Tom Sietsema

As vice-chairman of the Beard Restaurant Awards Committee, a group of a dozen or so critics and food writers representing all regions of the U.S., I can't let the previous statement go unchallenged. We DO travel (and some of us, like Johnny Apple of the Times, travel a LOT). One of the reasons NYC is so heavily represented is because just about everyone who has a vote in the process gets there -- it is a major food center, obviously. What goes on in committee meetings has to stay in those meetings, but to say members don't get out much when in fact we are made up of local and national critics is just plain in error.

Mind if I chime in? While it is true that I do get a lot of repeat questions (and rants and raves), I work hard to avoid them and mix up the topics from week to week. In my most recent chat, for instance, the subjects included telephone manners, kids in restaurants, where to eat in London, good neighbor spots, mention of the winners of a restaurant's Valentine's Day contest and so on. "Lame?", Mark? I'm not sure what you expect of the chat. Some discussions -- like some nights in restaurants -- are bound to be better, livelier than others. I aim to address 40 or so questions per chat out of the hundreds I typically get. Alas, I have no control over the speed with which the questions are posted. But I typically DO prepare for the chat, coming in two or three hours beforehand to check out rumors, verify addresses and such. The LAST thing I want to do is post erroneous information. And just to clarify: I am not obligated by the Post to host a chat. I do it because I think it's a good way to connect with readers and exchange information. Indeed, when I was hired, the job of the food critic was to 1) write a weekly review and 2) write an annual dining guide. Everything else on my plate is something I proposed and thought might make for better restaurant coverage in the paper. That includes The Weekly Dish column, the Ask Tom reader-service column, my monthly Postcards for outside Washington and my radio spots on WTOP. That said, I take the weekly chat as seriously as anything I write for the paper. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to comment -- something I'm reluctant to do, because I have my own forum.

Hi everybody. Just to preface, I don't add my two cents here because 1) I already have a forum (an hour-long online discussion every Wednesday on the Post's site) and 2) I think the people who participate here do just fine without me. I'm not certain my contributions would be proper or welcome here on a regular basis. That said, during my live chat I try to screen out the ticked-off competitors, the flaks wanting to plug their clients, the people who claim to have gotten food poisoning at X, Y or Z restaurant. Yesterday's missive re: Citronelle and Palena was unlike previous gripes (I could tell from the tone and the way the complaint was written) and I personally encountered rather sullen and abrupt wine service at Citronelle just a few weeks ago (yes, I was dining anonymously; yes, the wine was terrific). That, combined with several reader complaints re: Palena's service, made me feel comfortable airing the complaint. Thanks for hearing me out.

Mind if I respond to this? People already have ways to critique the critics or their work: they can write letters to the editor or (in my case) follow published restaurant reviews that appear online with mini-reviews of their own. The latter option doesn't thrill me, because posters get to remain anonymous (and who KNOWS who they might be?) Equal time for chefs and others sounds like a good idea in theory, but it could also turn out to be this back and forth ping pong game of write/rebutt, write/rebutt. Where would it all end? Newspapers have limited space, after all. (The same is obviously not true of this medium, where discussions can go on for, well, miles.) Just my two cents.

I concur.

Value continues to play a role in what and how we eat, and I don't see that changing. All the peasant cuisines from Central and South American that are getting so much attention now will continue to be popular: their primary ingredients are inexpensive and often good for us (think black beans and rice, etc.) American diners get bored easily, and no matter what happens to the U.S. economy, we will be looking for the next new thing before long. I'm putting my money on chefs like Jose Andres in Washington and (can't remember his name) at La Brouche in Miami to pave the way, trend-wise. Right now, though, there's not a lot of risks being taken for obvious reasons. Restaurateurs can't afford to lose customers.

People frequently confuse our bylines, or think we are the same person. (Robert is a good writer and knows his stuff, so I certainly don't have a problem with that!)

