A Magazine to Make Your Mouth Water

While Brian Shen ’11 thinks The Crimson is great reading material, it’s not the best eating material. Frustrated with the lack of delicious publications on campus, he decided to start Savory, a magazine entirely about food.

Savory will be a collection of gourmet memoirs, essays and articles about real experiences with particular foods. The magazine will also include recipes, recommendations, and art.

Shen started Savory as a creative outlet for a life-long passion. “I’ve been thinking about food since I was little,” he says. After coming to Harvard, however, Shen was unsatisfied with the current publication options with which to pursue his culinary interests.

Although Shen has already assembled a team ready to work on Savory’s launch, his fellow workers were drawn to the magazine for other reasons. Diana C. Marin ’11, the layout and arts editor, was compelled by Shen’s dedication to the magazine. “I thought it was a little weird at first,” she says. “But Brian has a good idea, and I want to be a part of that too.”

According to Marin, part of Savory’s appeal is the niche it fills among other Harvard publications. “I’m not sure there is a magazine like this at Harvard,” she says.

Unfortunately for Savory, however, Marin may be wrong. Currently, the Harvard Culinary Society publishes Taste, a monthly newsletter devoted solely to food at Harvard. According to Erin E Miles ’09, the editor of Taste and an inactive Crimson photographer, the Culinary Society reached out to Shen, but didn’t get a response.

But Aaron J. Mowery ’08, board member of the Harvard Culinary Society, doesn’t see Savory as a threat. “Ultimately, more conversation about food is a good thing,” he says. “But it probably would have been a good thing for them to get more involved with Taste rather than start a new conversation that says the same thing.”

The first issue of Savory is scheduled for release in September. However, Savory is not yet an official Harvard student organization, and, according to Mowery, the fairly rigorous process to become recognized may be problematic.

“I’m concerned that since their goals sort of duplicate Taste, they might encounter difficulty,” he says. “If they do, we would be happy to work with them.”

Collaboration. Teamwork. Food.