Tom Sietsema stepped down as food critic of the Washington Post after 25 years last month. Now, the paper has named his successor: Elazar Sontag, former restaurant editor at Bon Appétit.
In his previous role, Sontag oversaw Bon Appétit‘s Best New Restaurants list, which most recently included Baan Mae and La’ Shukran among 18 other restaurants across the country. He also helped launch a column on restaurant etiquette and led a magazine feature on queer food culture that was nominated for multiple National Magazine Awards. He previously worked at Eater and Serious Eats and has freelanced for the Post. Before he became a full-time writer, he briefly worked in restaurant kitchens as a high schooler in his hometown of Oakland.
While Sietsema attempted to remain anonymous, Sontag notably does not. “Between social media and the increasingly popular practice of inputting names and phone numbers in digital reservation platforms at the host stand, dining out incognito has become all but impossible,” Sontag writes in his first column. “Even when the most dutifully anonymous critics dine out these days, it’s probably a matter of minutes—not return visits—before an eagle-eyed chef or server spots them.”
Indeed, anonymous food critics have become a dying breed in recent years as technology and social media have made it harder to remain undercover. Some longtime critics, like the late Jonathan Gold or New York magazine’s Adam Platt, made a big splash out of their reveal. A newer generation—like MacKenzie Chung Fegan at the San Francisco Chronicle or Tejal Rao and Ligaya Mishan at the New York Times—aren’t hiding their faces from the get-go. Washingtonian‘s own lead critic Ann Limpert is one of the few reviewers left still trying to hide her identity.
Still, Sontag says he will not make reservations in his own name, he’ll continue to make multiple visits to restaurants he reviews, and he will pay his own way. And as it turns out, he’s already been on the ground, eating across DC. He’s hit up places like El Rinconcito Cafe II in Columbia Heights, Beteseb for Ethiopian in Silver Spring, Mama Chang in Fairfax, and beyond.
“Tom approached his work with generosity and excitement,” Sontag writes, “and I plan to follow his lead.”
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind DC’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
