New Seattle Times food section

[mamster]

The new and expanded Seattle Times food section debuted today.  It includes a large wine section coordinated between three Washington papers.  What do you think of the new section?

(Note:  I write for the Times, but not for the food section, and I'm not an employee of the paper, so laud or criticize as you wish.  I do.)

[familysecrets]

I added the Seattle Times Food Section to my Newspaper Food Column web page. Thanks for the web address. It looks like the Times has done a great job!

Newspaper Food Columns

Linda Stradley

What's Cooking America

[mamster]

That is one useful page you've got there, Linda.  Of course, I already read too many food sections on Wednesday, so I may have to restrain myself from spending too much time on it.

[tsquare]

Very happy that they have expanded the section.

Layout: I'm not fond of stories from the back page continuing on earlier pages, but I imagine advertisers love it. It does make some sense to have a second front page to run the wine articles.

Content: Not much new on food in there...could use some fresh writing (and I don't mean delish!) and ideas.

Thanks for asking.

[heyjude]

Well,I'm holding the new "Wine" section of the Seattle Times. There must have been a misprint because it says "Food" at the top of page one. From this example,I'm not sure why they made this a separate section. Except for Nancy Leson's regular column,the food mood of the region still escapes them. I wish they had more local columns with questions answered,ideas exchanged,restaurants discussed by diners,Farmers' Markets explored, etc. Sounds like a newspaper version of eGullet.

[mamster]

Do you think they're correctly gauging local interest in wine reporting?  I drink wine regularly and enjoy reading wine columnists such as Frank Prial and Gerald Asher, because they generally tell me the following:  (a) Here is a type of wine you haven't tried before, or one you forgot you liked, and (b) here are some producers you should start with.  A whole section on wine strikes me as overkill, but I'm not a dedicated wine buff.

Is anyone here seriously into wine, and if so, what do you think of the coverage?

[girl chow]

snip from Mamster: Do you think they're correctly gauging local interest in wine reporting?

I'm afraid newspapers are becoming less interested in what the readers want and far more interested in how they can bundle and market newspaper advertising to potential advertisers. I can see why the emphasis would be on wine in the "revamped" section.... think of how many wine shops, distributors, wineries and restaurants that would potentially buy an ad in a wine laden food section. From a marketing standpoint, the Times is positioning itself to the wine industry, not wine drinkers. The information in the section was barely reader friendly or leveraged much real "information." Rather, it read like a glorious back stroke to the wine industry. The "Wine Adviser" column is a clear example of this. I almost thought it was a paid advertisement.

If the section was truly reader driven, the editors and writers would have featured much more consumer influenced topics.

I think that's what most newspapers are doing to readers these days.. become much less relevant for the sake of advertising revenues. With corporations like Knight Ridder obsessed with obtaining 20 percent profit margins, there's an obvious shift from consumer to advertiser. Why do you think everyone is turning to the Internet for information? Because it's consumer driven, not advertising driven (oh, but that all is changing)!

Forgive me for rambling, I've become very disengaged with the newspaper industry, particularly the features/living sections of the local papers. The coverage is so disappointing!

So if I was a publisher and could create my own food section from scratch, I'd do exactly what heyjude suggested: create a forum for food discussion and create standing columns with consumer driven information. However, I'd have a hell of a time selling ads and I'd be out of business in three issues.

For the record, the only thing I thought was awesome about the Food section is Nancy Leson's column. I love reading her stuff. She completely has her finger on what the readers want: real information!

[familysecrets]

Hi Matthew,

I went to your web site and really enjoyed reading your columns. You do a great job! If my day turns out with enough time, I'm going to make the Potato Gatto recipe tonight. It sounds so good!

Linda Stradley

What's Cooking America

[mamster]

GC, I agree in principle, but I don't think the wine section is going to survive unless the readership is there, no matter what the advertisers think.  And I have my doubts about the readership.

familysecrets, thanks for the compliment.  I hope you enjoy the potato gatto.  I actually made a different kind of potato cake for lunch today:  took some leftover brandade with potatoes, formed it into patties, and sauteed them and served atop some broccoli rabe that I we just got at the farmer's market this morning.  I highly recommend this lunch.

This is off-topic as usual, but if anyone is looking for salt cod, I paid $12 at the Spanish Table but was informed by some Catalan friends that they get the same stuff (imported from Canada) for $9 at PFI.  A pound of salt cod goes a long way.

[Blue Heron]

My first impression of the new Times Food section, is that I liked it.  I don't remember seeing anything that I didn't like.  I have an uncanny ability to see absolutely no ads.  I have trained myself well, and really have to make an effort to notice if a page has an ad.  I liked the berry info by Nancy Leson, and always enjoy whatever she is writing.  I would like to see more of Kathy Casey, as I always enjoy her articles, too.  I liked the cookbook review section.  

As for the wine info, it was of interest to me.  I liked the article on the sandblasting the wine bottles (was glad to see the McCrea bottles pictured), which was interesting, but felt it was perhaps too long an article and told me more than I really wanted to know.  The diffferent appellations was very interesting to me, but the article itself was a bit dry.  I have a soft spot for Eastern WA wines, and love to go wine tasting over there.  I'm a real wine dummy so if I can learn more about it, that would be a plus.  Several years back I worked at Balcom's restaurant in Kennewick (of Balcom & Moe winery).  It was my introduction into the world of wines.  Having lived over there, I'm really proud of the way the WA wines have blossomed over the years into some truly fine wines.  I love hearing about the Horse Heaven Hills area, etc., but that's just me.  I also love wine tasting in the Napa & Sonoma valleys.

That said, I think heyjude and girlchow would do a hellava good job running the Seattle Times food section anyday!

If familysecrets gets a chance, I would love hearing more about her winery sometime.  ie. what type of grapes she grows, what types of wines they produce, the name of the winery, etc.  Do you produce the legendary Oregon Pinot Noir?