Lucky Peach: Issue 1 [Paperback]

Chris Ying (Editor), David Chang (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 12, 2011 | Series: Lucky Peach (Book 1)

Lucky Peach is a new journal of food writing, published on a quarterly basis by McSweeney’s. It is a creation of David Chang, the James Beard Award–winning chef behind the Momofuku restaurants in New York, Momofuku cookbook cowriter Peter Meehan, and Zero Point Zero Productions—producers of the Travel Channel’s Emmy Award–winning Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

The result of this collaboration is a mélange of travelogue, essays, art, photography, and rants in a full-color, meticulously designed format. Recipes will defy the tired ingredients-and-numbered-steps formula. They’ll be laid out sensibly, inspired by the thought process that went into developing them.

Each issue will focus on a theme (Issue One’s theme is “Ramen”), with contributions from Harold McGee, Ruth Reichl, John T. Edge, Todd Kliman and a cavalcade of other writers and artists. The reader will meander through arguments about the superiority of yellow alkaline noodles over Italian egg pasta; a taxonomy of ramen-package characters; an eating tour of Japan helmed by an over-stuffed and nauseated, but nevertheless intrepid, David Chang; and a booze-fueled rant on mediocrity in American cuisine with chefs Chang, Bourdain, and Wylie Dufresne set in the Spanish Basque country.

The aim of Lucky Peach is to give a platform to a brand of food writing that began with unorthodox authors like Bourdain, resulting in a publication that appeals to diehard foodies as well as fans of good writing and art in general.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: McSweeney's Insatiables; 1 edition (July 12, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1936365464
• ISBN-13: 978-1936365463
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 0.8 x 10.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #314,985 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #95 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > Asian > Japanese

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A foodie magazine with a rock-and-roll attitude July 7, 2011

By G. Dawson

Format:Paperback

Lucky Peach is a foodie magazine with a rock-and-roll attitude. Published quarterly by McSweeney's (beginning with the Summer 2011 issue), the magazine is loaded with the McSweeney's brand of quirky style. The design is hip and eye-catching with lots of original artwork and full-color photographs. The articles are substantive and well-written and contain a variety of styles (travel journaling, interviews, transcribed conversations, traditional essays, etc.). There's even a short story titled "The Gourmet Club." Perhaps best of all, there are no advertisements.

The Summer 2011 issue focuses on ramen, and the level of detail and research into the subject is impressive. I particularly enjoyed the map of Japan annotated with the different types of ramen that can be found in various regions. I was motivated to search my own city (Houston) for some good ramen choices after learning so much about a dish I previously associated only with mediocre dehydrated, microwavable meals.

There are some well-known writers featured in this debut issue of Lucky Peach. For example, Anthony Bourdain discusses David Chang's culinary influences, and Ruth Reichl rates instant raman brands. Even better are some of the essays by lesser-known names. I particularly enjoyed Todd Kliman's piece on the authenticity of food. This isn't a magazine that's loaded with hundreds of recipes. There are only twenty or so, and many of them are quite complicated (homemade gnocchi using crushed ramen noodles?). One recipe (corn with miso butter) takes the form of several haikus. I'm tempted to try it just to see if it works out, but I expect I'll be reading my Lucky Peach more often than cooking from it. I do like how the recipes are presented in a unique graphical way--almost like flow charts....

Overall, this debut issue of Lucky Peach is a success. It's unlike any other food magazine being published right now. It offers high-quality food writing and gorgeous art in abundance, detailed recipes with tips and photographs, and lots of attitude.

A word of warning: there's some cursing in here. It didn't bother me overly much (though some of it did seem gratuitious), but you might want to exercise discretion about leaving this magazine lying about for your young children (or prudish grandmother) to discover. Read more ›

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Note recipe corrections August 18, 2011

By J. Mach

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This magazine certainly has plenty of attitude and hipness, but is you decide to try the alkaline noodles, note that the amount of baked soda should be 4 teaspoons, not 4 Tablespoons. The correction is listed here: [...]

Apart from the corrections, the magazine is a highly variable mix of interesting writing by such authors as John Edge, Harold McGee, and Ruth Reichel, and lazy page-fillers seemingly re-purposed from an initial attempt at a TV show. For example, the 9-page conversation with Bourdain, Chang, and Dufrense on "Mediocrity" is itself, truly mediocre. I hope that as the authors run out of TV footage, they will find their stride with this magazine, because some sections are truly inspired-- the chopstick wrappers alone are deeply amusing. Only subsequent issues will tell if the authors can get over themselves sufficiently to make this venture a real peach.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Four Thumbs Up!. July 22, 2011

By Borderbumble

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

FINALLY!!! A Foodie Magazine for the Intellectual Folk without the Snobbery!

