American Son Gets Tom Sietsema to Order Seconds

American Son

Dining critic Tom Sietsema drew a low-effort commute with his review this week, a walk literally a block away from the Washington Post building on K Street NW to American Son at the Eaton hotel downtown. Although the restaurant has been open for less than a month, chef Tim Ma was able to delight Sietsema with the first item listed on the menu, the inconspicuously labeled potato croquette. Fried spuds arrive looking like a funnel cake at a state fair. But in this case, the snowfall of sugar and chocolate sauce is subbed out for powdered duck fat and black garlic molasses. “To sample the bold dish is to taste a hit — and quickly place a second order,” Sietsema writes. The critic’s only real complaint is the house-made ricotta with lavendar honey and za’atar crackers, which was “memorable mostly for leaving diners with sticky fingers.” [WaPo]

Bún DC

Earlier this week, Washington Post $20 diner Tim Carman trekked to Columbia Heights to sample Vietnamese noodle bowls — but not pho — at Bún DC. Carman feels right at home slurping a crab noodle soup that’s “front-loaded with pig offal” inside a room filled with the comforting aroma of fish sauce. But the critic encounters a problem with, of all things, the bún. In bowls without broth, the rice vermicelli noodles never soak up the house-made nuoc mam sauce, a condiment Carman commends for “umami rot ... powerful enough to make worlds align.” Because of the noodles, he can’t quite craft “a coherent bite.” If diners stick to the soups, he advises, there are plenty of reasons to eat here. [WaPo]

Correction: This post has been updated to correct Tim Carman’s name.

Lupo Verde Osteria

Bitches Who Brunch braved the Palisades to try Italian outfit Lupo Verde’s new Osteria outpost for the bourgeois set in Northwest. Writer Cori Sue Morris and her friend washed down their eggs with “perfectly well-balanced” spritzes. Morris said frittatas don’t excite her but noted the one she ordered was filled with her ideal ingredients: roasted mushrooms, goat cheese, and spring onions. The plate, she writes, “is the perfect healthy soccer mom dish that they need on the menu in the Palisades.” The Hollandaise sauce on her friend’s eggs benedict was light and “exceptional.” Cacio e pepe, “topped with an egg, to make it brunchy,” is “divine,” and tiramisu french toast is a “must-order.” [BWB]