[quote=Anonymous] Re: Tom Sietsema. You are all a bunch of idiots with pedestrian tastes.[/quote]

How racist of yours.

Lots of questions/comments here, and I'll address a few:

Jose Andres has done some good/excellent work in DC and his (consistent) restaurants address a number of diner wishes. Lest anyone think I've *not* criticized his empire, I gave minibar two stars a number of years ago when I felt the formula hadn't changed much. I keep tables on 100 or so restaurants. I wonder when the last time some of you have ben to say, Jaleo, and found it disappointing? I go at least five times a year.

My precedecessor was in the job almost 24 years. I'm not the only critic in the country to be in the job more than a decade (see: Alison Cook in Houston, Michael Bauer in SF, J. Gold in Los Angeles). One way I try to stay fresh for myself and for readers is to write other than straight reviews. See: my survey of chain restaurants, my year-long tour of the best food cities, my rant on tight tables, my feature on the unsung heroes of the kitchen: dishwashers.

I frequently acknowledge when i'm noticed in restaurants and have gone incognito to many of the most popular restaurants in town. I'm not surprising anything (as some posters seem to suggest).

Before we had a full-time cheap eats columnist, I regularly filed dispatches from all over the DMV and at all price points. But as part of the Post's move from local to national stage, I'm focusing more on restaurants of wider interest. That said, my guides and my regular dispatches regularly include different cuisies and price points. Just the week, i wrote about a fast-casual indian restaurant (Rasa).

Feel free to join my online chat (every Wed. at 11 a.m.). I welcome questions and feedback.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don't know what everyone is talking about when they say he recommends the same restaurants over and over. I read his chats and reviews every week and keep a running list of his recommendations that sound interesting to me, and its now like 30 restaurants long. I am not disappointed very often in a place he has recommended, but that's just me (and we consider ourselves to be adventurous eaters). My only criticism is that Tom seems to be genuinely in denial about how much different his experience could be as a recognized critic than that of the common folk. I also wish he would take a stand against the no reservation trend (though as long as people show they are willing to stand outside for hours to get a meal, I guess that's a losing battle.

Yep. He doesn't get how he's always recognized and gets special treatment, and then keeps raving about these same restaurants every week

He’s been the WaPo food critic since 2000. You’d think he’d want to do something else after 17 years in the same job and give someone with a fresh eye a chance.

Anonymous wrote:I honestly don't know what everyone is talking about when they say he recommends the same restaurants over and over. I read his chats and reviews every week and keep a running list of his recommendations that sound interesting to me, and its now like 30 restaurants long. I am not disappointed very often in a place he has recommended, but that's just me (and we consider ourselves to be adventurous eaters). My only criticism is that Tom seems to be genuinely in denial about how much different his experience could be as a recognized critic than that of the common folk. I also wish he would take a stand against the no reservation trend (though as long as people show they are willing to stand outside for hours to get a meal, I guess that's a losing battle.

Yep. He doesn't get how he's always recognized and gets special treatment, and then keeps raving about these same restaurants every week

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 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.

I honestly don't know what everyone is talking about when they say he recommends the same restaurants over and over. I read his chats and reviews every week and keep a running list of his recommendations that sound interesting to me, and its now like 30 restaurants long. I am not disappointed very often in a place he has recommended, but that's just me (and we consider ourselves to be adventurous eaters). My only criticism is that Tom seems to be genuinely in denial about how much different his experience could be as a recognized critic than that of the common folk. I also wish he would take a stand against the no reservation trend (though as long as people show they are willing to stand outside for hours to get a meal, I guess that's a losing battle.

Re: Tom Sietsema. You are all a bunch of idiots with pedestrian tastes.

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?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am Indian-American and love Rasika!

Tom, I love your reviews although would like less on ambience and more on food. But much respect to you for popping into the lion’s den of DCUM to address your anonymous critics. Have a great day!

+1
Tom is fearless about owning up to your opinion. No respect for the cowards that hide behind Yelp reviews, and no credence given for anonymous complaints bashing a restaurant. He demands authenticity. But this is the den of savage anonymity and gosh darn it we love it! Tom, pop on over to the food forum for column ideas! There's a funny thread where someone posting about "lavagna" is accused of being day-drunk and mispelling lasagna....

I'm Indian-American and I think Rasika is not very authentic, but it's fine for the people who don't really like authentic Indian food crowd. I think WaPo's 20$ Diner does a better job of covering "ethnic food" and places in the DC suburbs. Anyway to each their own. Props to Tom for answering his critics.

Anonymous wrote:I am Indian-American and love Rasika!

Tom, I love your reviews although would like less on ambience and more on food. But much respect to you for popping into the lion’s den of DCUM to address your anonymous critics. Have a great day!

+1
Tom is fearless about owning up to your opinion. No respect for the cowards that hide behind Yelp reviews, and no credence given for anonymous complaints bashing a restaurant. He demands authenticity. But this is the den of savage anonymity and gosh darn it we love it! Tom, pop on over to the food forum for column ideas! There's a funny thread where someone posting about "lavagna" is accused of being day-drunk and mispelling lasagna....

NP here. Tom, I think you’re fantastic and look forward to your chat each week!

Hi Tom, are you still there? Just a thought, these days being what they are, how about highlighting female chefs? It would be great to see some non-white male restaurateurs and chefs get more attention.

I asked this in a chat a few weeks back, but you (understandably) didn't answer. Figured I would try again here since the question may be more suited to the dcum crowd than the wapo chat.

Do you know of any restaurants (any cuisine) that have particularly good kids' menus that offer real food (similar to what is offered to adults) instead of standard kids' food? We often just go communal and our kids share what we order, but there are times where we or they would prefer their own dishes.

An example of what I had in mind is Bistro Aracosia in the palisades. Their kids' menu had many of the same dishes as the adult menu. It was a great way to let the kids try some different things and not break the bank. Would love to find other similar options, ideally in Moco or NWDC but also open to heading elsewhere.

TomSietsema wrote:om Sietsema here! Just weighing in to address a few comments from some posters here:

1) I'm not friends with Jose Andres. But I think he's a talented chef with great ideas that address a number of diner needs.

2) Yes, the Post pays for my meals, but I never leave a restaurant without asking myself if it was worth the expense or if I'd spend my own money there. (The Post also pays for White house reporters to fly on Air force One and sports scribes to cover the Olympics. Just saying.)

3) Between my First Bite previews and my Dining column in the Magazine -- not to mention my two annual dining guides -- I cover more ground than some of you think I do.

4) It's easy to criticize someone when you can post anonymously. Why hide?


Happy to take additional questions here, but I don't want to crash the party uninvited.

Kudos for showing up. I'll never share your love of pie for dessert, but I've always found your recs (and seeming recognition of your potential blind spots) solid.