Annie's Paramount Steakhouse, Washington, D.C.

Today has been the Feast of St. Lawrence (or St. Laurent, if one is French), patron saint of librarians, archivists, accountants, and cooks. Deacon Lawrence was martyred in the Third Century by being roasted on a gridiron.

Peter, Robert, and I elected to observe the saint's day by going out for dinner tonight to have grilled steaks.

We chose for our sacred festivities Annie's Paramount Steak House near Dupont Circle, where we knew we could get decent steaks without paying for the whole cow. I think we made an excellent decision.

While Robert had cole slaw, Peter and I both got tossed salads with which to start. Then, the main courses came. Peter got a big, bacon-wrapped filet mignon and baked potato that looked quite tasty. I had the grilled sirloin steak with a baked potato, and I was quite pleased with my choice. Robert, though, being a convert to Episcopalianism from something dreadfully low church like Pentecostalism or Assembly of God or one of those other denominations I never do, hasn't quite yet grasped the Anglo-Catholic concept of the Invocation of Saints, and got his usual large-cut prime rib instead of a grilled steak. But, at least the prime rib had been roasted.



We washed our steaks down with gin martinis. Then, for dessert, Robert had another martini. Peter and I stuck to more traditional sweets, he having the chocolate cake (a dense looking thing he said was rich and good) with a glass of milk (he was driving the Mercedes tonight, so he couldn't drink) and I had their cheesecake with strawberry topping.



Annie's is always a fun place to go, and we always enjoy the waiters there. And, the prices are right, with the steaks being right around $20; at some of the "nice" steakhouses in town, those same steaks would easily cost more than twice that, and we got our salads and potatoes included at that price, too, whereas at the other places, everything is à la carte.