I don't think so. Sanford, which has a James Beard award to its credit (for best regional restaurant in the Midwest), has received a lot of ink, for example. It's amusing about Milwaukee. The steroetypes are true: people really do drink beer, eat brats (pronounced BRAHTS, by the way) and go bowling. I loved my time there.

It certainly gives new meaning to "fresh", doesn't it? The closest I've come to that scenario was when the live fish in a Chinese restaurant was flash-boiled for what must have been mere seconds: the entree was stunned but still breathing when it was served to the table.

"Hate" might be too strong a word; I should have said I am not a big fan of licorice. Most critics have to have an open palate to do what they do. I couldn't be a vegetarian and do this job, for example, nor could I be a picky eater (that's different from being discerning). I am not an advocate of big portions, but I still write about them. I don't care much for chocolate, though I always order the chocolate dessert on the menu of a given restaurant because I know I'm in the minority when it comes to that flavor. As I stated earlier, restaurant reviewing requires the writer to transend personal preferences. It's not always easy, but try I do.

Thank YOU for inviting me to this forum. It was great fun and I appreciated the thoughtful queries.

It could be. Umami occurs with 1) an ingredient that is at its peak and 2) in a harmonious presentation. Or so the elusive quality was explained to me. If that fish was at its meatiest best, it could have been a case of umami, but not necessarily.

Thanks for asking! All too often, the way my name is (mis)pronounced makes it sound Spanish or Japanese. LOL The correct pronunciuation is SEET-suh-ma. I'm German and Dutch. I am only distantly related to Robert Sietsema, who I first met over a lunch in New York four or five years ago. His people stopped in Michigan, I believe; mine moved on to Minnesota. Odd, though, for two people with such unusual last names to share the same unusual occupation, no?

(Hiya, Kathy!) I spend waaaaay too much time at restaurant tables. Probably about 30 hours a week, I figure (two meals a day for an average of two hours). That doesn't leave a lot of time for "real life" -- going to the movies or whatever. No matter how busy I get, though, I hit the gym three days a week for a no-nonsense hour with a trainer. (It's not a yuppie thing, it's a NECESSITY in this gig, at least if I do it for long.) And once a month or so, I try to cook dinner for friends. Balance and hobbies and pushing away from the table now and then make for a better writer, I think. Honestly, though, I never get bored. For inspiration, I might dip into my library and peruse MFK Fisher or another literary great. But I'm really fortunate to get paid to do what I love to do. Do I ever want to stay home and eat a salad in my sweats? Sure. But I have very few complaints in this occupation -- and there always seems to be an interesting meal around the corner.

Sad but probably true, Washington benefits from trouble abroad. Over the decades, the city has become more delicious following the arrival of refugees from Vietnam, Ethiopia, Afghanisitan, El Salvador and on. I am not aware of any Iraqi restaurants, but Mimi's American Bistro on P St. NW in Dupont Circle, whose owner is a native of Iraq, frequently hosts "peace dinners" where he combines the cooking of his homeland with that of Israel, for instance. I think it's a lovely idea (and the dishes have been terrific.)

I used my stint as food editor at the Milwaukee Journal to explore and write about all those wonderful local food traditions: frozen custard, cheese curds, brats, fish fries in Milwaukee and fish boils in Door County ... it was great (and fattening) fun, those two short years. But I was writing for a local audience, not a national one. Does that annswer your question?

The details are still being worked out. From what Andres told me, the food at his tiny new Latin Bar at Cafe Atlantico will be served much like his popular Latino dim sum, which is a series of 15 or so little tastes for a set price. Sorry I can be more detailed, but that's all I know at this point.

I have never been to Japan, and I regret that. Japanese is a very refined and complex style of cooking and I’d love to explore the topic more on its home turf. Ever heard the word umami? It’s the Japanese way of describing an ingredient at its very peak. No other cuisine that I’m aware of has such an expression. And there are many, many other examples of how this cuisine is so very different from other styles. Japanese food is shrouded in nuance and mystery.

