17 August 2009
by Rosemary Ryan
Food fight as News puts bite on Fairfax A newspaper food fight is set to erupt on
Tuesdays as News Limited (publisher of The Australian) prepares to launch a weekly Taste supplement in its metropolitan mastheads in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. In Sydney and Melbourne, the section will go head-to-head with Fairfax Media’s two long-running Tuesday food supplements, Good Living in The Sydney Morning Herald and Epicure in The Age. The new section will start in coming months, according to News national features editor Alan Oakley. We think the timing is right for this initiative. The huge success of (reality TV series) MasterChef has shown that if you get it right, the audience will be engaged,” he said. If you’ll excuse the puns, food is hot and we’re confident of getting a bigger slice of the audience.” Fairfax is also revamping its coverage, with the foodie world simmering with rumours the Herald will officially announce the arrival of renowned restaurant critic Terry Durack in the next month. Durack and his wife, food writer Jill Dupleix, recently returned to Sydney after some years in London, with Durack tipped to take over as Good Living’s chief restaurant reviewer. The Australian, August 17. Plan to upgrade migrant skills list Setting the trend in pubs When Julian Gerner went on his first trip to London, he took careful stock of the city’s club pubs” with their cool blend of traditional and trendy. Melbourne could do with a new style of pub, the young commerce graduate decided. His food-based efforts, including the award-winning Public House in Richmond, proved stunningly successful. Now with his latest acquisitions coming on line just as London’s recession-plagued pubs are folding at a rate of knots, the dynamic publican who employs top chefs is riding high. Over the past 12 months we’ve spent about $10m on our current projects,” he said. Last month Mr Gerner, 36, took over Middle Park’s Gunn Island Hotel — the fourth pub he and his business partners have acquired over the past three years on leases ranging from 21 to 30 years and, like the others, a historic building in a prime upmarket location. Herald Sun (Melbourne), August 17.