A special treat for readers of The Australian on the first Friday of each month has been Wish magazine.
The glossy, large-format, luxury lifestyle magazine was launched in 2005 and just two years later David Meagher arrived to steer the brand. Under his guidance, the pages of Wish are classy and stylish and full of luxury brand ads.
The new May 2023 edition, however, will be Meagher’s last as he moves on after 15 years.
In typical David Meagher style, he makes sure his final outing is all about the brand, not the editor.
His final Editor’s Letter, in what is the annual food edition, is all about what’s in the pages:
We started the tradition of publishing a food edition of WISH in 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic restricted travel and just generally threw the world as we knew it then into a spin. One thing many people turned to – as therapy, through boredom, or to just expand their skill base – was cooking.
For this edition, our deputy editor Milanda Rout looked at the Covid-induced retail boom in bakeries and patisseries that has sprung up around the country. Even if you don’t have a sweet tooth, it’s hard not to be seduced by the technical skill involved in creating some of the spectacular and mouth-watering desserts featured in her story.
In this issue, we have a feature profile on the British chef Simon Rogan, whose three Michelin star restaurant L’Enclume, in England’s Lake District, will take over the Bathers’ Pavilion in Mosman for five weeks from July 19. Fiona McCarthy travelled to the quaint village of Cartmel in Cumbria to meet Rogan for this issue.
It’s not until the final par that Meagher reveals the buried lead:
On a personal note, this is my final edition of WISH as editor. I started on the magazine in 2007 and it’s been a fun ride. I’ve had some wonderful experiences and met some amazing people along the way. Now it’s time for a new chapter.
With a small team on Wish, Meagher often contributes features in addition to his editing duties. This month he writes about Jaguar Land Rover and the road map it has to be an all-electric car company by 2025.
Meagher’s final assignment was to pilot Jaguar’s last combustion engine release, the V8 2024 F-Type Jaguar, around the south of France. Not a bad way for Meagher to drive off into the Wish sunset!
Our journey in the F-Type 75 started at the striking modernist Maybourne Riviera Hotel, nestled on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Mediterranean with views to Monte Carlo on the right and the Italian Riviera to the left. Our first stop was the town of Menton and the Michelin-starred Mirazur restaurant, which was crowned number one in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards in 2019. Nestled on the mountainside facing the sea, Mirazur is housed in a restored and converted 1950s building and helmed by its founder, chef Mauro Colagreco. Depending on the day, Mirazur offers diners a sensory experience based on the elements: roots (for Earth), leaves (for water), flowers (for air) and fruits (for fire). The ingredients are harvested directly from the garden and the dishes are meticulously assembled, playing with shapes as well as colours and textures.
My newsagent often sells out early of The Australian on days it carries Wish magazine. Make sure you secure your copy. You can always read it on the PDF edition or the website, but this is one brand that excels in print.
From the Mediaweek vault: Wish celebrates 10 years of luxury