DATE: Sunday, April 27, 1997                TAG: 9704240118

SECTION: FLAVOR                  PAGE: F1   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: Morsels 

SOURCE: Ruth Fantasia 

                                            LENGTH:   42 lines

HARD TO AVOID MR. FOOD, NOW THAT HE HAS OWN MAG

I'M HAVING a hard time figuring out if the latest entry from Hearst Magazines is a cooking monthly or an ego trip for Art Ginsburg, a k a Mr. Food. The inaugural issue of Mr. Food's Easy Cooking includes 41 photos of Ginsburg within the mag's 100 pages.

Ginsburg welcomes you with an editor's page, Ginsburg's on the contents page, there are ads for Ginsburg's cookbooks and every book cover has a picture of Ginsburg.

Of course, the magazine does have its good points. Included are eight recipe cards for easy dishes such as chicken in lime sauce and one-cook paella. But each recipe card includes Ginsburg's photo, too. And a question-and-answer column, also with Mr. Food's face.

Enough! I couldn't look at Brad Pitt this often without getting bored.

To be fair, on most of the pages you get to look at food while you read articles on seasonal specialties, quick dinners, nutrition and gadgets.

Then you get to Ginsburg's (with photo) time-saving tips for the recipes in ``Joan Lunden's Healthy Cooking,'' which has just been released in paperback (Little, Brown & Co., 1996).

For a hefty selection of quick and easy recipes, Mr. Food's Easy Cooking is a pretty good magazine. But there's too much wasted paper to sift through before you get to the good stuff.

Yet another example: An ad for Mr. Food's Coffee complete with a Scratch 'n' Sniff photo of coffee beans. The box beside the photo reads ``Scratch 'n' Sniff to experience the rich, flavorful aroma of Mr. Food's fresh brewed coffee. If the Scratch 'n' Sniff doesn't work then send in a Proof of Purchase and UPC symbol from any Mr. Food's Coffee package to the above address for your free sample of Mr. Food's Coffee.''

Now let me get this straight: Since my Scratch 'n' Sniff doesn't work, I'm supposed to go out and buy a bag of Mr. Food's Coffee, and an envelope and a stamp to get a free sample?

I don't think so, Art. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

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