Miami Danny

Histrionics aside, no one is being forced to join this trade association.

My experiences with publicists have always been positive. Don, is there some personal experience you have had that you are hinting at here? Seriously, you are maligning a whole class of people because the OP 'discovered' that restaurants have publicists.

Galileo Three; Two, One...zero

I agree but it appears you have not followed your own dictum. This dish is insipid and overpriced. Perhaps you might want to rethink the preparation and the portion size?

You are kidding me right? A chef's father complains that his son is not getting enough attention and that is a legitimate topic of discussion here? And posters here complain about Yelp?

First of all, the one review that is not filtered is actually positive and gives the restaurant a 3-star rating. Secondly, I simply can not understand why you would want what appear to be shill reviews to appear on Yelp unfiltered. Six of the seven reviews that are filtered are first-time reviews and the seventh is a a second-time review. And by the way, they are still on the site for anyone to click on and read. I'm not sure how Yelp could be any fairer, especially to their users.

I am not in marketing but I have worked for publications and websites that do this kind of thing all the time. Readers are drawn to category-specific lists; but more importantly, advertisers are heavily lobbied to participate. I can guarantee you that the biggest ad sales are for things like these dining lists (even if they may contain little new information). The idea to connect this list to a popular (but completely unconnected) foodie bible is very clever, even if, again, there is not much new here. While I applaud Tom's attempt to stretch out here, it seems like, in the end, this list is not that much different than any other.

You are correct-it is my (incorrect) characterization not Tom's-Fall Dining Guide is the correct title.

'Best of' by any other name....it is a marketing ploy-why pretend it is anything more?

Water cooler? I'm sorry but calling your 'best of' "Kitchen Confidential" is an admission that the industry has gotten the better of you. The book was published in 2000. While I think it is great that Tom is not living in the past, it seems that sadly, he is creating in the past. Seriously, read the intro to his piece. If any of us pitched that intro we would be laughed out of the building. Makes his dis of CityZen seem that much more gratuitous. I like his inclusion of trucks, etc., but there is undoubtedly a dated-ness/desperateness to his list.

True. They are.

I make a pretty good creamy nut sauce out of walnuts a la A16. But why call it parmesan cream? Wasn't her whole idea NOT to name things that sound like 'real' cooked food?

Andres is an immigrant, yes, but he has been here for more than 20 years and his English is just fine. That is a cheap shot.

Are we to understand that you are privy to the demographics of your letter and email writers? Do you ask their age or are you just guessing? And by "skews young", regarding this board, are you also privy to the demographics of this board, or are you, again, just guessing?

It is not nit-picking. Tujague has it exactly correct. Kliman is characterizing a Sietsema review without making it clear that this is his (Kliman's) characterization. In fact, Kliman's claim that Andres is an egomaniac is not supported by his opaque and muddy piece. This is hatchet work at its worst-Kliman projecting his insecurities onto Andres-this piece says more about Kliman than Andres. And this piece may have been the most ambitious that you have read (you really have got to be kidding here, right?), but I find it hard to believe that Kliman can read Andres' daughter's mind, or that ANY of the so-called emotions and reactions he attributes to Andres are anything but Kliman's own fantasies. This is possibly the worst piece I have ever read on a chef. Kliman needs an editor, and Andres was correct to treat Kliman like a second-rate writer.

Gonna have to come to TS's defense on this one-seems odd to complain that there's "not a whole lot new here", and then trash what is in fact new. People dine at food trucks and on snacks these days, and yes, many people might prefer either to a dinner at Againn (or any other traditional restaurant). I think it is refreshing and quite frankly, necessary for relevancy, for TS to include new definitions for 'dining' in his latest listicle.

Not to beat a dead horse, but his mention of an "all-German list" is also obtuse. There are over 1300 breweries in Germany. And I'm guessing that many people go to a place named Biergarten Haus for the beer, not to revisit their teenage love of sauerbraten.

They have started a great brunch here which includes a very custardy orange scented french toast, and a lot of vegan options as well (tofu scramble, anyone?). Great service and a warm, friendly atmosphere.

Don, I agree. In fact, locally, Tom Sietsema slammed Biergarten Haus today without mentioning one beer. Odd.

On a lighter note, incredulously, it looks like the DC liquor board will probably oversee medical marijuana as well. According to Wayne Turner, who co-wrote the initiative, "Dispensaries are the front line, and the liquor board is completely inappropriate to run this program," he said. "Are we talking about medical marijuana Jell-O shots here?"

I wasn't analogizing bartenders and drug dealers. I was pointing out the relative efficacy of police operations. But a major part of a bartender's job is to ensure underage drinking does not occur on their premises. The idea that they are being tricked somehow is certainly not beyond possibility, but there are so few suspensions that I would hardly call enforcement predatory. I was present when a restaurant's bartender was 'stung', and believe me, the individual in question did not look under 21. However, a simple, "ID please" ends any 'scam' right there. How is it predatory to ask someone to obey the law? And as someone previously posted, an alcohol license is a privilege, not a right, and it comes with several very important responsibilities. Not serving underage patrons is number one.

I'm not sure where you get your information, but as a former ANC Commissioner and Chair of the ABC Committee for Adams Morgan, I can tell you that the idea that DC enforcement is predatory is not only unfounded but laughable (because there is hardly any). In any event, it is always the server's/bartender's responsibility to get ID. Being busy is not an excuse. But the idea that people are being 'tricked' into serving minors is obscuring the nature of undercover operations. Should undercover narcotics detectives making a buy show up looking like a cop? Of course not. Should they go stand on a corner where no one is selling drugs and wait for someone to show up? That wouldn't be smart police work, would it? So naturally they are going to go where they are most likely to have success-crowded, popular places, especially those that don't card everyone at the door. Although I can tell you that these 'stings' are an extremely low police priority, in my experience (in DC).

This was not a crowded bar, though. And a simple "I need to see everyone's ID" solves that "scam". It is an important part of the bartender's job to make sure they are not serving minors. I wouldn't call DC's enforcement predatory, because, in fact, there is very little enforcement at all. But this has nothing to do with a person of legal age drinking alcohol, which is what happened here. Quite different, and we still don't have the full story, either, which was my point.

If there are two sides to every story, as you say, why is it not possible that the owner was extremely unpleasant to these people? As has been mentioned, it is not against the law to drink if you are over 21, but it is against this restaurant's policy if you fail to show ID. So instead of possibly going nuts, how about removing the drink the first time it happened, and saying, "I'm sorry. We don't allow customers who have not shown ID to drink. I am afraid we are going to have to ask you to leave." Why did the owner get involved? It seems rather over-the-top to me. Also rather odd that this became a Carman column filled with 'chef' quotes. I'm wondering if things might have been different if he also contacted the customer.

Great fried oysters! Definitely try to make it for happy hour (4:30-7:30, I think)-bartenders make pretty good cocktails, and the cheap apps are really good-esp. the shrimp and grits, and the chicken wings.