SoNo’s getting a brand new restaurant and it’s called Washington Prime, Eating + Drinking Well. It will be located in the brand new Ironworks SoNo…a similar set up like Harlan Social in the Harbor Point area of Stamford.
The People Behind Washington Prime
SoNo’s newest restaurant is a team effort with Rob Moss, Marco Siguenza, and Executive Chef Jared Falco. Starting with Rob, he has been a manager at Match and Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar in Greenwich, and has helped to create cb5 restaurants such as Red Lulu, Lolita, Chinawhite, 30 Boltwood and OAK Longbar & Kitchen. Marco has some excellent restaurant experience, too. Like Rob, he has worked at Match, but he also has some other major restaurant cred for helping to open up 55 Degrees in Fairfield and Scena Wine Bar in Darien. Although he is no longer connected with these restaurants, his cousins continue to run it and Marco starts this new endeavor.
And, then we have Executive Chef Jared Falco, a Long Island boy just like Dan. Jared graduated from the French Culinary Institute in NY and snagged an amazing internship at arguably one of the best restaurants in NYC: Daniel Boulud’s Daniel. He continued to work at Daniel after the internship, then also began working at 1770 House in East Hampton, WD50, interned again at Nomain in the Netherlands, and worked with Rob at cb5 to provide “front of the house training.”
Food + Drinks
From what we can see from a recent press release, it looks like Washington Prime is a New England Modern American kinda joint with heavy seafood influences. No doubt that comes from the chef’s extensive experience on Long Island and having the bounty of The Sound and the ocean at his disposal. Here are some highlights to look for:
• Knuckle & Claw with LI Lobster, Tennessee blue grits, lobster sauce, smoked butter, and tobiko
• Mussels with housemade sausage, preserved green peppers, white beans, and unit butter
• Shrimp a la Linda with chili flakes, parsley, and cognac cream sauce
• Little Neck Clams with smoked tomato, olives, chilies, shaved fennel, and butter. Ah, butter.
• Lobster Casino, Oyster Rockefeller, and Broiled Giant Cold Water Australian Lobster Tails
• A Raw Bar
• Lots of comfort food and plenty of small plate options
• “Hearty” Salads
• Prime Steaks: USDA prime certified, aged, then charred and cooked to perfection in a 900° broiler
• Side Dishes with some added Southern flare and “twang”
• As an added bonus, almost all dishes are gluten-free
• Plenty of craft beer options and a good variety of wines for perfect pairings
• Classic cocktails such as their Prime Martini that comes with a DIY kit so you can add in items like blue cheese, anchovy stuffed olives, pickled pearl onions, rosemary clementine, and queso stuffed jalapenos. And, when you polish that one off, you’ll have a backup chilled carafe of gin/vodka waiting for ya on the table.
Opening Day and Seating
As of now, Washington Prime is slated to open mid to late July…that still gives you plenty of summertime to enjoy their outdoor seating and lounge area that can seat about 40 people. In addition, there are 95 seats in the main dining area, a 14 seat private dining room, and a beautiful natural stone and white Carrera marble counter top bar that seats 18 people.
We’re excited at the prospect of Washington Prime because we’re always on the lookout for great seafood spots. ‘Til then.
Washington Prime
141 Washington Street
South Norwalk, CT
Dan and Kristien Del Ferraro
OmNomCT 
Unfortunately another bad outing at a new Fairfireld County restaurant. We had not had such a negative experience since dinning at the Welk. The evening started off nicely. The bartender and drinks were quite good. Service was excellent and we all looked forward to an enjoyable dinning experience. Unfortuantely, that is where the train went off the rails. We ordred the seafood tower to begin the evening and after an extremely long wait, it arrived; not as a tower but simply seafood on a metal tray with severly melted ice. Presentation, an F. That would have been easy enough to over look until we began sampling our appetizer. The oder was foul and the Crab simply was rotten. How this nade it out of the kitchen is anyone’s guess. Next came the steaks. Both a Ribeye and strip were ordered medium rare. They were both severly over cooked. Although the seasoning was quite good it could not overcome the meat being well done, chewy and dry. Further problems extended to the side dishes with the greens being served with the staks but the potatoe never showing up dispite several requests. We did speak with the manager who was very apologetic and made a small adjustment to the bill. Perhpas we were simply a freak occurance but that would be hard to believe. We will wait to see if they survive 6 months and if so give it another try as the location and a decor was quite inviting. After living in NYC for years where virtually a good meal can be had anywhere it is hard to believe we are so starved for quality restaurants here. Hopefully they will get their kithcen together.
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Man, that’s disappointing and sad to hear While this was their soft opening weekend, sending out bad seafood should never happen. We would like to try, but we’re apprehensive.
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