People read magazines primarily for escapism. Most who buy cooking magazines don't even cook anything from the magazine--they just want to enjoy reading about it. This is no different than all the home magazines that center on mansions and the car mags that tell you about some ultra-expensive wheels that you'll probably never even see on the road, let alone have the opportunity to purchase yourself.

Sundown,

I disagree with you. I actually cook what's in these magazines even though I browse other luxury magazines. I also know many others who actually cook and we are well-educated, live in a major city, upscale households. I have spent countless hours looking for strange and very pricey ingredients that are not always necessary to make an awesome dish. I've made many an innovative, flavorful dish that would please the most discerning of palates from simple, easy to find ingredients. People do cook this stuff and it is possible (and maybe even more creative) to find a less expensive way to do it.

Congratulations! You're an idiot. I don't know a single person who picks up a "food magazine" and is only interested in reading the articles. Most people see the picture on the cover and want the recipe.

Idiot. I opened a restaurant because of BonAppetite.

...where is the new location?

Last time we were in the "T" city, we were forced to dine at Lucien. Sigh. It was very, very good, and the owner really put himself out to make us happy (ten minutes after a horrendous experience at Trevor Kitchen which involved a moronic front-of-house person), but we miss one of our favorite places in the world.

We live in Chicago, so we are well fed, but we do come back from time to time....