A rendering of the St. Anselm dining room. (Rendering by Stokes Architecture)

St. Anselm steakhouse is just weeks away from finalizing its highly-anticipated expansion from Williamsburg to Washington. The tavern-style restaurant expects to open its 5,000 square-foot location at 5th and Morse St. NE on September 9.

St. Anselm is the invention of restaurateurs Joe Carroll and Stephen Starr, known in D.C. as the engine behind 14th Street French favorite Le Diplomate. The original location opened in Brooklyn in 2009 and continues to generate buzz in the city after nearly a decade in business.

Of course, D.C. was once known—perhaps more like mocked—as a town of boring steakhouses. But St. Anselm aims to challenge that stereotype by offering unconventional butcher cuts along with other meats, fish, proteins, and simply-prepared vegetables and sides. Top Chef and D.C. restaurant alum Marjorie Meek-Bradley (of Smoked & Stacked, Roofers Union, and Ripple) will oversee the kitchen as executive chef.

St. Anselm also hopes to be a destination for wine lovers. Carroll expects to have more than 400 labels in stock, including around 60 half-bottles to pick from. That’s in addition to a selection of beers, ciders, and cocktails (three to four will be on draft) designed to pair with the kitchen’s red meat focus.

The D.C. location took three years of conception and construction to come to life. It will feature a 120-seat dining room, a 19-seat U-shaped bar and an 18-seat patio. The most coveted seats of all, however, are likely to be the 13-seat chef’s counter. Renderings indicate an industrial-meets-plush interior, with plenty of dark wood, curtained booths, and white tile.

St. Anselm will follow a string of food openings around Union Market this year, including creperie Petite Loulou, another Blue Bottle Coffee, a D.C. outpost of sushi restaurant O-Ku, and plant-based fast-casual spot Shouk.

A rendering of the St. Anselm dining room. (Rendering by Stokes Architecture)