The New Daily Gullet

[Daily Gullet Staff]

<b>by Dave Scantland</b>

<img align="left" src="http://egullet.org/imgs/daily_gullet/gully_key.jpg">Late last summer, we put the <i>Daily Gullet</i> on hiatus as part of the transition from eGullet.com to the not-for-profit eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The transition involved a complete institutional reorganization as well as major technology upgrades. That transition is now complete, and the <i>Daily Gullet </i>is back.

When we went on hiatus, the eGullet Society executive team asked me to take over as editorial director of the Daily Gullet. My job started with a careful review of what had come before, using the experience and knowledge we gained in the first incarnation of the <i>Daily Gullet </i> to develop a new vision and plan.

When founding Daily Gullet editor Steven Shaw launched the journal, he set out with the goal of becoming the <i>Slate</i>, the <i>Salon</i>, the <i>Wired</i> of food writing on the web. Almost two years later, with the impending shift to a not-for-profit model ahead, and considerable evolution and learning under our belts, I proposed to the team that we re-characterize the mission of the <i>Daily Gullet</i>. Instead of being the <i>Slate</i>, <i>Salon</i> or <i>Wired</i> of food, I suggested that we become something more akin to a culinary version of the <a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/"><i>Washington Monthly</i></a>.

It's possible -- even likely -- that you've never heard of this magazine. Compared to mainstream poltical periodicals, it has a small circulation, and it's geared, like the <i>Daily Gullet</i>, to addressing a population of hard-core enthusiasts. To give you some idea of its impact, the <i>Washington Monthly</i> is widely credited with the coining the term "neoliberal," as well as laying, inside the DC beltway, the ideological foundation for the election of Bill Clinton. More to the point, it launched the careers of writers like James Fallows, Gregg Easterbook and Walter Shapiro, among many others. Say what you like about its politics, the <i>Washington Monthly</i> has clout that counts. Like the eGullet Society, the <i>Washington Monthly </i> works hard and wields impressive influence in its market, despite modest monetary resources. It makes up the difference in exposure, integrity and nurturing. Because the <i>Daily Gullet</i> enjoys sincere, passionate backing and a committed editorial mission, we believe it can generate the same loyalty, authority and presence in the food community as the <i>Washington Monthly</i> does in political circles.

What you will see here in the coming months is a new <i>Daily Gullet</i>, extending its original commitment to promoting new voices, but shifting its focus to high-quality content over quantity, with a front page that changes daily in details but is more sedate in the rotation of its major features.

The new <i>Daily Gullet </i>functions as an editorially autonomous segment within the eGullet Society, with a distinct editorial mission and voice. While it is a unique service that the Society offers, it is not a Society newsletter.

The <i>Daily Gullet</i> “lives” on the new eGullet Society portal page. From now on, the www.eGullet.org web address will take visitors to the Society portal, and from there to the <i>Daily Gullet</i> and other features of our webspace. The portal page and the <i>Daily Gullet</i> both will be much more integrated with the rest of the site, especially our eG Forums.

We regret that we have not communicated very well about our plans and progress while we've been building the <i>Daily Gullet</i> and portal. Limited resources meant that we had a choice between doing the work or talking about it, and we chose the former.

We hope you like what we've done with the place.

Dave Scantland (aka "<a href="http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showuser=6393">Dave the Cook"</a>) is editorial director of the <i>Daily Gullet</i>. He also devotes an inexcusable amount of time to his paying job as creative director for a high-tech firm in Atlanta, Georgia.

Art: Dave Scantland

[Mayhaw Man]

A message to the Editorial Director:

For the last six months you have worked like a steam engine gone wild, along with Marlene (primarily), to get this thing up and running. This is a wholly volunteer organization and many people here do not have a clue just what it takes to keep this place operating, in both a technological and in a human resource way, on a day to day basis. Well, I do know and I would like to thank you for it. Nice work. Fabulous job. It looks great and I am sure that it will be great. I have missed it, as have many of us who have been around for a while and I am very, very glad to see it back.

