I’ve mentioned the “little” project I’ve been working on with Denea, the lovely Miss Jessica Rabbit, over the last few weeks but now I am more than happy to show you with pride, and a little bit of disbelief on my part that we made a magazine!
GourmetRabbit is 76 pages of pure content, bridging the gap between industry professionals and home cooks. The articles are written by the leaders in their fields – experts in wine, spices, produce, farming and of course, cooking. And I designed it, cover to cover.
It seems strange to think that I only met Denea at the food bloggers Christmas picnic in December, surely I’ve known this girl for years! I offered her a fruit mince pie and we got to chatting. She wanted to launch a combination blog and magazine. As a graphic designer and foodie, it’s always been a dream of mine to design a food magazine. Several cocktail-fuelled meetings later, I was on board and excited about the concept.
From a list with only a few possible contributors, this has grown to contain articles from eating better meat (by Tim Elwin from Urban Food Market), to tasting wine (by Sharon Wild), to the seedy underbelly of commercial kitchens as told by a third year apprentice in a 3 hat Sydney restaurant, even how to eat for your star sign or make vinegar at home, and that’s only the beginning! I even have a recipe in the Munching section, for some amazing Summer Puddings to make the most of summer berries!
The magazine was launched to the public on Monday 1st March at the lovely Tastevin Bistro and Wine Bar in Darlinghurst. It was exciting to see so many people there who were excited about the work we had done. Clement Chauvin produced some incredible canapés. My favourites were ‘Mary’s Bloody Bites’ vine ripened cherry tomatoes injected with bloody Mary and impaled with a cucumber, ‘Bonbon’ a French bonbon of ocean trout with preserved lemon puree, “I Love a Big Belly Footrest” slow cooked pork belly on pickled papaya and cucumber.
The dessert canapés stole the show, with mini crème caramels buttons with caramel rum sauce and the most incredible lemon and rhubarb macarons. The wines on the night were supplied by the lovely Stamford and Clark from McLaren Vale in South Australia, and the “Achacha in Wonderland” cocktail was made from the latest new fruit to hit Australia’s foodie scene.
This was quite a journey. Launching a magazine is not something I’d suggest if you value your sleep and/or sanity. But to hold the printed copy in my hands and flick through the pages of this book that I’ve worked so hard on and I am so proud of, is the most amazing feeling in the world.
Thank you to Denea for giving me so much creative freedom, Alison Sainsbury who designed the website, Alex, Natasha and Clement at Tastevin for all the work they did for our launch, Simon, Lisa and Karen for their photography work, all the contributors and everyone who made it to the launch. I hope you enjoy the first edition of GourmetRabbit!
If you’d like to see what it’s all about, you can head to the website and subscribe online!
12 Comments on “GourmetRabbit”
Congratulations Lisa! What a wonderful accomplishment!
Wow! I can't wait to see a copy. Congratulation Lisa on a fantastic achievement.
hi i am nandini frm india and been a frequent visitor to ur blog and i also follow urs. Very happy for u .The magazine looks gorgeous and sure seems like lot of work, Congratulations!!!
Congratulations Lisa and I'm sure this will open heaps of doors for you! I'm in awe of the mag.
So excited to see Gourmet Rabbit in the future and thanks for getting me to contribute a little 🙂
No go get some more sleep…
Lisa this is great concept! Many congratulations on a fresh-looking, readable mag!
Your magazine looks polished and that's a credit to your design. I am sure it also has good content and makes good reading. I will look out for it in our local news agency.
Trissa, thank you so much! I still can't believe we really did it!
Mark, thanks! Head to the website http://www.gourmetrabbit.com for your copy 🙂
Nandini, thanks so much, it was a lot of work but it all paid off.
Karen, that photo on the back cover is so awesome. Thanks for helping out! Looking forward to what it might lead to in the future.
Lily, thanks so much!
Coolroom, if you're in Sydney you can check out cafes or delis that stock it, we've gone against the grain and are not stocking it in newsagents 🙂
Good job, Lisa. It looks fantastic – from cover to cover. I wish you the best of luck in this new endeavor.
Congratulations!! I will definitely look into subscribing when I get back home 🙂 Must be so amazing to fulfil a dream like this!
It was a lot of fun working with you on this project.
Great work, especially considering the tight deadline 🙂
WOW! Good for you, congratulations! that is QUITE the accomplishment, and it looks soo adorable!!!
wow Lisa, I am having a look at the website now & it looks fab. Good job on the graphics.