Today's Tom Sietsema Chat

A couple of issues that were raised on today's Tom Sietsema Washington Post chat.

Jeans in nice restaurants. I tend to be a bit overly concerned at times about my attire, especially when going out. However, I don't think you can make a blanket 'no jeans in nice restaurants' rule.

For example, a friend of mine who was eating with me at my last birthday at Central asked about dress code, my two word response was "no jeans", and I was wrong. Last Sunday night I wore khakis and a redskins shirt to Oceanaire (they were playing DALLAS for crying out loud) and I'll guarantee I'll look nicer next weekend at Central in jeans and a Theory blazer.

Should you wear jeans to the Prime Rib? No. Cuz they won't seat you. But as long as you put some effort into looking nice for more formal occasions, I think these days jeans are ok in most situations.

The other issue was that of where to eat on business occasions downtown. The comment was in relation to ensuring that the host of business lunches or dinners doesn't choose a restaurant with exotic cuisine or no vegetarian entrees to accomodate all tastes. But I think this brings up the issue of there being a lack of good downtown business meal options, especially in the K street area if on a moderate budget. My pics, for lunch:

Expensive:

Mortons, Central, Tosca, Oceanaire, Kinkeads

Moderate:

Smith and Wollensky, McCormick and Schmicks K street

Cheap(er): Charlie Chang's, Old Ebbitt