When NOTUS reached out recently to ask me what I’d like to do, the first idea that came to mind was to host a regular Q&A with readers. During my 25 years as the food critic for The Washington Post, from which I took a buyout last summer, the most important hour of my work week was 11 a.m. Wednesdays, when I’d answer reader rants, raves and everything in between.
Ask Tom was a place where I tried to help people find what they wanted, learn something new, solve a dining dilemma. The online exchange was so popular that it often trumped Trump news. The interactions also gave me an immediate sense of what readers were thinking about, which led to a number of my best-read critic’s notebooks.
Besides, even after I left The Post, readers followed me with their questions. Why not create a dedicated forum for responding to them?