Tim Carman

AI, War, and Exercise, with Arnold Schwarzenegger : How To Do Everything On today’s episode, how to get rid of Google’s AI summaries, and we help a listener who wants to exercise in her car during a long commute–with an assist from a very overqualified exerciser and a very...

I had the pleasure of speaking with Mike and Ian from NPR's How to Do Everything. We chatted about whether the Pentagon Pizza Report can actually predict major military actions. www.npr.org/2025/09/30/n...

These restaurants opened 10 years ago — and redefined D.C. dining Washington’s restaurant class of 2015 introduced new cuisines to the city, helped revive neighborhoods and raised D.C.’s national profile.

We didn’t realize how good we had it in 2015. A look at a group of restaurants that helped reshape DC dining. Gift link: wapo.st/3WdFRsH

Column | Trump was dared to dine in D.C. He played it safe at a chain steakhouse. In a city awash with dining options, the president dined within his comfort zone, one block from the White House.

Some thoughts on last night’s dinner in DC. Gift link: wapo.st/3KezhPU

ICE detentions roil D.C.’s already struggling restaurant scene Restaurant owners say their workers are being targeted, picked up by immigration authorities while commuting to work.

More than 20 workers have been detained. Countless more have quit, called out of their shifts or scrambled to find alternative ways to get to work. The immigration crackdown in DC has the restaurant industry reeling.

Gift link: wapo.st/3VIggIc

Is Eleven Madison Park’s return to meat a sign of the times? Eleven Madison Park is retreating on its vegan menu, proving the uphill battle plant-based fine dining can face.

I got a lesson in the hard economics of plant-based restaurants. It helps to explain why Eleven Madison Park added meat back to the menu.
Gift link: wapo.st/3JRZ7Jj

Some y-o-y data herein. Not great!

‘The city is dead’: D.C. restaurant reservations drop amid federal crackdown August restaurant week can be a lifeline for D.C. food businesses, but high-visibility arrests and heavy law enforcement presence are driving some diners away.

The administration argues that its crackdown on crime in DC has been good for restaurants. Numerous owners say otherwise.

Gift link: wapo.st/4mzcb4X

Excellent deep dive by Tim Carman and Warren Rojas into the impact on **all this** on DC restaurants this month.

contextualize the % opentable drops better than anyone I’ve seen (restaurant week in 2024 was Aug 12-18) but still shows the impact

wapo.st/4mzcb4X

Column | Gold leaf lobster rolls in Iowa? Our tasteless obsession with gilded food. Paired with caviar or a lobster roll at a state fair, edible gold remains a flavorless shorthand for status.

What does a lobster roll in Iowa and the White House have in common? Gold!
I have thoughts. Gift link: wapo.st/4mgSz5m

When a sandwich is not sandwich: The new symbol for DC protesters.

Story for context: www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Pour one out for Jack McAuliffe, who revolutionized craft beer His company, New Albion, was the first American microbrewery since Prohibition. It helped inspire the creators of Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams and Dogfish Head.

For those who enjoy a good, bracing IPA, all jacked up with cascade hops, you owe a small debt of gratitude to Jack McAuliffe, the co-founder of New Albion brewing. He died last month at age 80. Gift link: wapo.st/4fqhtgd

Review | When everybody’s a critic, they miss what makes restaurants special Reader comments about Ben’s Chili Bowl show that to understand and even enjoy a restaurant, you may need to evaluate your evaluations.

"Genre movies often require a suspension of disbelief — which is just another way to say they require you to dial down your critic — to be fully enjoyed. The same can be said of restaurants." - @timcarman.bsky.social wapo.st/4ff7VEP

D.C. Council’s compromise on tipped wages undermines voters’ will, advocates say The council’s budget amendment will modify Initiative 82, which voters passed by an overwhelming majority in 2022.

The D.C. Council didn't repeal I-82. But council members modified it in a way that, according to labor advocates, subverts the will of D.C. residents who approved the ballot measure with 74 percent of the vote. Gift link: wapo.st/4oqB4kO

Sad news out of Wheaton. One of my favorite restaurants is closing after 29 years. The Yu family let me follow them for many months to show the damage, financially and emotionally and personally, that the pandemic had on them. You can read the story here: www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/202...

I am pleased about the wrap comeback, which I will be calling the wrapback

Review | Who has the best chicken wrap? We ranked 8 fast-food brands. For the top tortilla-wrapped option, look beyond McDonald’s and Popeyes.

Wraps, like just about everything else rn, are divisive. Some wish they'd go the way of Doc Martens and the macarena. Some write love letters to corporate heads, hoping to bring them back.
For better or for worse, wraps are back. I dove into the fray. wapo.st/4kUqz6e

Review | When everybody’s a critic, they miss what makes restaurants special Reader comments about Ben’s Chili Bowl show that to understand and even enjoy a restaurant, you may need to evaluate your evaluations.

