The Editors: Cherry Bombe Magazine’s Founders on Food, Fashion & The Best of NYC
It should come as no surprise that we’re huge fans of Cherry Bombe magazine – a biannual print publication about food and the women behind it, carefully designed with an eye for aesthetics. Everything from its design to the fierce women it features to the very fact that it’s a physical thing keeps us turning its pages. Cherry Bombe is bold and beautiful, and since you can’t get its content online it actually forces you, for once, to sit down and read. And for that, among other things, we love it.
To learn more about what it’s like running a print-only magazine about food, women, and the beauty of both, we caught up with co founders Claudia Wu and Kerry Diamond and didn’t leave till we found out where they’ve been eating in NYC.
DANA DELASKI: Let’s start with the basics. Where did the idea for Cherry Bombe come from and how did it develop into a fully realized, printed magazine?
KERRY DIAMOND: M”Žy boyfriend and I opened a restaurant in Brooklyn and it all started from there. It quickly became apparent that there were all these amazing women in the food world, but they weren’t getting their due, especially from the media.
CLAUDIA WU: Cherry Bombe started life as a project for one of Kerry’s restaurants. In lieu of doing a cookbook, she had the idea of doing some sort of annual magazine. We met working at Harper’s Bazaar, and I had founded my own indie magazine and published it myself, so Kerry approached me to help bring her restaurant’s magazine to life. It eventually turned into Cherry Bombe. People started pitching us, and 9 months later, we had a magazine.Â
DD: Tell me about the decision to publish in print versus online, especially in a world so digitally dominated. What do you love about print? And do you feel you’ve had to sacrifice anything by not having a website?
KD: I could be wrong, but I don’t think Claudia and I discussed an online component at all in the beginning. It was always meant to be a print project. I love printed matter. Books, magazines, art, photography, album covers, posters. These things resonate with me on an emotional level.
CW: We both love print and it was never really a question to make a digital magazine instead. There’s permanence to print, good or bad. We’re biannual, so it limits the amount of stories we publish. Eventually, we would like to have a digital presence to augment the content of the magazine. I think Radio Cherry Bombe, our podcast with Heritage Radio Network, helps fill the gaps between print magazines.
DD: Cherry Bombe as much about fashion as it is about food, right? How do the two intersect and what drew you to their intersection?
KD: I always find this hard to answer. I consider fashion a serious subject and I consider food a serious subject. People express their creativity and personality through food today, so it’s not a surprise that fashion and food have collided.
CW: Cherry Bombe focuses on women and food. Kerry and I have a fashion sensibility since our backgrounds are in that world. I think our aesthetics are reflected in how the magazine looks, and we also have contributors and subjects that are not strictly in the food world, for example, Jennifer Livingston, who shoots all our cover stories, is a fashion photographer. But fashion, food, culture, politics, etc.””they’re all intertwined. They are what make up the fabric of our chosen life styles, what feeds our self-expression and sense of self.
DD: What’s been one of the biggest challenges in creating your own magazine? And what’s a moment when you thought, “okay, this is all worth it?”
KD: When people tell us they love the magazine this makes it worth all the drama and deadlines and late nights. ”ŽWe conceived of this project in such a bubble. It’s beyond meaningful that people like what we do and share in the mission.
CW: I had published a magazine previous to Cherry Bombe and for some reason, many, many people who wanted to start a magazine were sent to me for advice. I would always ask them, “Why are you doing this?” more to point out that it might not be worth it if you’re in it for the wrong reasons. It’s like wanting to open a restaurant. You think it’ll be easy, you’ll throw open your doors and your friends will come to eat, and you’ll feed people and be the glamorous host. The reality is much different. It’s so hard. You do things that you never though you’d have to do. You’ll learn a lot and, yes, there are times when you’ll get invited to a nice party or a fashion show or two, but there are a million mundane things that you have to take care of at the same time. I’m just glad Cherry Bombe has been so well received and that we’ve been able to find a very captive audience. Being able to profile so many amazing women and shine some light on them is always worth it; no matter how many 40lbs boxes I’ve had to lift over the last three years.
DD: Describe your dream food day if you could teleport anywhere on Earth and health was of no concern.
KD: ”ŽTokyo. I’ve never been. It would be a dream to teleport there for a day. Or a week. Or a month.
CW: Foraging, fishing, and eating by the ocean.
DD: If you could eat a meal with anyone dead or alive, who would it be and what would you eat?”Ž
KD: Is a couple okay? I’d love to have a meal and a drink with the President and the First Lady. I’d cook for them any day.
CW: My mother, and I would eat whatever she put in front of me because she would be cooking.
KERRY DIAMOND’S NYC RESTAURANT PICKSÂ
Dimes
A great spot for breakfast and lunch. It’s a warm, buzzy place and the food is a nourishing update on California cuisine.
49 Canal Street, New York, NY 10002
(212) 925 1300
Image via dimesnyc.com
Cafe Henrie
We’ve been doing a lot of breakfast meetings here. We’re big fans of Camille Becerra and she’s currently doing a chef residency there. Try the dragon bowl with carrot-harissa yogurt.
No website
110 Forsyth Street, New York, NY 10002
Image courtesy of Cafe Henrie NYC
Nightingale Nine
A Vietnamese-inspired restaurant in Carroll Gardens that I co-own with my boyfriend, who is the chef. I love his modern take on cha ca, one of Vietnam’s most popular dishes. It’s grilled fish, rice noodles, dill, peanuts, and a turmeric-ginger sauce.
http://www.nightingalenine.com/
329 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231
(347) 689 4699
Image via @nightengale_nine
CLAUDIA WU’S NYC RESTAURANT PICKS
Smile-To-Go
I used to have an office in the same building. It was my go-to lunch spot. Healthy, Mediterranean inspired fare with great pastries. Not a lot of seating, but when the weather’s nice, you can pick a spot outside on Howard or Crosby Streets and soak in the sun.
22 Howard Street, New York, NY 10003
(646) 836 3893
Image via Smile To Go
El Rey Coffee Bar and Luncheonette
A very tiny place that serves healthy California inspired food with a twist.
100 Stanton Street, New York, NY 10002
(212) 260 3950
Image by Emily Johnston
You can find Cherry Bombe here.
 Dana is originally from Washington, DC, is now based in NYC, but is most excited when she’s traveling. She’s a street-food obsessed food and travel writer who spends her free time watching Anthony Bourdain reruns and exploring the nooks and crannies of her NYC neighborhood, Chinatown. Her heart is torn between Paris, the Greek Islands, Japan, and Penang, so her dream last supper would look something like a four course meal of sashimi, laksa, fresh grilled octopus, and a heaping plate of gooey French cheese. |
(Photo credits: Portrait of Kerry and Claudia supplied, Dimes via dimesnyc.com) Nightingale Nine via @nightengale_nine, Smile-To-Go via Smile To Go Facebook page)
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