October 25, 2019

Ruth Reichl ~ Comfort Me with Apples

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photos by Styrous®











         Ruth Reichl ~ Comfort Me with Apples         


I just finished reading Comfort Me with Apples written by Ruth Reichl in 2003; I know, I'm a little behind the times. Reichl is the last editor-in-chief of the defunct Gourmet magazine, a monthly publication of Condé Nast and the first U.S. magazine devoted to food and wine.

I knew Ruth in the late seventies and when she married the future television news producer, Michael Singer, I was the DJ for their wedding celebration at the Savoy Tivoli on upper Grant Ave. in San Francisco. The Tivoli was one of the hot spots for blues artists such as Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed but was also the punk music scene where the Ramones and many other groups played.       


photographer unknown


The Savoy was the original location for the famous producion by Steve Silver, Beach Blanket Babylon when it began in 1974.


photographer unknown


Ruth and Michael had rented the Tivoli for this special occasion. I had known Ruth from the Swallow restaurant which was and still is in the basement of the University Art Museum (link below) in Berkeley.     


Ruth Reichl ~ Comfort Me with Apples


It was interesting reading the book as it references some of the people I knew at the time; one of them, her first husband, was sound sculptor Doug Hollis. He designed and built A Sound Garden for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is a sculptural group composed of 12 21 feet (6.4 m) high steel tower structures, at the top of each of which hangs an organ pipe attached to a weather vane that produces soft-toned sounds when it is rotated or passed through by the wind. It brought back many happy memories. He built sculptures for his residency at the Headlands Center for the Arts at the Marin Headlands, a perfect location for them.    
       

Ruth Reichl ~ Comfort Me with Apples


The book chronicles the many love affairs Ruth was involved with in her climb to editor of one of the most prestigious magazines of the time. At the end of each entry is a menu with recipes of the food event described.        




   
     
Condé Nast ceased publishing Gourmet magazine after 68 years due to a decline in advertising sales and shifting food interests among the readership. Ruth is now a producer, judge on food shows and host of food-related television shows.       
 


   
        
           
Viewfinder links:     
           
Berkeley Art Museum
Chez Panisse 40th Anniversary Pt 1          
        
Net links:     
             
Ruth Reichl website         
BAM/PFA ~ Douglas Hollis / MATRIX 107           
broke-ass stuart ~ The City That Was: The Savoy Tivoli    
Eater ~ Why Gourmet’s Website Was Doomed From the Start     
Exploratorium ~ Doug Hollis    
NY Post ~ Moment of Ruth       
NY Times ~ Ruth Reichl Recharges in the Kitchen        
SF Gate ~ Ruth Reichl Profile     
Times of Israel ~ As Gourmet folded, Reichl made a recipe for success  
Video Databank ~ Doug Hollis: 1978 Interview               
     
       
        
       
Styrous® ~ Friday, October 25, 2019,           





   





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