Ruth Reichl lands on her feet

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The big question in food publishing for the last year has been where Ruth Reichl would land after Condé Nast closed down Gourmet magazine last October. Today, Random House publishers announced that she would be joining them as an author and editor-at-large. Apparently, Reichl, already a bestselling author, has contracted for three books, two of which will be nonfiction, including “The Tao of Ruth,” which she says was suggested in an Anthony Bourdain story (wonder what Twitter phenomenon “Ruth Bourdain” will have to say about that?). The other will be the latest installment in her memoirs, covering the years at Gourmet. Food gossip fans are already salivating. In addition, there are plans for her first novel, “Delicious.”

As editor-at-large, the company says she will have responsibilities for both traditional print and digital projects.

Reichl edited Gourmet from 1999 until the magazine’s closing. Prior to that she had been restaurant critic at the New York Times and restaurant critic and food editor at the Los Angeles Times.

-- Russ Parsons

Associated Press