There are not many places on the web to publish many of the pieces that appear here and The Daily Gullet is a great place for aspiring writers, journalists, and would be (in their own minds) future great voices of food writing to appear. This place is a great resource for both the reader and the writer. I still occasionally get email for some of the highly personalized drivel that I have had published there, and I know that others who have appeared in The Daily Gullet continue to have the same experience. One of the great things about this "new media" is that you can actually hear immediately from readers when they are thinking about something-not just when they take the time out of their day, several hours or days later, to send in a letter or an email. This can have a downside, of course, but generally whether they like the work or hate it, people here are honest about it. I have written newspaper stuff for years and have learned that generally, in print, you rarely hear from the folks who like it-you only hear from the ones who want to savage your point of view. People here are can be pretty critical, but not in a pointless way, and that's kind of refreshing these days.The Daily Gullet was a great place before the hiatus and promises to be even more exciting in the future. Thanks ya'll.

I hate to end on a sour note, but I specifically remember making a suggestion that okra, God's Pod, should be somehow incorporated into the logo. It was not. No one ever takes me seriously.

[docsconz]

Nice job! Welcome back Daily Gullet.

[iain]

Excellent! Glad to see everything coming back together. I hate to say it, but I was kind of waiting to see what would happen with the Daily Gullet and RecipeGullet before donating some cash. I like what I see, though, and am looking forward to many installments to come.

Thanks!

[maggiethecat]

Brooks got there first, and said it so well that I don't have too much to add. But I'd like to emphasize a couple of his points: Dave had help, ruthless nagging, and excellent suggestions from Steven, Marlene and others of their ilk. But Dave provided the vision, the nuts-and bolts, the graphics, the tricky technical twiddly bits, the portal, the banners and that cool pencil in the RecipeGullet header. Can you spell "Sleep Deprivation?"

Brooks also mentioned the advantage of instant feedback for the writer. The only way I feel sorry for those New York Times or New Yorker writers is that they have to wait for Letters to the Editor a week out for reaction and feedback. Like any Daily Gullet writer, I got instant opinion from my readers, and, even better, new information on the subject of my piece. (And yes, a year on, I get e-mails from strangers both creepy and deeply politically correct about my Breastfeeding article.)

The Daily Gullet. I'm so glad it's back, and again, this was accomplished by dedicated people who sometimes actually have a life. I doff my tiara to them and look forward to the best food writing on the internet-- and hope my stuff makes the cut.

Sour note: I remember suggesting that breasts be incorporated into the logo. Beats okra hands down as a food archtype.

[Pan]

Impressive relaunching message, Dave!

I always enjoyed reading The Daily Gullet, tip my hat and bow to you folks who have worked so hard to iron out all the kinks to bring us a new and improved product (though the old one was pretty damn good to being with!) and look forward with pleasure to new articles to read. Enjoy the virtual champagne! Here's to you!

[Fat Guy]

I'd like to state for the record that although I've written for the Daily Gullet, made an announcement about it and otherwise been involved at the margins, I had next to nothing to do with its reconception, relaunch and revitalization. And that's not for lack of trying. I had a meeting with Dave and Marlene where I tried to tell them what to do. They gave me a stern lecture on the meaning of delegation and sent me packing with a polite, "See you on August 3; in the meantime, please query us if you'd like to submit an essay for consideration."

[Marlene]

August 3? Gee, we beat that deadline by a mile!

[Chris Amirault]

I was glad to see this when I went to reply to this thread:

The member-supported eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters is proud to present its literary journal, the Daily Gullet. In recognition of the value of this special feature and to make others like it possible, please take a moment, if you have not already, to upgrade to a Society Donor membership.

I am very glad to see that y'all are pushing ever harder on donor memberships; we all should step up to support your excellent work.

And on that high-minded note, let me add a comment on maggiethecat's wish:

Sour note: I remember suggesting that breasts be incorporated into the logo. Beats okra hands down as a food archtype.

←

As I spend much of my time now supporting my partner as she nurses our newborn, I agree udderly. However, you've been beaten to the punch, and crassly at that.

Okra logos, on the other hand, I can't find anywhere....

[*Deborah*]

Being a fairly new member, I am eagerly looking forward to this; add my kudos to those appreciating the lovely new graphics; and hope to join the elite donor ranks when my poor Visa card recovers from my upcoming vacation.

Cheers, eGulleteers!

(am I allowed to stay, Brooks, even though I quite simply cannot bear okra? I am abnormally fond of a Nola Oyster Po' Boy, in my defense)

[jackal10]

I tried to access it but all I got was a message saying I should become a Society Donor.

Thankyou, but I am already...

[Pan]

Jack, you're just not used to the new interface. You are currently in the Daily Gullet forum. So is the new Daily Gullet article. Here's its thread, starting with the article itself, by Steven Shaw.

