The ultimate food porn magazine is one you’ve probably never heard of, but every chef has.
Long before iPhones and food bloggers and digital cameras that can make almost anyone a culinary documentarian, Art Culinaire Magazine was the first and last word in food.
Introducing the world to the greatest chefs, the most state-of-the-art kitchens and, of course, the latest trends and recipes in haute cuisine with “jaw dropping” photography, Art Culinaire was —and is — a magazine coveted by chefs and gourmands.
In fact, Wolfgang Puck was in the first issue, long before he became “Wolfgang Puck”, and renowned Napa chef Thomas Keller is rumored to have almost every issue of the hard-bound magazine published since 1986.
But few people know that the “International Magazine in Good Taste” (delivered to 57 countries, currently) makes its home in Healdsburg, quietly co-published by husband-and-wife team Carol M. Newman and Lars Ryssdal.
The two took over the publication in May 2014 from founder and friend Franz Mitterer, who Ryssdal describes as an Austrian gourmet who envisioned a magazine that honored chefs and their food.
What makes this magazine stand out amongst a flurry of digital food magazines, however, are its decidedly old school ways: Printing an oversized book on heavy gloss paper in full color. With almost no advertising.
“It’s like a vinyl record. There isn’t an online component, and you keep it forever,” said Ryssdal. “But we think about the legacy of chefs and their food. This is the only way to really honor a dish that a chef creates, with giant photos that show every detail,” he said.
You can order the magazine ($68 for four issues a year), see what’s being featured in the current issue, and check out the impressive index of chefs included in each of the magazines online at artculinairemagazine.com, or by calling (707) 595-3850.
