Tom Sietsema Dining
★ ★ (Good)
Bond 45 149 Waterfront St., Oxon Hill. 301-839-1445.
bond45.com.
Open: 5 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. Major credit cards. Valet parking at dinner $10. Parking lot nearby.
prices: Lunch appetizers $8-$25, entrees $14-$48; dinner appetizers $6-$25, entrees $28-$85.
sOund check: 73 decibels/Must speak with raised voice.
suiTABLe Part of the Fireman Hospitality Group in New York, Bond 45 gets its name from an old clothing store called Bond on 45th Street in Manhattan. Customers got two pairs of pants with the purchase of every suit.
Tom chats live at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays. Join him and find videos, blog posts and more at washingtonpost. com/
tomsietsema.
antipasti of artichoke couscous, grilled asparagus, eggplant capanota and roasted red peppers.
“Cocktails?” You look up from your perch
to see Ms. or Mr. Congeniality, who explains the Italian menu. The descriptions make everything sound appealing; even when a server up-sells some cheese, you can’t fault the delivery. (And as it happens, the house-made burrata, priced $4 higher than the $8 mozzarella we first considered, is buttery and decadent.) The guide’s departure is followed by the delivery of the first of several treats: freshly baked and slightly cheesy popovers. Cocktails selected from Bond
45’s “Prohibition” list will make you grin. They’re poured from teapots into matching cups, just the way New York owner Shelly Fireman says his grandmother served the strong stuff back when it was illegal. The glass I keep returning to mixes gin, elderflower liqueur, and grapefruit and lemon juices. It’s called Illegally Blonde and goes down easily. The classics are just as intoxicating. To maintain a good mood,
A warm harbor T
in Prince George’s Bond 45 offers abundant Italian fare
here’s no red carpet at Bond 45 in National Harbor. It just feels that way. The sense that you’re in the home of an especially exuberant host sometimes begins at the long, stained-oak bar, where mixologists
give arrivals a verbal salute. Other times, the professional embrace commences with a dapper greeter who ushers diners through the middle of an open kitchen to their table in one of several handsome rooms graced with antique tiles, art-deco-style light fixtures and wine-colored leather banquettes. Smart start: To the right of the path, patrons catch steaks and
fish coming off the heat. To the left, a rainbow of vegetable salads and charcuterie is on display behind glass. Even before you see a menu, you’re hankering for something grilled and something green.
30 The WashingTon PosT Magazine | JUNE 13, 2010
graze among the vegetable antipasti. For $21, the table gets a choice of four items. Roasted red and yellow peppers brighten up a plate, as do earthy beets paired with juicy orange. Sweet and sour eggplant is both, thanks to capers and raisins in the mix, and broccoli rabe is better for its tan slivers of garlic. There are artichokes, too, in a fluffy couscous speckled with tomatoes and peppers. Like your prelude heartier? Meatballs draped in tomato sauce are big, soft and satisfying; eggplant Parmesan is home-style comfort. Steamed clams swim in a tomato-y and slightly spicy broth that puts those popovers to more use. As with the original Bond 45,
in New York’s theater district, this waterfront retreat is big
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SCOTT SUCHMAN
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158