Stephen Starr's Union Market outpost is a deliberate act of restraint in a dining landscape that tends toward elaboration. St. Anselm is an American tavern devoted to grilled meats and the things that make grilled meats worth eating — fire, quality sourcing, unobtrusive technique, and an eclectic wine list that treats the occasion with more seriousness than the room's laid-back Union Market vibe might suggest. The result is one of DC's most satisfying dining experiences precisely because it has no interest in performing for you.
The menu is deceptively simple: proteins sourced with evident care, cooked over the open grill that dominates the kitchen, accompanied by vegetables and sides that earn their place on the plate. The ax-handle ribeye — a theatrical cut priced by the ounce, running from 45 to 65 oz — is the room's centerpiece, and it delivers the case for quality beef more effectively than a dozen more elaborate preparations. But the menu's intelligence extends beyond the obvious cuts: the rack of lamb, the whole fish, the seasonal vegetable preparations that could anchor a meal on their own all reflect a kitchen that is thinking carefully about sourcing and cooking rather than simply executing a formula.
The wine programme is the room's secret weapon. Natural wines and eclectic international producers arrive on tap — a format that encourages exploration by the glass at prices that make the experimentation feel like pleasure rather than research. The service is warm and unpretentious in the way that the Brooklyn original established and the DC outpost has convincingly transplanted. The dining room hums with the energy of a room that has found its register and refuses to leave it.
Most dishes come in under $50; the ax-handle ribeye is the exception. A full dinner with wine for two runs $150–220 — remarkable value for the quality of the protein and the conviviality of the occasion.