Chef Tim Ma digs into his childhood—and culinary toolkit—to create modern American comfort food.

Aside from lunch and dinner, Tim Ma’s American Son is a lively after-hours hangout with a late-night menu.

After his success with the French-Asian restaurant Kyirisan, Tim Ma has branched out to create a uniquely personal menu and dining experience based on his identity as a second-generation American at American Son. The name, notes Ma, was chosen because after his family moved from Taiwan to Arkansas in the late 1970s, that is how his mother would introduce him to her Chinese friends: “my American son.” From the potato croquette with duck fat powder and black garlic molasses to gnocchi made with tofu, this cultural mashup infuses the menu. The vegetable-forward cuisine utilizes seasonal produce sourced from the hotel’s rooftop garden, local zero-waste farms, certified organic and chemical-free Lancaster, Pa., farms and Green Circle chicken. Eaton DC, 1201 K St. NW, DC, (202) 900-8416, americanson1978.com