| Post Magazine
This Week: The Annual Dining Guide
Hosted Tom Sietsema
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, Oct. 21, 2002; 1 p.m. ET Tom Sietsema has spent the better part of the year scouring the landscape for distinctive and rewarding places to eat. In Sunday's Washington Post Magazine's Annual Dining Guide, he identifies several dozen of his favorite local restaurants. Sietsema was online Monday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. ET, to field your questions and comments about dining out in the Washington area. Sietsema is the Post's food critic and host's a regular weekly Live Online discussion Wednesdays at 11 a.m. ET. A transcript follows. Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Somewhere, USA: If you could only have one entree from one restaurant in all the D.C. area before you were sent off to a far away land, what would it be? Tom Sietsema: That’s unfair! How could anyone choose one from among so many worthy choices?
High on my list, though, would be the ginger salad from Burma, steamed mussels from Greenwood, fried pork and yuca from Samantha’s, a plate of vinegary chicken legs from Wazuri and ... well, you get the idea.
Good afternoon, everyone. I'm glad to have the guide under my belt, so to speak.
Washington, D.C.: I very much enjoyed your new dining guide. I found that there were a few places I have been and many that I want to try. Basically, the challenge is on! Fifty restaurants, one year. I think I can handle it. My question is this: Every week you rip on how Bethesda has so few restaurants that are worth making a trip to, but in your guide you had several Bethesda restaurants including Black's Bar and Kitchen and Persimmon. How can you tell people to avoid Bethesda restaurants in one breath and then suggest some of them in your dining guide? Tom Sietsema: I’ve never said there are NO good places to eat in Bethesda, just that there are too many places doing an average (or worse) job of feeding people there. The exceptions are the ones I shared in the guide.
P.S. There are 59 mini-reviews, by the way. Not that I'm counting or anything.
Bethesda, Md.: Tom, Enjoyed the dining guide. Your very favorable comments on Citronelle including a statement about cordial service, yet on your weekly chat, there are regular comments on poor and even rude service. Why the seeming disconnect? Did you take these comments into account? Tom Sietsema: I see signs that the service at Citronelle is improving -- most recently, when I went undercover there. And I’ve sent in friends, unknown to the staff, to check out the situation, too. No one has returned with any horror stories.
Laurel, Md.: Sigh. Another 0-for-Prince George's County. How do restaurants become candidates for review? Is it through a sort of grapevine of local food aficionado friends of yours that recommend places to go? Do your Maryland friends all live in Montgomery County, so those are the only Maryland establishments you visit, except the ones near popular weekend haunts? Tom Sietsema: Believe me, I would have loved to include something from PG County, but there’s a dearth of interesting places to eat there. And I’m not going to offer up a restaurant solely to serve as a neighborhood token. For inclusion in the fall guide, a restaurant has to be (at least) good!
Washington, D.C.: Hi Tom: I enjoyed reading your Dining Guide again this year, but I am still stumped as to certain exclusions, like Vidalia, Cafe Atlantico, Gerard's Place, Taberna del Alabardero, L'Auberge Chez Francois and Galileo. True, the latter has unreliable and indifferent service at times, but when compared to Citronelle (which made the guide), the service should be considered extraordinary. Even if you have some beef with them (attitude, innovation, value) given their high profile shouldn't they at least be included in a dining guide such as yours so people are aware of the good and the bad qualities of such establishments? Obviously those places are doing something right since it is often difficult to secure reservations there. Tom Sietsema: In the introduction, I said I included restaurants that I would be happy to spend my own money at, or would recommend to friends and family. Just because a place has a high profile doesn’t mean I’m inclined to include it.
There were different reasons behind my leaving off certain restaurants: Café Atlantico hired a new chef shortly before we went to press with yesterday’s issue. Gerard’s Place tends to be inconsistent. Galileo was alluded to, positively, in my mini-review of Laboratorio. And so on.
Speaking of under your belt: Just how fattening is the job of food critic, anyway? I'm positive that if I were getting paid to enjoy food, I'd become corpulent in no time at all. Tom Sietsema: It's easier to push away from the table than you might think. Great restaurants aside, a food critic typically eats more bad food in the course of a year than most civilians.
Awesome!: Just a comment -- the dining guide is fantastic. I took it to bed with me and was up till 2 a.m. reading it. I don't eat out a great deal, so I especially enjoy your sage and down to earth counsel to inform my dining decisions. By the way, I'm not a gourmand -- your writing style is what keeps me coming back. You write beautifully. Tom Sietsema: Mom, I need that copy back.
Seriously, thanks for the kind words.
