Mark Bittman's Minimalist Column Reduced to Nothing

Best-selling cookbook author and New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman is ending his "Minimalist" column after 13 years with this week's entry and heading to the newspaper's opinion section and magazine.

Bittman told Cutline that he'll have a weekly opinion column that'll run online Wednesdays and sometimes in print. It will "tackle food policy, environmentally sustainable eating, and issues at the intersection of diet and health."

Last week Trish Hall — the Times' Assistant Managing Editor who oversaw Dining, Home, Thursday Styles, Travel, Real Estate and Sunday Style who also had a stint as executive editor of Martha Stewart Living — was announced as the new NYT Op-Ed editor, so Bittman's new gig makes more sense.

He'll also be launching a new opinion blog (back in April, Bittman's popular NYT "Bitten" blog was merged into the Times' Diner's Journal blog).

In addition, in March Bittman will premiere a two-page column called "On Food" for the New York Times Magazine that'll feature "newsmaker profiles, travel writing, and recipes."

Perhaps this explains why the premiere of his Cooking Channel show The Minimalist — which reuses his Times videos — was pushed back from January to March.

Tweeted Bittman: "3 things to set straight: 1. there will be many recipes, in The Magazine; 2. there will be videos; 3. thank you all for the love & support!"

· Mark Bittman ends NYT ‘Minimalist’ column after 13 years [Cutline]
· All Mark Bittman Coverage on Eater [-E-]

[Photo: markbittman.com]