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Saturday Thanks Don't End At Thanksgiving Photo: November 28, 2009
Move over, Don Rockwell. There's a new epicurean discussion board in town. If you can't get enough of Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sietsema between his dining column, travel column, or weekly "Ask Tom" online chats, then you might want to take a seat at Sietsema's Table.
Sietsema's Table is the newest addition to the Post's series of online discussion groups. Anyone with a washingtonpost.com account can sign in and join the group. Each week, Sietsema poses a question to members in order to encourage readers to "tawk amongst yourselves." Last week, he asked readers for their tips on eating well on the road. Many professed to reading the Postcard's From Tom column, as well as consulting websites, travel guides, and asking the locals. However, one commenter declared that food was the least important aspect of travel because it distracts from sightseeing. Another warned against looking to food blogs for restaurant recommendations because they imagined that bloggers are too interested in scoring freebies to offer objective opinions.
Photo by Kyle Walton
This week, Sietsema wants to know your suggestions for stretching your dining dollars in these recession-like times. For his part, Sietsema has stopped ordering cases of wine each month. Many readers are cutting back on luxuries such as Starbucks and dining out less or at less expensive places, including McDonald's and Taco Bell.
Sietsema formed this discussion group because one of the greatest pleasures of his job is "the chance to interact with readers who are as passionate about food as I am." It has only been operating for a week, and the quality of the responses are a bit inconsistent. While some offer useful advice, others don't seem to understand why anyone would like to eat good food. We hope that the group will pick up some momentum and start generating more diverse, lively, and informative conversation (and fodder for us). Sietsema could do much to encourage this by responding to some of the reader suggestions, rather than just asking the question and walking away.
Have you joined Sietsema's Table? Do you think this discussion group will take off, or would you rather pick your foodie fights on sites like Don Rockwell or Chowhound?
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I love Tom Sietsema! I know that if he raves about a restaurant I'll find it pretentious and overpriced, with all sorts of punny menu entries and "iguana belly - three ways". I can then avoid said restaurant and eat at my old standbys with a clear conscience.
I don't think that his reviews are completely useless; while he's definitely had some misses for me, he's not always completely off-base.
The problem is that 1) in any instance where his advice is worthwhile, equally good information can invariably be found from other sources, and 2) most of his reviews are written for the audience of people who don't care enough/aren't adept enough to seek out better sources and hedge against Sietsema's reviews. Thus, his watered-down reviews are only worth slightly more weight than your average review on Yelp.
When is this "foodie" trend going to be OVER? I'm bored to death with the obsession with food, cooking, dining out, etc.
Sietsema Sucks. Why can't the Post hire a real food critic? His predecessor -- whose name I don't recall -- was MUCH better.
Um, lilimoon? You can choose not to be "obsessed" with food. You don't care, fine. Those of us that do care enjoy having all the resources, and a community of likeminded people.
Plus, even if you don't care, you still benefit indirectly from other people focusing on food and food issues, because the overall quality of restaurants, grocery stores and other food vendors will improve if it's apparent that it's a priority in the community.
Everyone buys food somewhere.
Um, divinemsk? I simply chose to second the "commenter" mentioned in the article that not all of us plan our vacations by reading numerous blogs about restaurants, or spend time worrying about how many we can get reservations for during the horrible "Restaurant Week" or waste entire evenings talking about the correct way to truss a chicken. YAWN. If you didn't like my comment, you could have chosen to ignore it.
So if you don't care, why are you even remotely concerned with Tom Sietsema and his discussion group? Why would anyone who feels that way read a food-focused discussion group and bother to comment? For that matter, why did you read this article? Go read something you're interested in. Unless you just enjoy wasting your time, belittling others, and being generally unpleasant.
I'm sorry, but Phyllis Richman stayed on wayyyyy past her Best If Used By date. At least Tom tries to be critical but fair and his writing style is actually well thought out. Phyllis's writing was either sycophantic or just plain weak, and it shows in her marginally retarded "culinary mysteries." The Butter Did It? Murder on the Gravy Train? Who's Afraid of Virginia Ham?
Just f***ing eat me.