[alexw]

Welcome back, it was an accidental trip via google that first got me into e-gullet in the first place, I look forward to reading the upcoming articles and also when my new menu is bedded down am I actually get some sleep between shifts, I will post a recipe or three on the recipe gullet.

Very well done to all involved.

Alex.

[johnnyd]

Actually, that's not it either. This is the Daily Gullet Home that is a beautiful redesign of the Daily Gullet home page. I love the quick links to current discussions or regular features like foodblogs and "spotlight" on the left margin. I missed the five or so hottest forum topics on the upper right of the old dGullet so it's great to see it back. Direct connect to comments to Daily Gullet articles are cool. So many excellent features!

This is a fantastic homepage. Even though 'til today I couldn't wait to see what was up on Today's Active Topics, the graphical interface there seemed clinical. This is much better. Terrific Job Ladies and Gents! I have re-bookmarked to this page, the true face of eG.

...however, I can see why my suggestion of incorporating sea urchins into the logo was bumped by maggiethecat's idea...

Edited April 5, 2005 by johnnyd (log)

[Priscilla]

Yay TDG! Excellent logoage, too. Exciting!

[Bux]

For what it's worth, I got confused between the Daily Gullet and what looked like the Daily Gullet. I noticed that one of the very early modifications was to indicate the link to the doorway, portal or the page that most resembles the function of the old Daily Gullet, as "Home." As Johnny implies, that's probably the page most of us will want to bookmark. Home

[ivan]

Excellent!

[bavila]

There are not many places on the web to publish many of the pieces that appear here and The Daily Gullet is a great place for aspiring writers, journalists, and would be (in their own minds) future great voices of food writing to appear. This place is a great resource for both the reader and the writer.

←

Perhaps this will be evident at a later date, but will the Daily Gullet entertain queries from writers? If so, how?

[Dave the Cook]

We will be posting submission guidelines and a style guide within the next week.

In the meantime, please don't send queries to me. Send them to dailygullet@egullet.org.

Thanks.

[MarketStEl]

I have heard of The Washington Monthly, and you've picked an excellent model for what you hope to achieve with the new and improved, revised and expanded Daily Gullet.

I hope you succeed at your stated goal of promoting new and promising voices in writing about food. (You will probably also model your payment policies after the Monthly's--if you're lucky and get enough contributions. Otherwise, I guess we'll all have to settle for the not insignificant satisfaction of instant publication and robust feedback.)

I need to get my 25th college reunion this June out of the way first, but after that, assuming I'm employed full time, I intend to join the ranks of Society Donors. Congratulations on a job very well done.

[LindaK]

Ditto MarketStEl re: contributions. I can hardly answer my own e-mails in a semi-timely way, much less put something like this together as a volunteer in my spare time. Becoming a supporting member is the least I can do for a site I enjoy so much.

Everything I see here looks great, I can't wait to see how eG evolves in the new format. Felicitations!

[mizducky]

Having just been inspired by all this cool new stuff to become a donor, I can tell you one benefit of paid membership that, at least IMO, is worth the price of admission alone: not having to be caught by that dangfool search-flooding error message anymore! (Glyph of crazed duckling talking back to her computer screen: "Waddiya mean, give the others a chance? That was too 40 seconds already, dagnabbit!!!)

[Dave the Cook]

I want to thank everyone for their kind comments. I hope we live up to the expectations we've so cleverly planted.

Just to be clear, nothing this big (okay, it's big to us) happens without a tremendous amount of assistance. Despite Steven's backhanded demurrer, he provided inspiration and freedom. Jason was invaluable in clearing the technological path. Janet (JAZ) and Maggie pitched in at the last minute.

And of course, Marlene was there every step of the way, helping form and refine the vision, refining the proposal, and making sure things stayed on track.

My thanks to all of them. And to you.

We expect submissions on our desks in the morning.

[Fat Guy]

One of the most exciting -- if you get excited about this sort of thing -- improvements to the Daily Gullet is that it is now fully integrated with our eG Forums database. This means that when you search the eG Forums your search will also automatically cover Daily Gullet articles and discussion.

There's a lot more to come, too. What you're seeing now is just the beginning.

[Jinmyo]

One of the most exciting -- if you get excited about this sort of thing -- improvements to the Daily Gullet is that it is now fully integrated with our eG Forums database.

Dude! That's so, like, totally tubular, Dude!