Tom Sietsema's Online Chat

[SanFran88]

Harry's has great filets, is a much better deal and has awesome atmosphere.

Thankfully, Tom came to Ray's defense this time.  And, I don't think the prices have gone up recently at Ray's.  Tom is right that a comparable dinner at Harry's Tap Room would be double.

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...not to mention that the idea that the food - filets or otherwise -- is better is bogus at best and deliberately misleading at worst.

[jmc8y]

I call shenanigans too. and what are these "great filets" he speaks of?

[FunJohnny]

Seems like Tom's weekly chat is becoming a forum to take shots at places that enjoy the high regard of members of eGullet. Am I being paranoid? Or is this the work of an individual, or small group who take it upon themselves to go after a few of the places that get prominent play on this website.

[morela]

Likewise, that computer crashing bit sounds like a load too. Only a blatant phoney uses the computer crash excuse...

Computers don't crash in Arlington.

I pity the fool.

[jmc8y]

I work in a psych lab at ubc. we have software than analyzes writing style so i compared the style of the two posts. it came out inconclusive - you really need more than a paragraph or so - but it was in the right direction, p<.20

yes, i'm a nerd.

this software ws developed by the u of texas, if anyone is interested.

http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/de...ial/Writing.htm

[iamthestretch]

What the Hell is this about?

"Italian chef's wife Downtown: Tom how did you get started? Is it true that SOME restaurants pay SOME reviewers once in a while?"

Che cazzo stai dicendo? Non mi scazzare i coglioni!

[eunny jang]

Odd little snipe about Colorado Kitchen, too.

[morela]

Odd little snipe about Colorado Kitchen, too.

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NoVA, "the country" according to one of your earlier posters: Come on, Tom, you can fess up. Just how much of a kickback are you getting from Colorado Kitchen?

Tom Sietsema: None! And what would prompt a question like that? I don't mention it any more than other restaurants I admire -- and I've been critical of its service in the past.

(Yeah, it's some paranoid delusional freak who probably owns a restaurant in Northern Virginia. Freak of nature.)

Edited November 17, 2004 by morela (log)

[John W.]

POLSKA

[JPW]

I actually stopped by Polonez about 2 weeks ago. Even though it was after closing time they turned the lights back on and gave me a tour of the place. The kielbasa will rock your world. My personal fave was the Hungarian, which has a hint of paprika. They also have some great looking salamis and Polish cheese. The pastries look pretty good, too.

[Nadya]

Now, if only someone 'fessed up on where one may find real, true-blue pirogi in Washington for a nostalgic Russian soul who doesn't want to bother herself with whipping up dough and watching over it as if it were an unruly baby. And I want the real down-home, mommy-comfort good thing,

not a gentrified pussyfooting flaky-finger-food bite-size nonsense that The Russia House peddles under the real name. The bastards...

Edited December 1, 2004 by Nadya (log)

[iamthestretch]

"Seriously, Tom, there must have been over 100 flies" swarming all over the bar at Palena? Indoors? In December? In Palena? Perhaps they were attracted by the fact that the poster is so clearly full of shit...

[John W.]

"Seriously, Tom, there must have been over 100 flies" swarming all over the bar at Palena? Indoors? In December? In Palena? Perhaps they were attracted by the fact that the poster is so clearly full of shit...

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The only problem I had at the bar at Palena on Friday night was that I left before the decided-upon allotment of Guillon Gevrey Chambertin was depleted.

[DCMark]

I smell a bridezilla in the making...by her annoucing a 'possible' proposal on the Internet.

Tom's chat has really turned to sh*t. Nothing but complaints and chef/manager responses.

"New Year's Eve?: My wonderful boyfriend is taking me to the Kennedy Center for New Year's Eve (and a possible proposal?) and I'm looking for suggestions for dinner. I was thinking maybe Marcel's for the limo ride, but I was having problems getting a straight answer on the prices for that night. Any other suggestions, or more info on Marcel's?

Merci beaucoup!"

[JennyUptown]

"Seriously, Tom, there must have been over 100 flies" swarming all over the bar at Palena? Indoors? In December? In Palena? Perhaps they were attracted by the fact that the poster is so clearly full of shit...

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Actually...this HAS been a problem the last two times I sat at the bar. Fortunately the friend I took to Palena for her first visit last night loved the food, wine, cocktails and bartender so much that she was willing to overlook what I think are fruit flies. It was kind of gross (although everything else was great).

PS I was not the poster on Tom's chat!

Edited December 8, 2004 by JennyUptown (log)

[JPW]

My Palena fruit fly count a week ago Monday was exactly 1.

Unfortunately, I did not get to have insect carpaccio; coming out of that kitchen, I am sure that it would have been quite good.

[morela]

Are you sure it wasn't a firefly?

[JPW]

Are you sure it wasn't a firefly?

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It wasn't: the only thing glowing was me as I dug into that heavenly chicken.

[bookluvingbabe]

I had a very quick dinner at the bar last night and didn't notice any flying creatures (either fruit or fire...)

