Restaurant notes: Philly Mag buys Foobooz

Philadelphia Magazine is about to announce that it is acquiring the Philadelphia food blog Foobooz, taking on editor/founder Arthur Etchells as a full-time digital product manager.

He starts Wednesday.

Etchells, who founded it more than four years ago, will run it with Philly Mag food editor Kirsten Henri. The mag's current blog, known as The Restaurant Club, will become an event series and dining club.

Philly Mag parent Metrocorp says it will launch Foobooz in Boston by 2011 and will take the blog nationwide thereafter.

The move follows a current model by which old media buy existing blog brands, much as Comcast SportsNet bought The 700 Level.