Daily Loaf

Routes Music is a documentary film acting as a roving music census, taking in the true musical passions (and disgusts) of the American people. We’re traveling all across the country, stopping along the way to interview local bands, take footage of live performances and chat with anyone and everyone. Learn more about the documentary here; check out all previous entries here.

It’s 8 p.m. and Phil is driving through a torrential rainstorm in an abandoned part of New Orleans’ West End. He’s running his hand through his hair, bent over the steering wheel, trying to find Magellan Road. The GPS isn’t working and every street seems to lead back to the interstate we just exited. A tiny brown Chihuahua looks lost, too, as it darts across the road and between two houses.

It’s enough rain to make a New Orleans native nervous.

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As part of its survival-mode restructuring campaign, Conde Nast announced today that it is shutting down production of four of its magazines, including big name brands Gourmet and Modern Bride, as well as Cookie and Elegant Bride. There have been rumors about Gourmet’s demise for almost a year now, and in the first half of this year its ad pages had fallen by almost 50%.

So what becomes of Gourmet honcho Ruth Reichl? Maybe she can don the drag again and usurp Sam Sifton as the new NYT restaurant critic for a second tour of duty?

Here’s a sad note: There’s still a pop-up on the Gourmet site asking if you want to subscribe. And where will I go to find absurdly complicated, poorly designed recipes?!

Since MTV’s The Hills began in the summer of 2006, Heidi Montag has gone from Lauren Conrad’s sweet best friend to Spencer Pratt’s feisty vixen. Montag has seemingly tried everything to stay in the celebrity spotlight, starting with her awful music video (directed by her new husband, Spencer) of Montag running and rolling on the beach in a bikini.

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Just for the record, I do not dress in drag, wear wigs, or try role-playing characters when I review restaurants. Although a couple of local chefs have claimed to me that they have my picture posted in the kitchen — some even offering bounties — I have no idea where they got the pic, or even if it’s actually me. Google search as much as you’d like; you won’t find any graven digital images of this critic.

But Ruth Reichl — former NY Times restaurant critic and current Gourmet editor — was famous for engaging in all sorts of costuming and characterization during her reviewing stint in the 1990s. And it worked admirably, causing her to experience the tiered treatment doled out by some of NY’s finest restaurants based on their perception of her worth as a customer, as detailed in her book Garlic and Sapphires.

In a stagey, but undeniably cute, video put out by Gourmet, Reichl revisited those years and characters. Video after the break:

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