Washington, D.C.: Thanks for all your hard work. I agree with your assessment of Corduroy (looks like an airport lounge but great food). The roasted chicken was excellent and they allow corkage -- an added bonus.
One question: I noticed Tosca wasn't on the list. We've had great meals there and I was wondering why it didn't make the cut. I'm sure there isn't enough room for all of the worthy restaurants. But you included Cashion's which you've remarked in past chats hasn't changed its menu in ages.
Thanks again. Tom Sietsema: Actually, Ristorante Tosca is on my list, under the “Rs” in the guide.
I have in front of me copies of menus from Cashion's Eat Place, supplied by none other than Ann Cashion herself. I think I typed too soon when I wrote, a few chats back, that the menu doesn't change there. It does.
Washington, DC: Hi Tom,
Thanks so much for the dining guide, I love it! However, why such a short list? And no surprises? And I prefer when you give the cost in terms of dinner for two, approximately $X for two courses, tax, and tip, etc. Why the change? Giving the price range of entrees is helpful but does not give the feeling of the cost for the meal/experience. Tom Sietsema: Short list? SHORT LIST?! This is the biggest dining guide yet, dear reader. And I’m not sure what “surprises” you were looking for.
FYI: We tried to include the most pertinent information with the mini-reviews and to keep the details (hours/addresses/prices) concise. The cost per person for a full-course meal will continue to run as usual in the dining column in the Magazine.
Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C.: Tom, Great compilation of restaurants! That issue is a keeper for future reference. I like the format, but maybe you can help me on a specific issue: good restaurant bars. You of all people must know that the difference between the service and ambience is different in the bar than in the restaurant. So, where downtown would you send a girl to have a couple of appetizers and a glass of wine by herself on a weeknight on her way to the opera? (I'll eat anything. Seriously.) Tom Sietsema: Some of my favorite places to pull up to the bar and nosh are Ten Penh, Bistrot du Coin, Palena, Greenwood, Spices, Bardeo, Spezie, Oval Room, Johnny’s Half Shell, the new Café 15 ... is that enough?
Old Town Alexandria, Va.: Tom, Why did you go with a restaurant in Baltimore -- doesn't that open a whole new can of worms? Tom Sietsema: Not really. A lot of readers go to, or live in, Baltimore. And Fairfax. And Easton. And Olney. And Rockville. And Annandale.
My point is, I prefer to write about a wide range of restaurants in a wide range of Washington area neighborhoods.
Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C.: Tom, I am so disappointed! In your list of top Italian restaurants, I noticed absolutely NO southern Italian joints. I love red sauce, none of this frilly Northern stuff. Please, please, give me a recommendation! Tom Sietsema: Kuna on U St and Luigi's (is that the joint?) on 19th St. come to mind.
Arlington, Va.: Great magazine article. I'm getting confused between Cafe 15 and 15ria. Which is better and why? Tom Sietsema: They are two different animals.
Cafe 15 is modern French in chic environs.
15 ria is modern American in digs you either love or hate (I'm learning from readers).
Alexandria, Va.: Tom, I loved your dining guide! But I am really curious about one of your picks -- Majestic. I have been there twice, and several friends have checked it out, and nobody has liked it -- then I read the Post online user reviews of it, and it was panned. I am not criticizing your pick, but I just don't know if I am "missing" something. It is down the street from me, so I would love to return. Am I just clueless? Thanks! Tom Sietsema: That's curious. I visited Majestic twice for the guide and, while there were some minor quibbles, I left eager to return.
Restaurants, like people, have good days and poor days. I'd give it another chance.
Alexandria, Va.: Enjoyed the guide, looking forward to trying a couple new places (and I like your advice about cultivating a few select places to become a "regular"). But hasn't the guide traditionally been published in the spring as well as the fall? Are you only able to do it justice once a year, or is that a decision from higher up? Tom Sietsema: I have written two spring dining guides, which tend to be theme-driven and include a smaller number of restaurants. Last year, I reviewed the steak house scene; this past April, I looked at 10 places that gave you a sense of the faraway without having to leave the Washington area.
Washington, D.C.: Tom, I believe I was the first comment posted last year regarding your dining guide, surmising it as horrible. Well, I wanted to be the first to tell you that this year's is very well done. Categories of food -- and those you would recommend in each. No more of this "one from D.C., one from Virginia, one from Maryland" stuff. If the best Thai is in the burbs, so be it! I think you have done a wonderful job and it is truly a dining guide. Thanks. Tom Sietsema: Why, thank you!
Red Sauce: The obvious answer to the red sauce question is Pasta Mia in Adams Morgan (with the long wait and grumpy service caveats).
Tom Sietsema: I concur. With the caveats.