I did notice that they seemed to be using a stronger smelling cleaning solution at the bar than in previous visits.

But the burger was perfect AND Ann finally had a new dessert--the pumpkin and goat cheese cake was amazing.

Jennifer

"Seriously, Tom, there must have been over 100 flies" swarming all over the bar at Palena? Indoors? In December? In Palena? Perhaps they were attracted by the fact that the poster is so clearly full of shit...

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Actually...this HAS been a problem the last two times I sat at the bar. Fortunately the friend I took to Palena for her first visit last night loved the food, wine, cocktails and bartender so much that she was willing to overlook what I think are fruit flies. It was kind of gross (although everything else was great).

PS I was not the poster on Tom's chat!

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[Malawry]

I saw a single fruit fly at the Palena bar last night. (I also saw Jenny, who like me seems to be a Palena bar fly. And Bookluvingbabe, I saw you too, though I didn't know it was you. I was eyeing you eating that cheesecake but I didn't have room for it when dessert time came. I was at the far end of the bar towards the dining room. I am pleased to learn that Bookluvingbabe takes her books with her to Palena.) Fruit flies happen, and don't weird me out at all unless they're present in much larger quantities.

Damn. I love Palena so much, I feel guilty about mentioning the one lousy fly I saw there last night.

[oliveDC]

At least they're not serving the alleged flies...

I was once at a bar I'm too ashamed to name, and we were served shots (in plastic cups) with about 5-7 flies in each cup. I brought it to the attention of the bartender/owner who shrugged and said, 'yeah, they crawl down into the bottles.' And that was that. No apology, no replacement...nuthin'.

[wrash]

I get comments and questions all the time when I have a review published. Admittedly, I don't write restaurant reviews for the Post, but the questions are the same. "How much did (insert company name here) pay you to say that?"

Apparently there are a lot of people out there who can't believe that a company of any sort can make a good product, serve their customers well, give fair value, or whatever. If it's a company they don't like, they're even less likely to believe it, and if they work for the competition, or are just a partisan of the competition, they'll be certain you're on the take.

When I get such comments, I just remind myself that there has to be a reasonable number of really stupid people out there, if only to serve as a bad example.

WR

Odd little snipe about Colorado Kitchen, too.

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NoVA, "the country" according to one of your earlier posters: Come on, Tom, you can fess up. Just how much of a kickback are you getting from Colorado Kitchen?

Tom Sietsema: None! And what would prompt a question like that? I don't mention it any more than other restaurants I admire -- and I've been critical of its service in the past.

(Yeah, it's some paranoid delusional freak who probably owns a restaurant in Northern Virginia. Freak of nature.)

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[carp]

I love Sietsema’s weekly chats. I read them often (usually through a link from this board) even though I have never been to DC and don’t plan to go anytime soon. I think that it’s a great resource for the dining community in DC and I really wish we had something like that here in the SF Bay.

Despite the various valid complaints about the chat, I think it’s still great that Sietsema makes himself available like that. I doubt that Bauer or anyone else on the SF Chronicle’s food staff would be willing to do something like this (although I have to thank Michael Bauer for graciously responding to my email messages on a couple of occasions).

My perspective is obviously different since my focus in reading the chat is entertainment; not because I’m trying to find a great place for a last-minute reservation for a party of 30 people with various food allergies and special dietary needs who don’t like salt and pepper.

I really love the complaints, I must confess. Less griping and I probably wouldn't bother reading.

Of course it’s not only the scandal of the chat that draws me in. I am fascinated by people’s descriptions of their experiences with restaurants, their expectations, and what they like and dislike. It’s very interesting. I also like the many letters from chefs, owners, managers, etc., which appear regularly. I tend to feel that most harsh criticism is balanced out by the letters, posts from other diners, and they weight of the criticisms themselves. Most of the really ridiculous (and improbable) posts appear so just by the way they are written.

Sietsema rocks!

[Miami Danny]

I get comments and questions all the time when I have a review published. Admittedly, I don't write restaurant reviews for the Post, but the questions are the same. "How much did (insert company name here) pay you to say that?"

While I don't doubt Seitsema's honesty, innocent until proven guilty and all that, he DOES seem to recommend the same places over and over. But I think that is more a function of DC's size (small), rather than Tom's crookedness or laziness; or perhaps it is simply a result of the personal relationships he has built up in this (small) town.

He HAS to mention Zaitynha over and over, because it is a good, casual and fun restaurant in a sea of sameness in downtown DC. Again, not commenting on Seitsema per se, but reviewers have a self-interest in associating themselves with, and promoting popular restaurants and chefs. I think we all accept a certain amount of that.

It may seem odd, but Seitsema both reviews AND promotes restaurants in the same paper, with his Wednesday Food piece. Can't have it both ways.

[Nadya]

I actually think Tom has a fair degree of diversity in his recommendations, not only in DC proper for 20008 zipcode snobs like me, but for larger Washington area as well. I also don't see how recommending a place equals promoting it, unless an untoward amount of gushing is involved. He has to recommend SOME place, no?