LCI Blog: Meet the Media – Kaye Cloutman: editor-in-chief, Gastronomique En Voque

This week, we had the pleasure to speak with Kaye Cloutman: editor-in-chief of Gastronomique En Vogue:
 

What’s your top story for today?
Food Meets Fashion – Chef Daniel Sudar and Fashion Director of Santana Row Beverly Zeiss tell us about their top dining picks.
Tell us about your dream assignment.
My ultimate assignment is to go to Provence France and attend a food and travel course with Patricia Wells. I’ve often looked at the photos of that region with the dream of just being able to step into it.
 Describe the wackiest story you’ve written.
Most stories I’ve written are a bit subdued in tone. I struggle with that kind of writing for fear of how the readers will take my humor. But if I were to be given a chance to write something humorous, I would say a day going around to fast food joints with Alice Waters would make for a great satirical read. As far as writings of mine which really deviated from my typical style, I’ve written some sex and relationships columns for a magazine in the Philippines which were pretty daring and perhaps a bit avant-garde for me.
 What is your PR pet peeve?
All too often I get email from someone who has simply not done research or read about our overall theme. When you are a food and fashion magazine, there is no way we’re inserting topics on the latest gangbanging hip-hop artist in our publication. With the amount of email pitches I get on a daily basis it would really save me time managing my online life if I could be spared from those kinds of emails.
Top trend in the industry you’re currently covering or are interested in?
The relationship between Haute Couture and Cuisine is trending now in both these industries, and I’d love to be able to take credit for some of this long-overdue and positive symbiosis. From the beginning it’s been my intent to put GEV Magazine at the forefront of the convergence of food and fashion industries. There are lots of great publications about food, and lots more about style, but ours is one which merges these two subjects in a new and hopefully popular way.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I was born in Manila and led a somewhat sheltered and unusual life as a kid. I’m the eldest of three sisters and we’re really a close-knit bunch. I guess you could say I was a bit of a late-bloomer, though many of my closest friends in Manila were kids who turned out to be big celebrities. I always enjoyed staying out of their limelight and the controversy which often surrounded them but I did gain a lot of insight into the entertainment and media business by living vicariously through them.
I went to college and graduated with a degree in Journalism, and also attended a two year course in the culinary arts and hospitality management.  I always had a very active sense of smell and taste even as a child. This led me to becoming involved in aromatherapy and fragrances and my earliest entrepreneurial efforts involved these things. I also became a foodie at an early age, probably because of this heightened sense of smell and taste. My journalism degree led me to writing and media jobs, and I’ve also found the graphic arts to be a very satisfying artistic outlet. Throughout my life I’ve had several experiences which not only validated and strengthened my faith but gave me a deeply spiritual and grateful attitude towards life and love. I’ve been blessed with a strong family, 2 beautiful kids and the best friends anyone could ask for.
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