Arlington, Va.: Do you have any favorite tables at your favorite restaurants? I learned to ask for table 42 when I go to the Roof Terrace Restaurant at the Kennedy Center. Or to phone ahead for one of the few tables on the outdoor patio on the canal at Sea Catch. Tom Sietsema: Restaurateurs hate it when I print table numbers.
But if anyone is going to that Italian-French restaurant in Cleveland Park, the one that makes those amazing doughnuts, you really ought to ask for Table 31. (Sorry, Frank.)
re: Luigis: THANK YOU! I love Luigi's. It's been around forever and for good reason. It may not break any new culinary ground, but it always tastes GOOD and the price is right. Tom Sietsema: And there's nothing wrong with that!
From Tom's Mother again: (just joking, I'm not Tom's mom). Seriously though, folks, cut the guy some slack. The dining guide includes 59 restaurants -- a feat in and of itself. In addition, we have the online searchable guide, we get direct access to Tom all the time through these chats. Why all the whining? What more do you people want? Tom Sietsema: You sound like someone I should get to know. Thanks again.
Washington, D.C.: Romantic dinner for two for a special occasion under $20 an entree? Tom Sietsema: That’s easy: Little Fountain Café in Adams Morgan.
Washington, D.C.: Tom, how did the term entree, which is first course in France, become main course in the U.S.? Tom Sietsema: Actually, on a full French menu, an entrée is the third course, after an appetizer and possibly a fish course.
People don’t eat the way they used to; there tend to be fewer and simpler courses these days, and that partly explains how "entrée" became Act 2.
Arlington, Va.: What are your recommendations for a nice, but not exorbitant, place for brunch? Tom Sietsema: For something new, you might try one of two new hotel restaurants, 15 ria on Rhode Island Ave. or Firefly on New Hampshire Ave.
Other options include Bombay Club (great Indian spread), Colorado Kitchen (for homey southern cooking), Kinkead’s, Cashion’s Eat Place, New Heights and Tabard Inn.
Nebraska Ave., Washington, D.C.: Tom,
I just have to tell you -- I think you're a terrific writer. I go to the supermarket every Sunday and secretly rip out the Post magazine so I can read your articles in the checkout line. I love your descriptions. We in D.C. are lucky to have you! Tom Sietsema: Um, have you considered becoming a subscriber?
Alexandria, Va.: Well, for the second year in a row I must disagree with your assessment of Old Town. The only restaurant ranked was the overpriced and underquality Majestic Cafe. Ever been to Cafe Salsa? Stardust? Tom Sietsema: Yep. Let's agree to disagree there (though the APPETIZERS at Cafe Salsa are worth looking into).
Washington, D.C.: Tom -- I am a regular reader of your Wednesday chats, as well as a hospitality professional here in D.C. My question to you is not dining guide specific, but very relevant to a lot of readers that yesterday spent their early morning "highlighting" restaurants in the guide to try out. It is my belief that most people go out to dinner not because they need sustenance, rather they are looking for an overall dining experience. Furthermore, I would venture to guess that roughly 90% of the regular dining populace are not "foodies" and would fail to recognize items such as pea shoots, fiddlehead ferns, a hint of cardomom, et al. Therefore, in my humble opinion, the most important aspect of going out to dinner for a majority of the dining public is well trained, sincere, professional service. This can occur at any type of restaurant (casual, fine dining, etc.). What restaurants, in your professional opinion, have the best service? Tom Sietsema: You are on to something: As much as I focus on it, food is not all in a restaurant. I know a lot of people who are able to put up with indifferent food provided they feel they are treated well.
In reporting this guide, I found memorable attention paid to guests at Maestro, Yanyu, Equinox, Colvin Run Tavern, Al Tiramisu, Melrose and Oval Room, among other dining rooms.
D.C.: Tom, Are we going to get TWO chats with you this week, or are you skipping the Wednesday chat? Tom Sietsema: I am here on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Wouldn't think of missing the weekly chat.
Silver Spring, Md.: Tom, great article but it begs a question (unless I missed your answer reading too quickly) -- You speak often of how much there is in variety, but what is missing in the D.C. dining scene? Tom Sietsema: Really good Chinese.
More Southern venues.
A memorable deli.
Swedish, anyone?
Washington, D.C.: The dining guide is great! How long have you been a food critic and can I have your job if you ever decide to retire? Tom Sietsema: I've been writing about food and restaurants for about 18 years now, the last three years here at the Post.
Be careful what you wish for, my friend!
Washington, D.C.: Washington Post cafeteria? Good or bad? Tom Sietsema: Let's just say the spinning pizza ought to be carbon-dated.
