Lucky Peach

Foodies are pretty much wetting themselves over David Chang’s new food magazine, Lucky Peach, which debuted June 22. Just two days out, it’s been named the Best New Food Mag of 2011.

Created in collaboration with the uber-cool McSweeney’s crew in SF, it’s what we all wish a food magazine would be: irreverent, a little nuts, forward-thinking, content-dense, unbeholden to advertisers, filled with weird illustrations, and featuring a cider-fueled conversation between Anthony Bourdain, David Chang and Wylie Dufresne (Bourdain gets his ass handed to him, which is soooooo satisfying).

The mammoth 175-page issue is based around the topic of Ramen, with recipes, anecdotes and lengthy love-letters to the perfect noodle.

Like an indulgently wonderful meal, it’s something that you don’t try to consume in a few bites, but sit with for a few days, finding new tidbits to savor with every mouthful.  I’ve only let myself read a few pages at a time, not wanting to devour it since the next issue isn’t slated until September.

If you can find it (Copperfield’s in Santa Rosa had one issue left, and you can forget about finding it anywhere else, because I spent all of yesterday looking), it’s well worth the $10. Subscriptions are still available through McSweeney’s.

Want more good news? A Lucky Peach app is in development (slated for July) and McSweney’s has started a new imprint called Insatiables specializing in food and cookbooks. Mission Street Food will be its first book (available August 2).