Named for an Algonquian word meaning "let's eat," this cafeteria features Native American-inspired cuisine at five stations representing the Northern Woodlands, Great Plains, Northwest Coast, Meso America, and South America. Shown are pickled acorn squash with sea beans, cherry braised red cabbage, and roasted sweet potatoes with birch bark syrup and pine nut dust. I've decided I prefer my acorn squash unpickled, but also to keep my eyes peeled for local birch-syrup purveyors.
After the manner of all too many stereotyped TV Westerns, you can mingle several Native American traditions on your plate, willy-nilly. My trio all hailed from the Northwest, though I couldn't resist a few forkfuls, off a neighboring plate, of chestnut whipped potatoes from the Woodlands, too. Also shown, from a return visit to the Northern Woodlands: maple pudding fringed with a few crisp bits around its moist, dark heart.
Mitsitam Cafe
Inside the National Museum of the American Indian
4th St. and Independence Ave. S.W., Washington, D.C.
866-868-7774
www.NMAI.si.edu/visit/washington/mitsitam-cafe
Open lunchtime only
