Peter Lugar's

Yesterday afternoon we found ourselves in Williamsburg at the Radegast Hall & Bierbarten with friends. The torrential rain kept us there drinking fun beers for a while, and before we knew it, it was dinner time and Peter happened to remember that we were only  a few blocks away from Peter Lugar's Steakhouse.  We figured that the rain might keep enough people away that we could hop in without a reservation. 

It's surprisingly well-lit and casual, which was fine by us since we were wearing shorts (that happened to be completely soaked).  The waiter's have a reputation for being a bit brusque, but our server was quite nice.  He did start by telling us exactly what to order, but it sounded so good we didn't really deviate from his suggestions.

We started with the tomato and onion salad.  It's quite good, especially with their steak sauce spooned on top, but I think we've been so spoiled with truly amazing tomatoes lately that it didn't really sing for me.  Next he brought over a long piece of the thick cut bacon.  Now this sang.  It's salty and crispy and the fat does this incredible melt in your mouth trick that I've never experienced before.  Life changing bacon (if bacon had the ability to change lives, of course...). 

The steak for two came out next on a scorching hot plate.  We told our server that Peter liked his steak medium rare and I liked medium, and he when he said, "No problem!" I wasn't quite sure he was going to resolve this issue.  But when he set the platter down, he quickly picked up a few pieces and put them on the side of the plate -- they sizzled like they were going into a hot skillet and browned up a bit to a perfect medium.  He wouldn't tell me how they got the platter so hot, but when we got home, a show on the top steak houses in America happened to be on the Food Network (Peter Lugar's was chosen as the best).  I saw a shot of them pulling the plates out the massive oven with the meat already on top!  There's clarified butter and delicious steak juices floating on the platter, and he spooned right on top of our plates. 

The sirloin pieces were meaty with the great little lines of fat running throughout; the fillet pieces were buttery and so, so soft.  We got the creamed spinach to go with it, which was truly the perfect companion because it was a different taste without taking up too much room in the stomach.  Because trust me, you want as much space in your stomach as possible for this meal.