Some thoughts on the culture of criticism that dominates our daily life -- and how it affects our relationship to restaurants.
Gift link: wapo.st/46d2xzG

As Ben’s Chili Bowl closes for repairs, owners hope to keep its spirit The family that owns Ben’s Chili Bowl wants to make sure the much-needed renovations don’t damage the diner’s nostalgic character.

You have a week to eat at the original Ben’s Chili Bowl before it closes for months for renovations. The family wants to retain the diner’s original character but they don’t yet know the extent of the repairs. wapo.st/40ItCXN

Can pizza orders predict military action? One man keeps track. The Pentagon Pizza Report’s founder says, “It’s stupid, it’s funny, but you can’t help but feel there’s also something there.”

To say I was skeptical about Pentagon Pizza Report would be an understatement. So I put on my reporter's pants and dug into the account. I talked to Pentagon sources. I traded emails with the Pentagon police. I even managed to track down the account's founder. Here's the full report: wapo.st/4exjPtl

Review | New York’s H&H Bagels just opened in D.C. Does it live up to the hype? The New York bagel shop has cultural cachet, but the rounds from its first D.C. outpost didn’t wow us.

New York’s celebrated bagel shop dropped anchor in DC with a commissary model that allows the company to ship parbaked and frozen rounds straight from Queens. Our panel had widely divergent opinions on how H&H compares to Pearl’s, one of the best bagel shops in DC.

Gift link: wapo.st/3SJSQkm

Do you know who exports these foods to the U.S.? Test your knowledge. The sources of America’s imports of sugar, coffee, tea, oil and other common foods potentially subject to tariffs might surprise you.

Every story is a learning experience. But putting together this seemingly simple quiz was, for me, like taking a master class on U.S. food imports.

Take the quiz, and see how much you know: wapo.st/451OQD6

The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2025 Edition Is there such a thing as too much good barbecue? If you’re trying to determine the fifty best barbecue joints in the state, the answer is yes.

Congratulations to @bbqsnob.bsky.social and @texasmonthly.bsky.social on another indispensable bbq guide: six of the top 10 are located in small towns, none in Dallas and only one in Houston. Also: Franklin didn’t make the top tier. This is how you cover a state. www.texasmonthly.com/interactive/...

Yesterday, I was on foot, waiting for the light to change so I could cross. A young man behind me shouted, “Really? Denim on denim?” He shook his head, offended by my combination of faded jeans and gray-denim jacket.

Just like that, I realized I was the victim of a drive-by fashion critic.

FOOD FEATURE, DIV 3

A story focusing on food, excluding reviews or commentary.

🥇 1st Place: @timcarman.bsky.social
🥈 2nd Place: Emma Glassman-Hughes, @civileats.com
🥉 3rd Place: @hannaraskin.bsky.social
🏅 Honorable Mention: @sharynjackson.bsky.social

Javier Garcia, executive co-chair of the board, will serve as acting CEO. He doesn't expect to hire a new CEO quickly. "We will be taking some time to revisit our leadership structure to ensure it's set up to guide the growth of WCK," per a Garcia an email obtained by the Post.

Erin Gore, the CEO of @WCKitchen, will be leaving the organization on Friday, May 16, for another job. "It's been the honor of a lifetime to help lead this chapter alongside such a determined and compassionate team." Gore wrote in a departing email, obtained by The Post.

After ICE visits, D.C. restaurants fear labor shortage Restaurant owners say last week’s ICE sweep has caused them to lose immigrant workers even as the industry is struggling.

The DHS sweeps last week could lead to a worker shortage and more closures in a restaurant industry already expected to contract this year.
Gift link: wapo.st/4iYK24F

Widespread ICE visits leave D.C. restaurant owners, workers rattled At least seven D.C. restaurants confirmed that ICE agents visited and asked for paperwork on Tuesday.

Owners don’t know what I-9 employee audits will mean for their restaurants, or the future of the industry as a whole, but they say it doesn’t bode well.

Gift link: wapo.st/3YCKmyS

Introducing the 2025 James Beard Media Award Nominees

This is how the psycho circus of DC plays out: One minute, I'm wading through interviews with anxious restaurant owners who are dealing with the Department of Homeland Security demanding paperwork. The next, I'm reading messages that I got a James Beard nomination.
www.jamesbeard.org/stories/2025...

How Millennials Learned to Sit at Their Desks and Love the Bowl Over the past 25 years, American food culture has exploded. But no millennial gastronomic trend—not cronuts, not cupcakes, not even bacon—has endured like the bowl lunch. Here’s why.

For Ringer millennial week, I wrote about...bowls. (With help from @doughboys.bsky.social, @timcarman.bsky.social, and Bret Thorn.) www.theringer.com/2025/05/06/f...