Tom Sietsema Wants You to Sit at His Table
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?