1) I pay attention to both, but I keep in mind that I'm writing for an American audience and have to put it in that context. In Rome last week, I went to a restaurant near the old Roman slaughter house that specializes in offal. Not just brains and tripe, but the intestines of baby calves with curdled ewe's milk in them, and lungs and other innards that a lot of Americans aren't known to lust after. Were they authentic? Yes. Did they taste good? I liked them, but also realize that I'm probably in the minority over here. 2) I'm pretty open-minded. There are some African dishes I'm not particulary fond of (the food from Burkina Faso tends to be heavy and dull, for instance) and I find some Filipino cooking too greasy for my taste, but my job is all about transcending personal taste. I evaluate things all the time that I might not choose to eat on my own dime. Several years ago, for example, licorice was all the rage in desserts. I hate licorice. But I tried to be fair about writing about the flavor.

The West Coast definitely has the necessary building blocks for creating an interesting dining scene: good produce, good wines --- good BASICS, including stellar bread, coffee and on and on.

Not sure I understand the question? I think it's tough for a restaurant to abruptly shift course or its MO in the presence of a recognized critic. And I really hate the two-tiered system of service one encounters at certain Big Deal restaurants, where regulars are fawned over and newbies are ignored.

I obviously have a bias: I'm not a huge fan of multiple voices, but I can certainly see why readers might want to hear from more than just one critic. At the Post, there's me in the Magazine, Eve Zibart in Weekend and freelancers writing for the zoned editions. That's a lot of restaurant news, no? Maybe the poster is thinking more along the lines of a "he said/she said" format, where two people tackle the same restaurant? It's an intriguing idea, but would obviously cost a lot more to produce. And in these tight economic times, I don't see that happening.

In response to Steve's questions: 1) I usually do a ton of homework before I go to another city. I do not rely on one person's advice, but rather, refer to many sources: cookbook authors, cooking school teachers (some of the best tipsters, by the way!), local food critics, trusted pals who have recently been to the place I'm going, and yes, even this site we're on now. If I'm in Paris or Berlin or Minneapolis for three days, I can't be wasting time on bad meals. By the time I land, I will have made about six to eight reservations. My column requires that I return with three solid suggestions, so there's a bit of leeway. I pick cities based on a number of things: places that are seasonal (San Juan in winter), places that intrigue me (I just returned from Rome, where I had never been), places that readers have asked about (Vancouver) -- it depends. The neat thing is, Washingtonians travel a LOT and are interested in a variety of destinations, wherever they might be. 2) I guess that depends on how much homework the writer has done and what his or her agenda is. I know both the SF and Chicago pieces got a lot of attention, for different reasons, from people in those cities. 3) I don't know what the policy of the NY Times is regarding updates and such, so I'll refrain from answering this question. I should add that restaurant reviews are hugely expensive, but budgets aren't an issue for the Times as they are for many other publications, so I wouldn't use that factor as an explanation for why its reviews aren't more current.

I could use more information. Are you talking $10 total, per entree, with wine or ...? A number of good restaurants offer fixed-price lunch and dinner menus, where diners get several courses for say, $15 or so. Bistro Francais in Georgetown comes to mind.

Honestly, I don't have a favorite cuisine. If I'm partial to anything, it is straightforward, honest cooking. I get as excited by a great hamburger or a model roast chicken as I do by the lastest fashions from Citronelle or Maestro, in part because 1) simple is hard to do and 2) I'm surrounded by a lot of what's fancy on a regular basis. (There's a reason you see chefs congregating at noodle parlors and bistros after their work hours. LOL) Latin American accents continue to sneak into restaurants of all stripes, as do Asian flavors. Amd small plates continue to be big business. Our fascination with tapas knows no bounds: Just last night, for instance, I had dinner at a new Russian place that offered "small plates" on its menu. Russian tapas!