimental chefs have taken gastronomy to the next level on many fronts. In many renowned eateries, the quality of food is just the beginning, and each dish or drink goes beyond taste to become a work of art. Gastronomy and mixology have become the new foregrounds for artistic minds to create food and beverages almost as performance art, and along with the culinary offerings comes a wide range of complementary writing, photography and film.
