America Eats Tavern Earns Two Stars from Sietsema

Tom Sietsema visits José Andrés' second incarnation of America Eats Tavern in Tysons Corner. The result is two stars.

You'll shell out six bucks for a basket of bread here, but it's money well spent; the tender biscuits and fluffy cornbread are both very good, and they come with a ramekin of soft butter that hides a sweet secret: blackberry jam in the center. Just as pleasing are crisp hushpuppies, their centers veined with corn kernels. Nestled in butcher paper, the snacks are best ordered with a spread of trout roe and butter.

Waldorf salad's another strong point, while peanut soup and Caesar salad are skippable. [WaPo]

Meanwhile, Siestema has mostly nice things to say about the new Anthem in the Marriott Marquis. Try the chicken and waffles sandwich, or the refined chicken soup.

The chef's most important client had a simple request: Make the Mighty Mo available, instructed no less than J.W. Marriott Jr., the hotel company's executive chairman and chairman of the board. One of a handful of Hot Shoppes classics, the double-decker hamburger is presented with Mighty Mo sauce in a sesame seed bun alongside onion rings that smack of a freezer product. The recipe for the condiment — ketchup, lemon, chili sauce, mayonnaise — comes straight from the hotel archives and stands the test of time. [WaPo]

The $20 Diner hits up a brewery, this time Right Proper in Shaw. The beers are exciting; the food is less impressive.

Cain and kitchen have a tendency to overwork their snacks and sandwiches, in what sometimes smells like an attempt to match the innovation on the brewery side. They're also battling, on many nights, the forces of sheer volume, which has led to sloppiness. I've dined on undercooked biscuits and a "southern fried chick-filet" sandwich that dripped with well-used fryer oil. Yet some issues are conceptual: The lamb French dip is a smart twist on the original, but the robust bite bursts with so much sharp mustard and salty gruyere that it renders the red wine jus superfluous. [WaPo]

Bethesda Magazine samples MOMO Chicken + Jazz.

It's nice to have a source for Korean fried chicken in Bethesda, even if it's not as good as Bonchon, as several Yelpers have lamented. Still, it has that amazing non-greasy, crackly armor that gives the double-fried poultry an edge over the traditional American version... There's a lot more to this menu than fried chicken, however. A large roster of Korean appetizers, soup, salads, entrees and rice and noodle dishes includes some respectable renditions of the traditional staples." [BM]

Tyler Cowen tries out Bawarchi which serves Chettinad food. "Get the chilies in curry sauce (mirchi), various forms of fish, eggplant curry, utthapam, the goat dishes, and they claim the specialty is biryani (I haven't had it there yet). The Chettinad chicken is also very tasty." [TC]

Don Rockwell returns to Ghibellina, and ends up wishing he'd ordered the pizza. "We'd already ordered Antipasto d'Estate (for two) ($24), Burrata cheese, balsamic-roasted cippolini onions, marinated rapini, sweet peas mash, and some unannounced button mushrooms. While the charcuterie was well-sourced, this dish was flawed, under-seasoned, under-salted, and lacking punch. Every single item was bland, and essentially, a "Burrata for one" was stretched into a "Burrata for two" due to all the condiments - which added about $10 to the price. " [DR]

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