'Food & Wine' Magazine Is Leaving NYC

Publishing giant Time Inc. released the shot heard round the food world today when it announced that Food & Wine magazine operations will relocate from New York to Birmingham, Alabama.

The New York Times reported that editor-in-chief Nilou Motamed is leaving the 39-year-old magazine, which will now be run by Hunter Lewis, current editor of Cooking Light magazine.

The change partly appears to be financially motivated, as Food & Wine will now operate alongside Cooking Light in a massive publishing complex Time opened recently in Birmingham. But Lewis also told the Times, the move means "thinking about the consumer first [since] there are sophisticated food eaters and wine drinkers everywhere now, in cities big and small."

There is some ambiguity over the magazine's overall strategy, as New York-based staff have apparently not been informed about the future of their positions. 

With numerous media brands launching or repositioning into the food space, Food & Wine's announcement is another exciting (scary?) development in a fast-moving media landscape.

Correction: This post originally stated that Time Inc.'s Extra Crispy was located in Birmingham, when it is in fact located in Time Inc.'s Brooklyn/Industry City office.