I must admit that I rarely buy magazines about food. To many ads. The diet isn't my own. Too much hearts and flowers. I wished for something with GUTS -- preferably not hanging out of anyone's belly, of course. So imagine my surprise when my peripheral vision keyed in on the strangest title in the teeny cooking section at my local grocery story... LUCKY PEACH.

HUHUHUH????

The graphic art hooked me. I didn't need to thumb though the rest. Okay, the cover stating that this was a Ramen issue grabbed me, too. So I bought it... I think I'll have to buy another one because I've been dragging around this copy everywhere with me on errands.

Talk about foodie mag mating with an engineering journal. I couldn't believe the flow-charts for the recipes!! I loved the history surrounding the instant ramen -- reminds me of Spam!!

I shall DEFINITELY be subscribing to this Quarterly. And if you are totally bored with food critic snobs who don't cook or the flakey-headed chefs who use up every pan in the house when making a meal, check this out!!!!!

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A promising new foodie/culture magazine in a glutted space June 29, 2011

By Threemoons

Format:Paperback

Okay, so there's tons of foodie mags out there. This one really delivers the goods. Imagine if Gastronomica and the old print version of BoingBoing had a love child; that's Lucky Peach. Started reading it this AM on the subway and I almost missed my stop. It sucked me right in with it's A-list contributors, great art, and focused stories. If you're the kind of person who loves Andrew Zimmerman adn Anthony Bourdain on TV but still also clings to their Julia Child DVD set, you want this magazine.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Machismo comes to the food mag November 15, 2011

By Always Reading

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I like the idea of a different type of food magazine, focused on accessible themes such as ramen, and interesting new recipe techniques, but the macho tone of much of the writing is a put off. The conversation between Anthony Bourdain, David Chang, and Wyle Dufresne was so senseless, mindlessly competitive, and content-free that it testosterone-poisoned nearly everything else in the magazine. The male-dominance of the contributors list also suggests that this magazine may turn out to be a guy thing. I hope not, though, because I did enjoy most of the articles about ramen, and I learned from the recipes, even if I am not likely to make most of them. I liked the fact that gourmet ingredients didn't predominate.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hip, Hip, Puree! March 3, 2012

By NyiNya TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Lucky Peach resembles every other cooking/foodie magazine the way Foster The People resembles The Andrews Sisters. Same species maybe, but a whole 'nother animal. Hip, irreverent, but brimming over with new info, great stories and even some cooking ideas, it is the food magazine that finally shakes off the Gourmet cobwebs and lays the ghost of Betty Crocker.

The writing and artwork are straight out of the hipster 'zine genre. Just picture Robot -- only a lot more cynical and written by that gang of rogue NY chefs who are trying to be the new rock stars -- and you get the drift. You won't find the usual fare. No "30 Money Saving Recipes," no "Dinner at the Top of the World...the Glory of the Katmandu Four Seasons." And don't look to Lucky Peach for the traditional Food Porn. No stylists at work here. The chicken on the cover is one sad specimen. With those skinny splayed wings and saggy skin, it looks more like a warning from Vegan Times than anything that will ever appear in Every Day! With Rachel Raye.

Make no mistake, this is a serious food magazine. David Chang of Momofuku (which supposedly means 'lucky peach') is one of the creators. He is abetted by the team that produces Tony Bourdain's snarky "No Reservations" show. And you can hear that Bourdain-style hipper than thou (and still climbing) voice loud and clear on every page.

Even so, the writing is good, if a tad self-conscious. An in-depth, straight-faced and straightforward feature that tells you everything anyone could possibly want to know about Ramen is worth the price of admission. Sure they are working the cool angle, but mostly is works. It's hip. Uber Hip. Hipper Than Hip. But also compelling, interesting and fun. Issues 2 and 3 were even better.... They didn't seem to be trying quite as hard and dumped a little of the adolescent bravado.

If you like food and enjoy reading about it, this is fun, new and different. If nothing else, the magazines are apparently becoming collector's items and the best investment you can make in a lousy economy. My 3 issues are now worth more than my IRA! Read more ›