WaPo Ask Tom?

[Anonymous]

Wait. I lose all credibility based on ONE review? A place I went to three times, during which I ate much of the menu? How many meals have you eaten at CB? (And why, during a cross-country trip, did you eat at all the chain restaurants?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does he recommend the same two restaurants every week? Surely everyone has heard of Jaleo and Rashika by now.

Jaleo is great, but please don't tell me he's recommended it in the last 5 five years.

There's an explosion of Spanish cuisine in town, Estadio is probably my favorite...yours?

Any chance he can, he will recommend Jaleo or another Jose Andres restaurant. I wish he would just acknowledge his bias.

I would also recommend any Jose Andres restaurant after he has shown what a hero and organizer he is! Even if he served grilled cheese all day I would support that guy and tell everyone else to! A billion years ago when I was 22 and worked at 12th&Penn, Jaleo was the FANCY amazing restaurant. Sangria with tiny apple bits in it and this stuff called Tapas? I felt like I had Made It in DC after not even knowing what an avocado was in my hometown. It is still an amazing first love and exposure to something BEYOND for this girl.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think part of it is that Tom's writing style is a bit repetitive. I'm sure it's hard to come up with new ways to write about food, but he could afford to use some new words and phrases or to vary his tone.

Please start a new thread called "Describe Your Meal" or something. We can gather up a varied assortment of DCUM-worthy descriptions of food. Seriously, the way some of you describe the basic bitches at the school and how messy your playroom is or how ugly Ivanka's dress is, I'm sure we can come up with new, innovative ways to describe EVERY type of food. Tom can pluck from it like a hungry raven plucks at a corpse's eye.

[Anonymous]

TomSietsema wrote: Actually, I address a mix of reader questions and comments in my weekly chat -- including from readers who don't agree with me. I think it's only fair. If you follow me with any regularity, you'll see that although there are a lot of "Where should I go for my 30th birthday?" type questions, i intersperse those with travel, etiquette and other dining advice.

The incident regarding Commissary was a long time ago. You seem stuck on it for some reason. Why the curiosity? I briefly dated someone who had a stake in it, we ended the brief relationship amicably, but another party chose to turn the issue into something it was not. We all make mistakes. I apologized. Life goes on!

You ignored my comment about how Amsterdam falafel sucks. You have no idea what good falafel should taste like. Try Falafel Inc or Fava Pot in the burns for the Egyptian version.

[TomSietsema]

Hey, falafel fan, you do know I get hundreds of submission to my chat and I'm reading most of them in real time and adding links to stories and .... I can't address EVERY SINGLE COMMENT. (i was warned not to weigh in here, and I can see why.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

TomSietsema wrote: Actually, I address a mix of reader questions and comments in my weekly chat -- including from readers who don't agree with me. I think it's only fair. If you follow me with any regularity, you'll see that although there are a lot of "Where should I go for my 30th birthday?" type questions, i intersperse those with travel, etiquette and other dining advice.

The incident regarding Commissary was a long time ago. You seem stuck on it for some reason. Why the curiosity? I briefly dated someone who had a stake in it, we ended the brief relationship amicably, but another party chose to turn the issue into something it was not. We all make mistakes. I apologized. Life goes on!

You ignored my comment about how Amsterdam falafel sucks. You have no idea what good falafel should taste like. Try Falafel Inc or Fava Pot in the burns for the Egyptian version.

He’s not that good with Middle Eastern food. Seems like he is expanding his horizons though.

[Anonymous]

TomSietsema wrote:Ha! That was a mistake there. i meant to log in as myself, but come on, it was obvious, right?

I'm curious why so few people log in as themselves. Honestly, the site loses credibility when people don't identify themselves. Real names = credibility (and responsibility).

Take one look at the political forum and you'll understand why.

[Anonymous]

Not Tom here but check out Felafel Street in Vienna. The falafel was very good. Kind of like Cava or a Chipotle.

[Anonymous]

Jaleo, le diplomate, roses luxury, arroz, and rasika. All on repeat.

[Anonymous]

TomSietsema wrote:Hey, falafel fan, you do know I get hundreds of submission to my chat and I'm reading most of them in real time and adding links to stories and .... I can't address EVERY SINGLE COMMENT. (i was warned not to weigh in here, and I can see why.)

Whomever warned you was correct. Right now I’m having flashbacks to the West Wing episode where Josh Lyman was warned by Donna not to address his chat room fans because they were crazy. But he did it anyway and the fans turned on him.

[TomSietsema]

Anonymous wrote:Jaleo, le diplomate, roses luxury, arroz, and rasika. All on repeat.

Uh



You must not read me carefully or recently. I haven't mentioned RL in a long time. And the others probably fit a reader question best. I try to mix in new names as often as possible. Hundreds )yes hundreds_ of people send me feedback every week. They tend to be thrilled about Rasika, among other suggestions. Just saying. Plus, I keep tabs on places myself; if a place slips, I have no qualms about saying so. There are no sacred cows in my book.

[Anonymous]

TomSietsema wrote:I liked Le Diplomate very much at one point, but that's not to say my opinion can't change. I haven't been since my last review -- too many new restaurants to check out, and old restaurants to monitor -- and I'll be curious to see what I find. In the past, I've been impressed how a restaurant that seats almost 300 at full tilt cooks so much food at such a high level. (I've been at least a dozen times since it opened.)

I hope my question about more women chefs just got lost in the shuffle. Please review their restaurants and feature them...

[TomSietsema]

I love it when I can shine a light on the work of other than white males. See: my reviews of Centrolina, Smoked & Stacked, Himitsu, etc. Who behind a review-sorthy place (new or otherwise newsworthy) am I missing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

TomSietsema wrote:Ha! That was a mistake there. i meant to log in as myself, but come on, it was obvious, right?

I'm curious why so few people log in as themselves. Honestly, the site loses credibility when people don't identify themselves. Real names = credibility (and responsibility).

Take one look at the political forum and you'll understand why.

Maybe we should move this discussion to Explicit. Everyone has to log in other there.