The job of a restaurant critic often leads to the head chef boiling with fury beneath their toque blanche.
However, as a result of a recent review, a cheating husband is the one to have been left as thoroughly skewered as a poorly rated kebab, with his affair laid as bare as a plateful of chips without ketchup.
Washington Post food writer Tom Sietsema is known for giving superb dining recommendations for the good people of Washington DC. And now he has inadvertently added another prong to his fork; as a highly effective – albeit accidental – private eye…
Sietsema’s latest review contained an incriminating photograph of a married man enjoying a meal out with a woman who wasn’t his wife.
Unfortunately for this wayward hubby, his wife is apparently a fan of Sietsema’s writing, and clocked the pic while reading his latest review.
During his weekly Q&A session, Sietsema shared a screenshot of a response from the wife in question, who thankfully appeared to be more grateful than furious.
The response read:
Well Tom your latest review is accompanied by a picture of my husband dining with a woman who isn’t me! Once confronted with photographic evidence, he confessed to having an ongoing affair.
Just thought you’d be amused to hear of your part in the drama. This Thanksgiving I’m grateful to you for exposing a cheat!
Clearly shocked by his part in this dramatic reveal, Sietsema replied:
Please, please, please tell me this is a crank post. I’d hate to learn otherwise. I file two reviews a week, for Food and the Magazine, so I’m not sure which restaurant this is.
The screenshot quickly went viral, with Sietsema’s readership soaking up the juice like a nicely basted turkey.
One person noted:
With all the openness of contemporary social media, people seem to have forgotten the crucial skill of how to sneak around and meet in dark-lit places where no one can catch you.
Another said:
A former colleague of mine got similarly caught out. His wife was flicking through a holiday brochure and was stunned to see a pic of her husband poolside at an upscale Spanish resort with another woman. They divorced soon after.
As of yet, it’s unclear what exactly the scorned wife’s next steps were. However, I for one sincerely hope she treated herself to a slap up dinner with dessert on the joint account…
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.