A ‘Top Chef’ alum is behind an over-the-top steakhouse in the Philly suburbs

West Chester Borough is the Chester County seat, home to West Chester University, and one of the western suburbs’ busiest dining districts, with two dozen bar-restaurants in a just few blocks.

While the downtown has destination restaurants such as Andiaro and Pietro’s Prime, it lacked a splashy steakhouse until this week’s opening of 9 Prime, a takeover of the long-empty, century-old First National Bank building on North High Street, across from the courthouse.

It has 370 seats over two levels, including bars and lounges. Among the dining spaces is the vault, housing a 16-seat table beneath a chandelier. Opening soon will be a members-only, speakeasy-style bar and lounge in the basement with a card-entry off the alley and private parking. Come summer, 9 Prime will have a dining terrace with a retractable glass roof.

Locals have been buzzing about the looks and the investment, which owner John O’Connell acknowledges is “well north of $10 million,” including $4.8 million for the historically certified building, purchased in 2021.

The restaurant is the culmination of a dream for O’Connell, a real estate mogul and banker with deep ties to the borough. What he saw in town was a need for a luxe steakhouse with seafood.

Because 9 Prime has a bar, the dining room, and the lounges, “our selling point is one where you can go in there and each time, it will be a different experience,” O’Connell said. “There’s nothing like that in West Chester.”

“There are quite a few Italian restaurants, and a few of them are pretty good, but I wanted to have something that was going to be unique,” O’Connell said, adding that he does not want to take business from other restaurants, “but to add to business in the borough.”

It’s an impressive sight from the front door, where a three-tier chandelier dominates. A sweeping staircase leads to the mezzanine bar, which extends over the street-level bar and lounge.

The 9 Prime opening menu includes wagyu, Angus, and prime steaks (wet- and dry-aged), seafood towers, scratch-made pasta dishes, a $23 burger, lobster mashed potatoes (gluten-free!) and lobster mac and cheese, and burrata smoked tableside. Most non-steak entrees are in the $30s and $40s — standard for today’s high-end restaurants.

“We’re an elegant place, but we don’t want to be too expensive,” said Top Chef alum Fabio Viviani, whose company operates 9 Prime. Local managers, such as executive chef Ryan Lloyd and general manager Jerome Jones, run the day to day.

The bar list is stocked with premium spirits; cocktails start at $16. Charlie Walsh, the restaurant’s director, said the average check is about $100 a person.

Walsh, also O’Connell’s associate in Con.Wal Development, said they initially had planned to bring in a restaurateur to conceive and operate it, a usual business practice.

Walsh said that although many restaurateurs toured the space, “we just couldn’t craft the deal where it would be beneficial for both sides of the table,” he said. “Call it a moment of frustration and elation at the same time where we just decided to do it ourselves.”

Neither Walsh nor O’Connell had operated a restaurant, though years ago, O’Connell had three Dairy Queens that he sold to nephews. A broker led them to Viviani, the Italian-born chef-restaurateur who appeared on Seasons 5 and 8 of the Bravo series Top Chef.

Viviani said he and his Chicago-based company own and manage about 60 restaurants nationwide. (Locally, Viviani has had a hand in the multi-location Chuck Lager American Tavern and Colbie’s Southern Kissed Fried Chicken.)

“Our company has influenced some of the directions of the restaurant, but I would say that it is a very tight collaboration between the two entities,” Viviani said.

Walsh said they are taking the opening slowly, booking 180 to 200 seats a night — less than half of capacity — “just so we can ensure the quality of service is going to be there.” Eventually, Walsh hopes to serve 500 people a night. He said lunch could begin in 45 to 60 days.

Formal opening is this week. The restaurant began limited seating several weeks ago, but only some people on a 10,000-name “VIP list” could cinch a table. Prime-time tables are sold out for at least a few weeks.

O’Connell said he has been pleased with the initial reaction. “I had a feeling that it will really take off,” he said.