By JIM KEVLIN'
Walk into Prime 289 through the floor-to-ceiling glass entryway, and the impact is immediate.
It’s the circular dining booth, right in front of you, its round back 6-7 feet tall, something you’d expect to see in a Fred Astaire movie from New York City’s cabaret days of the 1930s.
In short, very neat. Unique to these parts, certainly.
“We call it the coliseum,” said co-proprietor David Zummo on a tour of the “Chop House & Wine Bar” a few days after it opened in mid-April.
The place had been packed every night. As your eyes get used to the dim coziness, they begin to wander. White tablecloths and napkins. Christine Alexander’s bright paintings enliven the exposed brick walls.
The brown-leather-backed chairs and booths were custom made in Connecticut for Zummo and his business partner, Adrian Origoni. Greg Emerson, a craftsman with the Twelve Tribes, then echoed the simple floral pattern in the ironwork railings.
The heavy front door is built of vintage wood from an old barn, and the hammered metal handle has a Medieval feel, suggesting feasting is going on inside. The sharp black iron-trimmed vertical windows were fabricated in Pennsylvania.
Zummo, proprietor of the popular Latte Lounge, and Origoni, who owns the Sip & Sail Tavern on Water Street, have been in the restaurant biz for decades, but Prime 289 – it is actually at 291 Main St., across from City Hall – is something both men have aspired to for years.
Zummo ticked off feature: “Quality space, quality ingredients, a real quality staff.”
“We did not want to cut corners anywhere,” said Origoni.
Let’s get to what it’s all about: the food.
If Zummo were a first-time customer, he’d order the 18-ounce boneless New York Strip. Origoni is partial to the 22-ounce bone-in Delmonico. Both prime cuts, of course.
For starters, both would go with the Tuna Tartare, “ahi tuna, roma tomatoes, fresh avocado, sprouts, horseradish sauce, balsamic glaze.” Yum.
For dessert? The cheesecake – or rather, Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Raspberry Gelato – said Zummo. Wines? Origoni is enthusiastic about the Wild Horse selections from California.
Of course, that just scratches the surface. There’s fish – Cedar Plank Salmon, with sesame and orange ginger relish, plus. Salads – roast beet and asparagus, among others. Appetizers – Chesapeake-style Crab Cakes. And many more “sinful” desserts.
Zummo, an Oneonta native and graduate of the CIA (Culinary Institute of America), got his first experience in the restaurant trade washing dishes locally at What’s Your Beef.
Returning home from a stint in Atlanta, he was involved with Marty Payton in launching The Farmhouse in Emmons, and also in the start of the Ponderosa. He bought the Magic Bean in December 2003, ran it for two days, closed it for renovations, and reopened it as the Latte Lounge that January.
Origoni was born in South America and raised in Roxbury, entering the business in the banquet trade at the former Cathedral Farms, now Cooperstown All Star Village in West Oneonta. He was head chef and manager at Sabatini’s before buying the Sip & Sail, the Water Street bar.
“Adrian was a customer of mine and I was a customer of his,” said Zummo, and the two learned they shared a dream. For a couple of years now, they’ve been scouting out properties as they became available.
291 Main is the former Sego Cafe, and the two had looked at it a couple of times.
On Friday, the phone rang. “I need to know by Monday,” said Rick Weinberg, the building’s owner.
“I called Adrian,” said Zummo, “and he said, ‘Why not?’”
And so they did.
IF YOU GO:
Prime 289, Main Street, Oneonta. Reservations, call 353-7032. Check offers at http://prime289.net
No comments:
Post a Comment