Washington, D.C.: What is your favorite new restaurant (opened in the past year)? Tom Sietsema: Can I pick several? I'd certainly advance Colvin Run Tavern, Wazuri, and Cafe 15 to the top of the list, different as they are from one another.
Swedish?: What is it? Tom Sietsema: Aquavit, lingonberries, salmon, dark bread, reindeer ...
Born in Fairlington, Va.: Tom, if anyone could answer this, it's you! Please help settle a long-time family mystery. My mother went into labor with me at a famous D.C. middle eastern restaurant that has since gone out of business. This was in 1978. It was a favorite, famous haunt of journalists, especially Helen Thomas. My mother cannot remember the name of the restaurant! I am really, really curious. Do you have ANY clue? Tom Sietsema: I bet it was Mama Ayesha's Calvert Cafe, at 1967 Calvert.
Fun story, by the way.
Washington, D.C.: "Missing: Really good Chinese?" What about City Lights of China? The best Chinese I've had in my life! Tom Sietsema: What we need are more than one or two examples, though.
Yanyu comes close to the ideal, though it is pan-Asian rather than strictly Chinese.
Washington, D.C.: Why did you have to go all the way to Baltimore for a southern restaurant, you don't feel we have any in D.C. that are better that Charleston? Tom Sietsema: No, I'm sorry (and surprised) to report.
Downtown Washington, D.C.C: Thanks so much for the Dining Guide I am really excited to try some new spots! I have a rather frivolous question but, I hope you will respond anyway:
If you were to assemble a "Dream Team" of D.C. area chefs who would be on it? I am just wondering who you think the top local players are. Tom Sietsema: I'd sure want to see Carol Greenwood, Todd Gray, Gillian Clark, Peter Paston, Jose Andres, Michel Richard -- among others --- cooking on my side!
Washington D.C.: Hi Tom --
No doubt you will get some bricks and bats from people who didn’t understand the disclaimer on your Fall dining guide stating that these are your subjective choices. I’m sure you’ll get lots of "Why did you choose THIS one and not THAT one?" Therefore I just want to say thank you for being such an informed and informative food critic. With this latest dining guide you have given us plenty of food for thought (sorry, bad pun, Monday morning.). Tom Sietsema: If only I could read everyone’s mind. There is no perfect, one-size-fits-all dining guide. But we try!
Silver Spring, Md.: I find the format a bit confusing and not user-friendly. When looking for a restaurant, I would seldom want to read a long list of restaurants in alphabetical order. I would much prefer to see restaurants grouped by price, by type of food and/or area. I see lots of pricey restaurants and few that I would normally afford. How many restaurants were considered and not put on the list? Tom Sietsema: I began the project with a list of almost 200 contenders. The dining guide does have boxes highlighting cuisine style and location, by the way, on pages 16 and 19. As for the price range, there are plenty of affordable places in the mix: Burma, CF Folks, Costa Verde, Cuban Corner, Guajillo, India Palace, for starters.
Great Falls, Va.: Tom, I was disappointed that you excluded La'Auberge Chez Francois from your top restaurant ranking. My wife and I had dinner there last Saturday night and were treated to one of the best meals around town. Ms. Richman never would have committed such a sin. What's your rationale for excluding it? -- Baffled. Tom Sietsema: I’m definitely a fan of the venerable Alsatian restaurant, and included its choucroute in a list of great dishes around Washington. My full review appeared in the Magazine recently (August 25)
Courthouse, Arlington, Va.: Hi Tom, I saw that the City Paper is hiring a food critic. I love food and I love to write. While this is my dream job, I'm obviously not qualified to get it as I don't have any journalism clips, etc. So, my question is, how do you really get started and printed in the restaurant review business? I'm willing to start at the bottom, I just don't know where. Thanks Tom Sietsema: Whoa, lots of questions there, and not much time to answer in detail.
I'd start by finding a mentor (someone whose work you respect); learning all I could (through cooking, classes, eating out, apprenticing in a kitchen or three); writing like crazy (practice!); and sending stuff to small newsletters or neighborhood papers as a way to break in.
Annandale, Va.: Is it safe to say you eat out EVERY single day? Do you ever (have a chance to) stay home and fix something for yourself? BTW, great guide! Tom Sietsema: You know what I did to celebrate the publication of the guide yesterday?
I stayed home and cooked for my family. It was a real treat (for me, if not for the tribe).
Arlington, Va.: Tom: Name the three most overrated restaurants in the Metro area.
Tom Sietsema: You can't be serious!
Then again, maybe you are.
But I want to end this chat on a positive note. I didn't get to about 150 questions here, but I look forward to more restaurant dialouge on Wednesday.
Thanks for tuning in, all.
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