Todd Kliman Becomes Washingtonian Dining Editor

[ol_ironstomach]

Since I only ever read the City Paper for the Straight Dope and the comix, this has been a getting-to-know-Kliman phase, but I like what I percieve to be a new frankness in the Washingtonian's reviews. Perhaps it's only a change of tone that echoes the ubiquitous foodie blog, but the Washingtonian's food section is exciting reading once again.

How much influence does Kliman have over things beyond the restaurant reviews? Not to be a suck-up, but I'm really enjoying Rocks' wine columns, and would still do so if they'd been published under a pseudonym. I'm decidedly not wine-savvy, so what captures my interest is that same gentle education in each column that I've always enjoyed in Ben Giliberti's writing...much better than rambling on using that oblique terminology which makes wine seem like an insiders-only club.

There's one thing I wish they'd do away with, and that's the absurd use of a used napkin as a service test. People, from the time a diner unfolds a napkin in their lap under the table, to the time they return it to the table and depart, it's a personal hygiene object. Why do you think etiquette is to leave it on the seat while you're temporarily away? It's so other diners don't have to look at it. You wouldn't refold a used snot-rag and place it on display, nor should you do so with a dinner napkin. Good service would leave it where it lies. Superior service would quietly remove it and place a fresh napkin at the setting, just as one would do with silverware. This isn't rocket science, people.

Oops, but I digress. The new food line-up at Washingtonian makes me want to renew my subscription religiously, which hasn't always been the case.

[Mark Slater]

Could any of the changes at the Washingtonian have the slightest bit to do with the 4 glossy lifestyle magazines that launced here in Washington in the last year? One of them tried to actively recruit restaurant "reviewers" from eGullet. They tried to recruit me, and when I said that I thought it might be a conflict of interest, since I work in a restaurant, the answer was "we only do good restaurant reveiws". He's made good changes. Look, he hired Rocks to write the wine column. I find the "chats" boring, myself.

[JPW]

I like most of the changes that Kliman has made, especially the improved restaurant reviews (I know, shocked expressions around the city that I'm saying something nice about him).

I share the dislike of the "napkin folding" and other similar sting tactics.

But I really think that they desperately need a new graphic designer. From graphics like the unintelligible fuel tank gages for rating "hotness" (another idea I dislike) to a seemingly random jumble of fonts and colors the food section is pretty hard to take visually.

[giant shrimp]

i agree that the napkin test is not to be taken seriously and that the chats are bland. also, i don't always agree with some of the details, or even the slant, of some of kliman's reviews, which didn't seem to happen as often in the city paper. for example, the night i was at david craig's restaurant i wouldn't have wanted to sit in the front, there were too many people trying to get in and there was too little space to accommodate them. to me, the back feels like the heart of the place, even if you overhear conversation from your next-door neighbors. and his food experiences have been somewhat different from mine at a few restaurants, such as the one in spring valley, to which it is possible i will never return, but where the cooking, when i was there, was not as inept as he described it. actually, kliman seems to be able to dig into the food deeper than ts and he leans in different directions from the post, and those are discernible enough that you can put what he is telling you into perspective. (of course, it is on this site where you receive the most valuable or intriguing backstage information, such as buck's perhaps finishing off the meatloaf in bacon fat, or the best place for pea and lobster soup, or why it is a good idea to check out how busy colorado kitchen was on saturday night before finalizing plans for dinner there on sunday, or that the proprietor of ray's the steaks is an absolute raving maniac.)

but i had stopped looking to the washingtonian as a source of reliable information on the restaurant scene some time ago. and now it is better in that department than it has ever been, whether or not you agree that the hamburgers at chef geoff's are worth your time because they are discounted. (you actually have to order them at the bar, don't you, to receive the lower price? that's what i recall.) just pursuing the leads in the april issue is going to keep me busy for months, and i seriously doubt i will be able get to even half of them. also, i'm a sucker for lists of almost anything (i always obsess over trying to read all of the new york times 10 best books of the year, and it has been slow getting through post-world war 2 european history the last couple of months), so the don rockwell wine recommendations are always fun to track down, not that i have been doing a great job of it.

i am still looking for the restaurant downtown where they serve aromas.

[Tweaked]

I never really read Washingtonian, but I picked up the Cheap Eats edition and thought it was pretty solid. I like that he not only spotlighted what we all consider traditional cheap eats, taco trucks, ethnic store fronts etc., but also mentioned high end restaurants with cheap eats, such as Galileo Grill and the lunch deal at Restaurant Eve. I also liked the little neighborhood spotlights, like Little Ethiopia and Little Mexico.

[cjsadler]

The November Washingtonian is out this weekend - I think people here will be interested to read it.

Cheers,

Rocks.

Superb shot of Chef Stachowski's hairdo. Oh, and a nice article on Thanksgiving wines by Don.

[DonRocks]

Superb shot of Chef Stachowski's hairdo. Oh, and a nice article on Thanksgiving wines by Don.

Forget the wine article; this issue is worth the price just to see the great picture of Jamie, and also Bustopher Jones in his FAB-O! two-tone shoes.

I also think Todd's lead story is his best yet.

[Stretch]

Will there be more of the food (and wine) content online when the new Web site comes on stream?

[JPW]

and also Bustopher Jones in his FAB-O! two-tone shoes.

I also think Todd's lead story is his best yet.

Indeed. He absolutely got it.

And the spectactors are VERY sharp.

[Heather]

"The Needle"...the needle readings seem weirdly out of sync with the writeups this month.

On the whole I like the full-length reviews very much, the rest of the section is entertaining without a whole lot of substance.

[youngfood]

"The Needle"...the needle readings seem weirdly out of sync with the writeups this month.

Totally agree. They need to be recalibrated it seems.

[DonRocks]

Todd will be on WETA 90.9 at 11:45 (or maybe a bit before) today talking about Pizza! on "The Intersection" with Rebecca Roberts. (Trivia: Rebecca is Cokie's daughter).