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Tom Sietsema

@tomsietsema.bsky.social
1.2K followers 7 following 18 posts

I write about restaurants and love/live to travel. Home is DC. The Washington Post is my boss.

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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Its been a great ride, but every 25 years or so, a change of scenery is good. Farewell, Washington Post! (But not to readers.) www.washingtonpost.com/food/2025/10...
washingtonpost.com
Column | Food critic Tom Sietsema is stepping down — and dropping his anonymity
After a quarter-century of reviewing restaurants, donning disguises and turning down photos, The Post’s food critic is ready for his next course.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Dining chat: Can I tip less now that Trump’s bill has mostly done away with taxes on gratuity? wapo.st/408k7Rw
wapo.st
Dining chat: Can I tip less now that Trump’s bill has mostly done away with taxes on gratuity?
Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema entertains your dining questions, rants and raves.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Dining chat: Is it ‘causing a scene’ to tell a server the food was bad? wapo.st/44t8ru1
wapo.st
Dining chat: Is it ‘causing a scene’ to tell a server the food was bad?
Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema entertains your dining questions, rants and raves.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
One of the DMV’s best new places to eat, Sorn Thai toasts a grandmother’s cooking in modern digs in McLean www.washingtonpost.com/food/2025/05...
washingtonpost.com
Review | Sorn Thai toasts a grandmother’s cooking in modern digs in McLean
At Sorn Thai, the owner of the popular Donsak in D.C. offers dishes to obsess over.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
“What’s new?” people often ask me. Right now, I’ve got 20 answers for them, in the form of a spring dining guide celebrating the best of DC’s current crop of restaurants. www.washingtonpost.com/food/interac...
washingtonpost.com
Review | The 20 best new restaurants in the D.C. area
D.C.’s best new restaurants feature a Middle Eastern gem, Mission-style burritos and an ode to Afro-Caribbean cuisine.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
A taxi driver in Butte tells me her town is mostly “pawn shops, bars and casinos.” True. It’s also about mining, Cornish pasties the size of footballs, a statue bigger than the Statue of Liberty on a nearby mountain, one very old Chinese restaurant — and kindness everywhere you go.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
With the help of a Japanese diplomat, I reviewed the new Marufuji Japanese Market (and cafe) in Tysons. Go!
washingtonpost.com
Review | At a new Japanese market, shop all you want — but don’t miss the cafe
Marufuji Japanese Market in Vienna sells wares from the home country and a menu of donburi, curry, cream puffs and beef bowls.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
I love the whimsey of the menu created by the Voltaggio brothers at the (truly) divine new Wye Oak Tavern in Frederick, Md. Worth the journey from DC. www.washingtonpost.com/food/2025/03...
washingtonpost.com
Review | The Voltaggio brothers deliver steak and sizzle in a divine space
Brothers Bryan and Michael Voltaggio are the dynamic duo behind the creative American menu at Wye Oak Tavern in Frederick, Maryland.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
The alluring new Alara brings late-night dining — and lots of mezze — to Georgetown. Focus on the dips, the look, anything with lamb. My review: www.washingtonpost.com/food/2025/03...
washingtonpost.com
Review | Alara brings late-night dining to Georgetown with a menu of mezze
Alara, from veteran restaurateur Hakan Ilhan, is a beauty, and it’s open until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Anyone out there know the Tucson food scene well? I welcome dining tips.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Dining chat: How do I deal with in-laws who under-tip at restaurants? Plus other rants and raves from readers. t.co/wjvX5GPoE3
t.co
https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2025/02/26/tom-sietsema-live-chat/
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Imagine a restaurant where cell phones are forbidden, there’s no tipping and the chef goes by one name for security reasons. Welcome to the Agency Dining Room at the super-secure @CIA Spoiler alert: the cooking trumps that at the White House Mess www.washingtonpost.com/food/2025/02...
washingtonpost.com
Column | Short ribs, soup and secrets: Our critic’s exclusive lunch at the CIA
At the CIA’s dining room, cellphones and credit cards are banned and the chef’s name is under wraps.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Got a restaurant question, rant or rave? Send it to me ahead of my live online chat tomorrow at 11 a.m. and I’ll try to answer. www.washingtonpost.com/food/2025/01...
washingtonpost.com
Have questions about dining out? Ask our food critic.
Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema entertains your dining questions, rants and raves.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Dining chat: Are branches of famous restaurants as good as the original? Plus other questions from readers around the country. wapo.st/40xh8mh
wapo.st
Dining chat: Are branches of famous restaurants as good as the original?
Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema entertains your dining questions, rants and raves.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Dining chat: How should a diner deal with a dirty-talking neighboring table? Plus other rants (and raves) from readers. www.washingtonpost.com/food/2025/01...
washingtonpost.com
Dining chat: Was this reader right to tell fellow diners to stop swearing in public?
Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema entertains your dining questions, rants and raves.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Someone forgot to pick up flowers. Owl art to the rescue!
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Searching for my peeps on a new playground. Come say hello.
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Tom Sietsema @tomsietsema.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
I just went to buy the well-reviewed “Mango Tree” and the clerk said they didn’t sell plants.
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