Prime on Whitfield — Restaurant in Guilford

Look. We’re just as surprised as the rest of you that Guilford, CT not only has a spot like Prime on Whitfield, but that people are supporting it. Enthusiastically. Guilford has clearly changed. For a long time (and I’m talking 30 years that I am personally aware of) there was no food scene of any kind in Guilford. It was almost like the “anti food” town. As if the town was proud to have zero to terrible dining out options and even a very sad grocery store.

Well! I’m here to tell you things have changed and it can’t be a bad thing.

Prime on Whitfield took over a pizza place directly on The Green in Guilford and completely redid the space. It is not large, but it is very open, bright, nice finishes. It’s a fun set up. Lively, upbeat, SOCIAL.

The only problem is the noise level. The place is LOUD. Ceiling is high, all surfaces are hard, there is no actual separation between bar and dining area. They have installed large, sound buffering “tiles” on the ceiling, but we still SHOUTED at each other throughout our entire meal. And it was only 3 of us. I don’t think it would be possible to communicate with a larger party.

Also, our reservation was 5pm on a Tuesday. By 6pm every table was full. GOOD FOR PRIME AND GUILFORD!!! That’s the kind of restaurant scene you want to see!

Service is a bit odd. They’re new and they’re busy. But they’re also clearly using the extremely old school style of service: strict hierarchy (host/hostess, waiter/waitress, bussers, dining room manager lurking); and each of the waitstaff having assigned tables. I’ve owned a MUCH LESS formal restaurant for the past 10 yrs. I disavow this model of service because it creates bad service. When waitstaff works together, as a team, everyone gets better service.

I think they might be slightly understaffed with waitstaff, since I only saw 3 on the floor. But, there was that manager, just lurking around, “managing.” In a team situation EVERYONE pitches in to help and that would give them another person on the floor taking orders, running food…

I had two Gin and Tonics. First one was very good. I was impressed. Second one, tonic was flat.

My food:

Buffalo Cauliflower App: Served with a cone of deep fried cauliflower with sides of hot sauce and bleu cheese dressing. DELICIOUS!! I mixed my sauces together and then dipped cauliflower in. Cauliflower was cut small, easy to eat, but also nice and crunchy. And since they were not sauced before being served they STAYED crunchy. Best Buffalo Cauliflower I’ve had.

Caesar Salad: Solid Meh. I’ve had worse. I’ve had much better. I wouldn’t get it again.

Chilean Sea Bass: (it’s never actually Chilean Sea Bass). Served with King Crab Fried Rice and Fennel Salad (only the salad never came). They seem to like to “stack” their food and create that “tower effect” which I strongly dislike. However, my food was piping hot, even though it was teetering on top of each other. My piece of fish was PERFECTION. Really fantastic. Cooked perfectly, silky texture, slightly crispy on the edges. The King Crab Fried Rice is a fail. Not good. (Mom’s fried rice from her Hibachi entree was MUCH better.)

Belgian Waffle Sundae: Again, someone is overly concerned with presentation. This was delicious. Says it’s served with vanilla gelato. It’s not, it’s ice cream. Also, someone should probably investigate serving real whipped cream. The waffle tastes like awesome fried dough. Entire sundae is deconstructed, so you have to get a chunk of brownie and then try to drag everything around on the plate if you want any chocolate or caramel sauce. Meh to that presentation. Put some sauce OVER TOP of your Sundae tower.

They’re new. They might be working out some bugs. They’re busy. If I lived nearby I would definitely frequent the bar and eat Buffalo Cauliflower and...

Our Lunch Ordeal

We arrived on our second visit to a lonely looking, dark room. Seated at a high top table for two in a window overlooking the green our drink order taken we studied the menu curiously as we were warned that items - long on the list - had need “changed up”, apparently because the kitchen enjoyed experimenting with new concoctions on the clientele’s dime.

Onion Soup, Philly Cheese Steak, Guacamole Dip and Caesar Salad were ordered by the two of us. Simple right? What could go wrong?we were soon to find out!

Now all the world knows a Philly Cheese Steak is shaved steak with melted cheese on a grinder roll. All the world with the exception of the people in Prime’s kitchen who decided to use large, sliced, overcooked pieces of steak and roasted peppers soaked in vinegar to the venerable American classic rendering the concoction inedible. The weird sandwich was preceded by a tiny cup of something gone terribly wrong called “onion soup” by the mad cook who runs the kitchen - unrestrained by management. Perhaps a bag of salt accidentally spilled into the soup caldron. Whatever the case the effort to consume the presentation was abandoned due to my fear of sending my blood pressure into the “stroke zone”.

Unless you’re doggedly determined to do so it is impossible to screw up a Caesar Salad. Well the mad cooks in the kitchen did the impossible! Romaine lettuce needs to be fresh and stiff enough to hold the salad dressing and not allowing It to fall off. I have never witnessed my wonderful wife excuse herself from the table without finishing a salad. Until today that is.

It is also hard to imagine ways to ruin Guacamole dip. Prime’s kitchen staff - relentless in pursuit of something novel - have found a way by adding just enough lime juice to eclipse the flavor of the Avocado!

Throughout our sojourn into culinary wonderland staff remained unconcerned never once asking how things were.

All...

I really hate writing about a somewhat mixed experience, but here we are. My husband and I came in with high expectations for a Father's Day dinner, because we had heard good things about Prime from family. Our high expectations were met by the appetizers. The appetizers were delicious and well proportioned. The staff was pretty friendly, but seemed very busy and spread thin. I got the salmon with risotto dish. I cook risotto on the regular and to me their risotto was dry, dry, dry and resembled a rice pilaf. My husband's $70 delmonico steak was ordered medium and showed up well done and to his standards...pretty dry. He attempted to cut into it to see maybe if the middle was medium, and it was not. By the time the waitress returned to ask if the food was ok, my husband had decided to gather his courage and send the steak back. Honestly, he felt really bad, but for $69 and for Fathers Day, he wanted to enjoy his food. He was looking forward to eating a great steak. The waitress said she would have it out in a flash and "rush" it through. After 20 minutes I had finished eating and my husband had lost his appetite. We waited for a while and tried to waive the waitress down to say we just wanted to go, and not to put the steak on, because we HATE wasting food. It took a while to get her attention, so we talked to a lady at the hostess station next to us. She spoke with a gentleman who was in charge. He was very nice and said he would take care of it and just take it off the bill, since we needed to go. We said ok great, we appreciate it and thanks. No sooner than we said that, the steak showed up. The gentleman told the waitress we didn't want it, then asked me if I wanted it. I don't like meat. He then told the waitress to box it up for us. Then we got charged for it anyways and a piece of meat is wasted. It won't be as good tomorrow and after sitting will not be...