{"id":16303,"date":"2011-01-30T09:42:06","date_gmt":"2011-01-30T07:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=16303"},"modified":"2011-04-28T13:05:12","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T11:05:12","slug":"house-and-leisure-food-a-food-and-wine-flop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/wine-news\/house-and-leisure-food-a-food-and-wine-flop\/","title":{"rendered":"‘House and Leisure Food’ is a food and wine flop!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>My favourite lifestyle magazine is House and Leisure<\/strong>, and I have subscribed to it for years.\u00a0 In fact, it is the only magazine (I don’t classify Noseweek<\/strong> as a ‘magazine’ as such)\u00a0that I subscribe to.\u00a0\u00a0Its new brand extension launched earlier this week is a great disappointment.<\/p>\n

I had read the pre-publicity about the new House and Leisure Food<\/strong>, described by editor Naomi Larkin as an “inaugural collectors’ issue”, and was excited about\u00a0the idea of the publication. \u00a0 I chased after the issue at Exclusive Book’s when it hit the street on Wednesday,\u00a0having to have it, and being sure that subscribers would not be sent a copy.\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, nowhere in the latest House and Leisure<\/strong> issue was there any reference to the new publication, which is\u00a0silly in marketing terms, as current subscribers to House and Leisure<\/strong> should be the most obvious priority target market.<\/p>\n

In her Editor’s Letter\u00a0Larkin drools: “Whether you’re seduced by the mouthwatering food pictures or enchanted by the beautiful lifestyle images – designed to get you in the mood – there really is something for everyone”.<\/p>\n

Oh my gosh, what a let down, when I paged through the magazine.\u00a0 Here’s why:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 A\u00a0big song and dance is made about the chefs that have ‘contributed’, and the names that are dropped are Chefs Luke Dale-Roberts of The Test Kitchen, Bertus Basson of Overture, Richard Carstens of Tokara<\/a>, Mike Bassett of Terroir, Clare and Fiona Ras of Sprigs in Durban, and Jackie Cameron of Hartford House, as well as cookery school owners Marlene van der Westhuizen, Andrea Bergener, Toni Scorgie and Susan Greig.\u00a0\u00a0The main contributors to the magazine are billed as Jules Mercer and Sarah Matsuhara, both names I\u00a0have never heard of before.\u00a0 Yet, none of the names of the chefs or their photographs are to be seen on any page, except in the Editor’s Letter.\u00a0\u00a0 The content of the magazine is purely a recipe book of 75\u00a0recipes, not one recipe attributed to any of these named chefs!\u00a0\u00a0 I have tried to re-read and re-read the Editor’s Letter, and I can only assume that House and Leisure Food<\/strong> is a rehash of previously printed recipes\u00a0from past issues of House and Leisure.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0 An even bigger\u00a0flop is the ‘Connoisseurs’ picks of top South African wines to match”, as shouted on the front\u00a0cover, and the\u00a0editorial page proudly highlights the names of Wade Bales, Michael Brampfield-Duggan, Michael Olivier, Thato Goimane, David Cope and House and Leisure <\/strong>wine writer Leigh Robertson\u00a0as “Wine Connoisseurs”!\u00a0\u00a0A “connoisseur” is defined “a person who is especially competent to pass critical judgement” or “a discerning judge of the best in any field”.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 Most of the ‘connoisseurs’ are not widely known, and some may argue that they\u00a0may not all be ‘connoisseurs’\u00a0either!\u00a0 There is not one wine pack shot in the magazine, except in the few paid-for advertisements for Reyneke, Robertson Winery, Barista, and Krone.\u00a0 The wine recommendations are featured in the smallest possible type size underneath the title of each recipe!\u00a0 There is no description of each wine’s taste and flavour, no motivation for the match, nor is a vintage recommended.\u00a0 Only the initials of the “wine connoisseur” is indicated, and is most often those of Leigh Robertson!<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 But the biggest disappointment of all is the endless 130 pages of 75 recipes, interspersed with a handful of advertisements, the Paul Kovensky Restaurant Collection being the largest advertising supporter, advertising its Kove, Zenzero, Paranga and Pepenero restaurants.\u00a0\u00a0 Not all food lovers cook, and many may have liked to see interviews with chefs, cooking hints and tips, chef profiles, and even restaurant reviews\u00a0and profiles.\u00a0 The Indochine Restaurant<\/a> page is a paid-for promotion, but would have made good editorial, in the way the chef Jonathan Heath is profiled and\u00a0one of his\u00a0dishes is featured, with an interior shot of the restaurant at Delaire Graff.\u00a0 In this regard the magazine fails badly.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 The magazine is divided into four sections, and the recipes are\u00a0spread over these.\u00a0 The categories are “Easy Living”, “Summer”, “Winter Warmth” and “Luxury”, not sounding a logical delineation, and the first and the last of these categories not clearly defining which types of recipes one might expect.\u00a0\u00a0 The magazine index does list which recipe is in which section.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 Even worse, is the most irritating “talking ad” for Cell C, as one turns the pages.\u00a0 The spokesperson Trevor Noah never gets to say more than “Welcome to the world of Cell C.\u00a0 The power is in your hands”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Credit must be given for some excellent food styling and photography, and the photographers’ and stylists’ names that are mentioned are\u00a0Russell Smith, Retha Erichsen, Julia Stadler, and Elsa Young.\u00a0 Some lifestyle photographs break the monotony of the recipe pages.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My favourite lifestyle magazine is House and Leisure, and I have subscribed to it for years.\u00a0 In fact, it is the only magazine (I don’t classify Noseweek as a ‘magazine’ as such)\u00a0that I subscribe to.\u00a0\u00a0Its new brand extension launched earlier this week is a great disappointment. I had read the pre-publicity about the new House […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[124,266,21,19],"tags":[9628,9639,64,9623,9645,9643,240,32378,9625,6788,9633,9644,6813,9649,2939,8815,554,9621,9622,9642,8887,9631,9650,5563,227,6681,9651,555,9736,1460,9635,2788,1607,7994,497,4949,33,69,9640,647,6832,4907,9648,7040,62,9638,9647,9632,4822,9626,9630,447,9636,7518,59,9629,9646,9634,32373,9652,9637,53,4743],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t