STEAK FRITES BON. DC always struck me as a meat and potatoes kind of town. With so much focus on keeping up to date with nuggets on your Blackberry about the latest appropriations rider, who has time to savor food other than a good steak?

One wonders why it took so long for Smith & Wollensky, Brassiere Les Halles and Bobby Vann's to take the Metroliner down from NYC. Well hold onto your knives and forks because here comes another one: Bistro Laurent Tourondel.

After stints in Paris, London and Moscow, Tourondel (right) opened BLT in mid-town NYC. BLT bills itself as Tourondel's "adaptation of the American Steakhouse, elevating it with his signature style and all-around finesse. The result -- the Modern American Steakhouse." The review says BLT has good beef, lots of sides and a stylish atmoshpere.

BLT will be housed at 1625 Eye St. NW right around the corner from the White House and down the block from Farragut Square as reported by the Washington Business Journal.