Upscale mags looking to downscale eats

The New York Times reported recently on the trend of upscale food magazines like Gourmet, Food & Wine and Bon Appetit lately featuring distinctly more humble recipes and articles.

Gourmet has a ham sandwich on the cover of this month's issue. Esquire reviews boxed wines in its own March issue.The list goes on.

Some Minnesota pubs have been getting in on the action themselves. Last month's issue of Minnesota Monthly featured "dining in a down market" feature with a giant (delicious looking) Chicago dog to introduce the article.

Metro Magazine's March issue's cover article "103 Amazing Deals" features "unbelievable" restaurant deals.

It remains to be seen, the Times notes, whether changing things up will affect the bottom line of high-end food publications, whose ad revenue is uniformly decreasing.