Well, this is just about the online news equivalent of a six-car pileup.
Yesterday, we caught wind of a Washington Post Live event featuring Post food critic Tom Sietsema and D.C.’s favorite culinary ambassador, José Andrés. Eater was there to jot down the chef’s many musings, and it was the last item that turned us on. Here’s what it was originally:
On the innovations borne of tapas: “I still have very traditional people—I mean Republicans—who will say, ‘I want my plate. I don’t want to share.’ And I always tell everyone the rule of the 15 inches. If you want to enjoy tapas and the Spanish way of eating, you put the plate in the middle of the table. If you don’t care about the Spanish way of eating and you want only to enjoy a good Spanish dish, you move the plate 15 inches in and you put it in front of you. This is a simple innovation.”
The way this reads, it really seemed like Andrés was saying GOP members who dine at his Jaleo tapas restaurants do so with bad table manners. That’s what we inferred, as did our readers, some of whom took offense to the chef’s apparent suggestions.
“La Tasca anyone?” Alex Burgos, communications director for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), asked on Twitter, referring to another tapas restaurant that competes with Jaleo, Andrés’ group of small-plate emporia.
Well, turns out Eater’s Amy McKeever might have gotten a little jumpy when transcribing. Turns out Andrés wasn’t talking about Republicans specifically, he was just trying to make a little joke about the GOP and traditional values. The updated line:
“I still have very traditional people—not necessarily with that I mean Republicans—who will say, ‘I want my plate. I don’t want to share.'”
That really changes things around. Those four additional words seem to exonerate Andrés from charges of bashing his Republican diners, if not people who might prefer a large, hearty dish of their own.
So, apologies to Andrés for making him seem like a shameless Democratic hack, and to his Republican customers who may not want to share the wealth, but are more than happy to share the cured meats, well-dressed vegetables and cheese plates.
And a careful lesson in transcription for all of us.
