Christopher Kimball Makes Moves to Bring CPK Media to Boston

Christopher Kimball / Photo provided

The founder of America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Illustrated, and related media has apparently made good on his promise to start a new media project. The Boston Herald‘s Donna Goodison just tweeted that Kimball signed a lease in downtown Boston to house CPK Media, a “new multi-channel cooking venture.”

According to Goodison’s tweet, Kimball declined to comment to the Herald. Boston magazine’s immediate attempts to reach him have been unsuccessful so far.

Before leaving the company in the fall because of a contract dispute, Kimball developed the Brookline-based America’s Test Kitchen into a multi-platform food media empire, which has existed for more than two decades without any ad revenue. He is the longtime host of the America’s Test Kitchen public television show, he edited the Cook’s Illustrated magazine, and was generally the face of the company. He will continue to host ATK for the upcoming season, as it has already been filmed, but longtime ATK staffers Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison will take over hosting duties beginning in January 2017.

After the announcement of his imminent departure, Kimball clarified to public media newspaper Current that his split from ATK was amicable, and said he is working on a new project “very focused on public media.”

State filings indicate Kimball locked in the CPK Media LLC in December. Perhaps he’s registered a web domain, too, but cpkmedia.com is a blank site right now. A job listing indicates it’s a “multi-channel cooking venture” (and it’s seeking a graphic designer), though it also includes the California Pizza Kitchen logo, which shares Kimball’s initials. So, the details are still foggy.

According to Goodison and some City of Boston records, Kimball has taken over the historic Flour and Grain building at 177 Milk St., a Romanesque Revival building erected in 1892 to house the Boston Chamber of Commerce.