A Top Chef magazine sounds pretty neat, but wil Food & Wine pull it off?

 Are you a Top Chef junky? Because I am. Which is why I got really excited when I heard that the magazine Food & Wine is turning Top Chef into a magazine all its own. Top Chef Magazine? Hell yes!

However, my enthusiasm dropped somewhat when I learned the details: It’s not REALLY a magazine all its own—not, say, in the way that Every Day with Rachael Ray or Martha Stewart Living are—it’s just a 24-page section called Top Chef Magazine that will be included in Food & Wine’s January issue. Kind of a magazine-within-a-magazine, if you will.

The Hollywood Reporter referred to Top Chef Magazine today as an “advertorial” about the show, which is even more disheartening. Food & Wine, you see, has been a longtime sponsor of Top Chef, so the plan for the Top Chef advertorial is to create articles “with Bravo’s approval” that will “center on various aspects of the show’s contestants, while Food & Wine [sells] ads in the section.” So basically, it’s just going to be a big huge advertisement for the show. It doesn't even sound like there are going to be any nifty recipes to try in it. Bummer.

But hey, maybe it will end up being so well done that it won’t SEEM like a gigantic advertisement. If this little 24-page mini-mag is successful, Food & Wine might consider either running the section quarterly or even turning it into its very own issue.

But all I know is that I want recipes. If there are recipes, I'll be happy.

Tell us: Are you excited about Top Chef Magazine?

Lucia Peters is BettyConfidential's associate editor.

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