Was longtime Bon Appetit editor Barbara Fairchild too West-Coast scruffy for parent publisher Condé Nast? I mean, not that Fairchild herself is scruffy ― in photos she looks nicely done up ― but her approach to magazine food journalism: studiously unstyled food styling, breathtaking closeups that seem to borrow from '80s-era flashbulb porn, a relative absence of artifice. Fairchild made Bon Appetit the anti-Gourmet. After all that, she steps down from Bon Appetit this month, to be replaced by GQ's Adam Rapoport. His photos make him look like he might favor the dress-suit equivalent of man jeggings. Plus the BA offices are moving form L.A. to New York. Will the BA Foodist be compelled to cut his hair? We wonder.
All of which means that Fairchild's appearance Friday at Omnivore Books might well feel like a candidate's concession speech, in which we, the West Coast, somehow came up short. Or it could be an opportunity to give Fairchild some long overdue love. Either way, she'll be here flogging Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $40). Actually, that title makes us hopeful Fairchild's appearance will feel less mournful and more celebratory. In that case, wear something West-Coast scruffy. Don't cut your hair.
Barbara Fairchild and Bon Appetit Desserts
When: Fri., Nov. 12, 6-7 p.m.
Where: Omnivore Books, 3885a Cesar Chavez (at Church), 282-4712
Cost: Free
Follow us on Twitter: @sfoodie. Contact me at John.Birdsall@SFWeekly.com
