It only dawned on me as I was seated under the vaulted glass ceiling at BLT Prime, Laurent Tourondel’s third bistro installment in his steak-and-seafood triptych, that long before this space was Rocco DiSpirito’s career-launching Union Pacific, it was Claude Troisgros’s CT. All of this means nothing more than that French chefs like to use their initials to name their restaurants more than Americans do.

In the decade since I first dined here, the dining room has gone from CT’s “Miami Vice”-themed teal and orange (which, come to think of it, also looked an awful lot like the Dolphins’ uniforms) to Union Pacific’s tea-stained faux Zen garden (replete with tinkling fountain). Now it’s trademark BLT: lacquered striped wood against neutral tones and a bar that is meant to be visited en route to the dining room.

BLT Prime is the most masculine of its siblings in the Tourondel family, in that French sort of way that means that while it feels like there’s a lot of wheeling and dealing going on all around us – the tables are packed with suits – there’s also a lot of swooning and oohing-and-ahing in the air over the fabulous food being delivered by a parade of waiters. If this were Le Grand Colbert in Paris, you might hear polite applause as the succulent seafood platter is placed on the table, overflowing with oysters, clams, crab, lobsters, and shrimp ($27). But this is New York, so instead you hear, “Ye-ah!” BLT Prime is debonair with American flair.

The menu is an extension of both BLT Steak and BLT Fish, buffed out with a few Prime originals, including an expansion of the entrees to cover more surf-and-turf categories. Each is listed on the menu separately: beef, veal, lamb, poultry, and fish and shellfish. As the name suggests, this place is more about the turf, of course, but the sumptuous seafood platter is still a fine place to start.

So is the silky tuna tartare ($14) tossed with avocados and a soy-lime dressing, proffered with 5-inch-long paper-thin planks of perfectly salted Idaho potato chips. A chubby, crisp crab cake is accompanied by celery-infused mayonnaise ($16). The earthy-sweet salad of roasted beets with fresh goat cheese ($11) is one of those simple, satisfying dishes that makes you want to memorize it and make it yourself at home – which I did, only it was a lot quieter when I ate it. But the heart-stopping, achingly good grilled double-cut bacon ($9) would be more difficult to replicate chez moi because I don’t have access to the quality of meat that Mr. Tourondel does. (Which is fine, because too much of that bacon would kill me!)

And speaking of great meats, the choices are daunting. While poultry would seem the least alluring category here, the spiced duck breast ($28), seared caramel brown outside and juicy within, is exempla ry, especially because it was served whole – as is typical in Paris bistros, not sliced-and-salamandered, as is the foolish custom here. While the 14-ounce lamb Tbone ($36) and the 14-ounce veal chop ($36) are delicious delegates from their respective precincts, the beef brigade is the ruling class at Prime.

Chef Tourondel stops one cut short of a dozen USDA Prime or Certified Black Angus beef dishes, ranging from a tender 10-ounce hanger ($24) to a whopping 40-ounce porterhouse for two ($64). His signature American Kobe skirt steak and foie gras ($28) was a tease in comparison to his combo a la “Rossini,” a 24-ounce sliced filet interspersed with slivers of chilled foie gras ($98). The braised short ribs ($32) and BBQ brisket ($28) are simpler satisfiers from the less fancy end of the culinary spectrum. Right in the middle is the excellent New York strip ($42), a 1-pound piece of perfection.

Of the 10 sauces offered with meats (first included, additional $3), the most compelling were the garlicky chimichurri and the fiery horseradish. The house steak sauce is a little too sweet for my taste, but quite popular, judging by how many bottles I saw being poured out around me. Sides worth the splurge – after all, you’ve already spent a fortune if you’ve gotten this far – include blue cheese-bathed tater tots and parmesan-infused gnocchi (both $7), creamy corn succotash and a tower of onion rings (both $8), and simply braised morels ($12).

Desserts (all $9) included a mouthwatering strawberry-rhubarb shortcake, a rich-but-light huckleberry New York cheesecake, and a savory carrot-walnut cake with butterscotch syrup. For a few bucks more, you could opt for dessert in a glass by way of sommelier Fred Dexheimer’s dessert wine picks, which include a honey-scented Donnafugata 2002 Passito di Pantelleria ($11) and a dried-fruit cornucopia in a glass by way of Coume del Mas 2003 Banyuls “Quintessence” ($19).

Can’t decide? Ask for Mr. Dexheimer, whose youthful enthusiasm and looks belie his considerable experience and talent for amassing wines that are both familiar and cutting-edge. His list, categorized by both aromatic style – such as “Rich, Savory, Complex” whites and “Soft, Fresh, Smooth” reds – as well as by grape varieties, makes what at first looks like an intimidating list far more userfriendly. Best of all is a “Short List” of around 40 bottles featuring Mr. Dexheimer’s favorites under $100, many of them priced under $50. Those bargain bottles will most certainly help soothe the sticker shock of the bill while also making wonderful food taste all the more sublime.

BLT Prime, 111 E. 22nd St., 212-995-8500.