I spent a goodly portion of this week awash in gastronomic history and swinging on the branches of the Richelieu family tree so in a return to the here and now, I present the next installment of the Friday Food News Peruse

Bon appetit (the magazine and web site of the same name) was on my watch list this week as they have just recently launched a web site redesign. I must admit that I am neither overwhelmed or underwhelmed. It seems to have taken copious note of the competition’s font and color usage without any thought to how best to serve up their own content. What on earth possessed them to ignore basic marketing (not to mention content usability) like putting your lead features above the fold. They’ve carried over their oft-mentioned drive to speak to a wider (read: younger) demographic – hence the e.e. cummings of it all.

They can tout the new Top 100 Dishes until they are blue in the face (as they do in the print version’s letter from the editor and presumably in the video where-in same editor discusses in on the website’s podcast) but the fact remains that if it’s the ‘key component’ of your new redesign, there’s not excuse for putting it not one, not two, but three full screen scrolls down the page.

The other new feature they seem to be excited about it something called Project Recipe. Picture it. One blog. Two bloggers. One is a cooking newbie. One is more experienced. They simultaneously cook their way through our Top 100 Dishes – each from their own kitchen (one in Berkeley, the other in New York City) and share the experience. At the moment, they appear to be sharing only with each other and that gives the impression that you’re eavesdropping on a conversation that you haven’t quite been invited to join. Presumably as the blog gains readership and has a more active “comment base,” this will change. In the meantime, it’s not a bad way to spend a few moments but I wouldn’t actually seek it out quite yet. Oh, and did I mention that this feature too is 3 scrolls down the page? Are there no information architects at work on CondéNet?

Oh and a proofreading niggle – given that the decision – for better or worse – was made to go the ee cummings route for the name of the publication across the media – then by god, lower case it in the body text as well. In one page alone it appears 4 different ways – bon appétit, , Bonappetite.com, bonappetit.com. MADDENING!

Moving on.

I am in the market for a new cocktail. I have my standbys – Cosmos when I think no one will sneer and screwdrivers when I have doubts about the bartenders abilities. But I’m growing bored with them. I was briefly entranced with the South Seas Aviation on Holland America but I can hardly hop on a cruise ship every time I want a beverage. Oh, I’d like to but I can’t. It is just not practical. Thank goodness, I checked out the Food Section this week because there I found suggestions on how to How to Rock Your Cocktail World.

Slashfood’s timely contribution to my drinking habits was Drinks for the Indy 500 – and while I shall sip my Pit Lane Lemonade in front of the TV gladly, I shall put my own spin on it by drinking them as I watch the Style Network marathon instead of the happenings at the Old Brickyard.