Food News

July Gourmet Traveller out now

Sarah Oakes, GT’s new editor, reflects on her first issue – July, out now – and returning to the simple comforts of home.

By Sarah Oakes
Sarah Oakes, GT's new editor, reflects on her first issue - July, out now - and returning to the simple comforts of home.
There's nothing quite like living in America right now to make you appreciate Australia. Our health and education systems, our gun laws, the relative decorum of our elected officials on Twitter.
I transplanted my family from Washington DC to Sydney just four weeks ago for the job of a lifetime, editing Gourmet Traveller. I'd spent two years away from home in America's capital and felt catapulted back by an incredible new opportunity and a way out of an increasingly volatile place to be.
Dining in America is exciting: New York is home to the current best restaurant in the world and Washington DC, just a short hop south, does a fine job of serving its diverse population of political wonks and exuberant tourists, but the day-to-day reality of living, eating, shopping and cooking in the US made me long for home.
Our passion for good produce, the unparalleled creativity of our chefs, our coffee snobbery, even the sprawling lines for weekend breakfast - all things, one-by-one, that I began to miss dearly. It's good to be back. It's even better to be back and welcomed into the incredibly talented team at Gourmet Traveller, a magazine that I, like you, have read, cooked from and savoured for many years.
In my first issue as editor, we give you The Go List - a guide to a dozen of the northern hemisphere's most magnetic cities to escape to this winter - and, for those who want to fully appreciate the cooler season's pleasures, The Stay List offers 11 equally irresistible Australian experiences. Kylie Kwong gives Chinese classics a twist using Australian ingredients, while our in-house food team offer simpático sidekicks to make winter soups really sing and introduce you to your new secret kitchen weapon: brown butter. The July issue is on sale from today, June 26.
It's a privilege to sit in this chair and, like any new editor, think about what we might do differently. While I settle into my new job and eat my way through a new neighbourhood I would love to know what you'd like to see more of in the magazine.
Please get in touch.