Well isn't this the pits

March 14, 2017 9:46 PM

Lucky Peach likely to close in May "Lucky Peach, the six-year-old indie food media outfit from writer Peter Meehan and restaurant mogul and Momofuku founder Dave Chang, is going through a major upheaval. The entire staff learned on Monday afternoon that their employment would end in May." The magazine won nine James Beard awards — including Publication of the Year in 2016 — and a National Magazine Award for General Excellence.

Fantastic past articles (among many others):

Essays
The History of Pho - Andrea Nguyen (Previously)
Fixed Menu (What Prisoners Eat) - Kevin Pang (James Beard nominee) (Previously)
Eat, Drink, Fuck, Die - Anthony Bourdain
American Food, Whatever That Is - Peter Meehan
America, Your Food Is So Gay - John Birdsall (2014 James Beard Award winner)
Anything to Make You Happy - Ottessa Moshfegh (Previously)
Dick Soup - Fuchsia Dunlop (2014 James Beard Award winner)
Chefs Weigh In on the Future of Food - Questlove

Guides
A Guide to Sour Beers - Justin Kennedy
A Guide to Gourds - Mary-Frances Heck "It's non-decorative gourd season too, motherfuckers."
Breads of India - Michael Snyder

Power Rankings
Official Instant Ramen Power Rankings (Previously)
Official Costco Food Court Power Rankings (Previously)

posted by CrystalDave (20 comments total)

Terrible news! I subscribed a couple years ago when they were offering a bunch of past issues with the subscription. It really is a fantastic resource. I've been in LA a lot the last couple years and the issue devoted to LA has been a great companion.
posted by misterpatrick at 10:00 PM on March 14, 2017

That sour beer guide is terrific. I thought I knew something about sour beers, but I was wrong.
posted by apathy at 10:00 PM on March 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

Much sadness. It is a quixotic task definitely to make a magazine in this day and age, and those folks had some courage to do it. Most courageous things fail - that's what courage means - but you try anyhow.
posted by hleehowon at 10:01 PM on March 14, 2017 [2 favorites]

I only bought a few issues but this is too bad. THey got a lot of great writing in there.
posted by GuyZero at 10:02 PM on March 14, 2017

Oh man. What a bummer. I subscribe to Lucky Peach and adore it. It was something like only $30 for four quarterly issues, and very worthwhile. I still have a copy of the "versus" issue on my coffee table as a convo piece.
posted by Emily's Fist at 10:31 PM on March 14, 2017

Aw, I've been drowning keeping up with interesting things to read, and this was one publication that I'd kept on wanting to have a look at. The recipes in particular. I don't think my local libraries has this either.
posted by polymodus at 11:00 PM on March 14, 2017

Their cookbook is spectacular, and I've gone through all of their power rankings repeatedly. This is a huge loss!
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:19 PM on March 14, 2017

NOOOOOOOOOOO, they had some of the best longform journalism, magazine design, and just overall sharp quality of any magazine recently. UUUUGH
posted by yueliang at 12:12 AM on March 15, 2017

Oh, I'm sorry to hear this. I love them.
posted by frumiousb at 4:26 AM on March 15, 2017

Aw dang, what? That's terrible; like everyone else has said, it's a tremendous resource. I'll miss you, Lucky Peach.
posted by penduluum at 5:20 AM on March 15, 2017

They should have reprinted Lucky Peach issue 1.
posted by Enemy of Joy at 5:33 AM on March 15, 2017

Wouldn't comment further - or what? Does it not make money? Did it outlive its utility in promoting Chang's brands?
posted by pmv at 7:48 AM on March 15, 2017

Ironically, I just got an email yesterday saying my subscription was going to autorenew soon. :(
posted by Celsius1414 at 7:48 AM on March 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

Ah, rats! :(
posted by magstheaxe at 2:14 PM on March 15, 2017

Ouch. Now this is out I should've led with this:
Recipes To Make When You’re Depressed Because Your Company Is Closing - Lucky Peach
posted by CrystalDave at 3:07 PM on March 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

Their Instagram post about it is, appropriately enough, bittersweet.
posted by Celsius1414 at 3:23 PM on March 15, 2017

Oh hell, I gave up my Saveur subscription and really enjoyed Lucky Peach. Ha, all my issues except the inaugural one are still in wrappers because I was saving them to read. I cheated with online reading of the site. Jesus, I receive their newsletter and only found out about the closing here...
posted by jadepearl at 7:39 PM on March 15, 2017

I've collected both Lucky Peach and Art of Eating, and I've long wondered about the economic difference between the two. They're both quarterly newsletters that focus on longform food journalism that is supported by subscriptions rather than ads, but AoE is almost twice as expensive and not nearly as thick or as glossy as Lucky Peach. Very little color photography, not a lot of flashy design or layout, and a typical AoE issue is barely 40 pages compared to LP's 160+.

I long expected AoE to just wither away and die in obscurity, but it just keeps trucking along. It makes me wonder if there's space in the market for a trimmed down version of Lucky Peach. Maybe half the page count and match the $50/year subscription price of AoE. Maybe follow the distribution model and keep it out of the newstands and sell it over the internet. Because I love both of them and I'll miss the diversity that Lucky Peach's content has brought to food writing. I hope there's a way for it to come back in a different economic format.
posted by bl1nk at 4:43 AM on March 16, 2017

They should have reprinted Lucky Peach issue 1.

Hot tip: When issue three came out, on a hunch I checked eBay. I sold my copy of issue one for $100, and the cover was even pretty mangled. If you need some quick cash, it's an option.

I recently came back to the online content but found the hyper-masculine voice of the earlier issues off-putting. I will miss it.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:28 AM on March 19, 2017

David Chang is quoted in a New York Times piece hinting that Lucky Peach might survive after all:

“We’re still talking to people who might want to help us out as a financial partner moving forward,” he said. “We’re trying to find an alternative, but what that is, no one really knows.”

So it seems that this is more about a clash of personalities than a financial crisis.

(More from the Washington Post.)
posted by Surely This at 9:37 AM on March 20, 2017