The Hungover Gourmet #7 / :25 / $2 / 36M / Dan Taylor, PO Box 5531, Lutherville, MD 21094-5531 /
Well written zine that primarily covers anything to do with food. A large section of this issue is filled with music-like reviews of a bevy of restaurants and taverns, which tend to go on much too long, but I would think that has a great deal to do with my lack of interest in states that I have never been / will never go to. The layout of this issue is more than exquisite – it is practically perfect, if not a little conservative in the choices of fonts that Dan makes. Even if the narrative is clunky at times, “Ollie’s Last Call†is a winner of a piece, describing the sojourn that the writer made to go to the bar that Oliver Reed (Gladiator) went to and promptly died at. However, the second piece, even being better written than the cover article, is weakened because of the sheer ennui I (and countless other readers) felt about a no-name actor. However cheesy it may be, “Romancing the Red Ropesâ€, a childishly written piece about the Twizzlers enemy, is welcome after 6 pages about Oliver Reed. The long list of contributors in each issue of the Hungover Gorumet is probably why it is hard to be completely for or against the zine – some writers are just phoning in their pieces just like some are intensely into their pieces. What is funny on retrospect is the “NBA 2003†piece, after the season has ended. Orlando getting to the finals? Wow. Still, a few little read that is a little too professional for itself at times.
Rating: 5.9/10