Lucky Peach:#1 The Ramen Issue

From the culinary creativity behind Momofuku’s in New York City, chef and restaurateur David Chang has partnered up with McSweeney’s to bring you Lucky Peach, a quarterly food magazine which released its inaugural issue in June. Much like Chang’s innovative grub, this magazine is refreshing, it is meaty, and it fills the void in your foodie-loving gut.

Paying tribute to victims of the recent tragedies that occurred in Japan, Issue 1 features a dish that is uniquely Japanese – ramen. However, this is not your college budget instant noodle-brick variety. This is the soupy slurp straight from the source. Featuring articles and interviews from renowned chefs and critics, ramen is served up a thousand different ways throughout the course of this magazine, and while the long history of a dish that is comprised mainly of thin, chewy noodles, salty broth, and crunchy fish flakes may seem more than most want to know, the colorful commentary picks up where the drabness of technicalities might have left readers with a bad taste in their mouth.

Each article has a dash of eye catching artwork sprinkled in giving the magazine an almost comic book-like feel. Not to mention there is an actual, wonderfully drawn, comic depicting what happens when the world’s largest man demands the world’s largest bowl of ramen. In addition to the humorous essays and the mesmerizing illustrations and travel photos, over twenty different recipes are included to keep the adventurous chef inside you happy. I expect some homemade noodles to be coming out of my kitchen real soon. And if that is not enough for you, a transcript of a drunken debate among David Chang, Anthony Bourdain, and Wylie Dufresne concerning food mediocrity in America is stuck in there as well. How can you go wrong with drunken food fights?

While the price per issue at newsstand is a little steep at 10 bucks an issue, or $8 from Amazon, getting a yearly subscription saves you some at $28 for four issues. I recommend this for fans of No Reservations (looks like Bourdain is going to be a regular contributor), adventurous eater readers, and aspiring foodie fiends.

Just look at him. He’s asking telling you to dig in.

- John David Ellis