This week, the Fabio Viviani Hospitality/Colby Group and 9 Prime Owners announced they have ended their relationship.
“This decision stems from a shared understanding that the ownership wishes to operate the venue independently and maintain local management,” a statement from Chef Fabio’s team reads. “This separation allows both parties to focus on their respective strengths and priorities, enabling the ownership of 9 Prime to continue enhancing the quality of service, menus, and standards as they see fit for the establishment.”
It then goes on to thank the West Chester community for “their warm welcome and support.”
Earlier this summer, 9 Prime also parted ways with General Manager Jerome Jones. Mr. Jones had led daily operations for the restaurant for much of the last year, at times to mixed results. Service in particular has been skewered on the message boards since the restaurant’s opening earlier this year.
“The cocktails were good, but the bar service while we waited to be sat was so slow,” one user posted to Reddit in April.
“My recent visit to 9 Prime was incredibly disappointing. We endured a two-and-a-half-hour wait without receiving our meal,” shared another to the West Chester Community Facebook Page around the same time. That post received 212 comments including from 9 Prime Director Charlie Walsh who acknowledged the restaurant’s early struggles and pledged to do better.
“The last thing we want at 9 Prime, is to lose any of your confidence,” he wrote. “While no restaurant wants to show that they are going through a learning curve, they all go through them. We are aggressively making changes to ensure these few shortcomings are improved on. While we are appreciative of the hundreds of positive reviews and feedback across all reviews- we do take the negative ones to heart. We will only continue to improve.”.
Perhaps these changes are part of that improvement process. I reached out to the restaurant for a comment on the changes but have yet to receive a response.
Originally published on Aug. 9, 2024
This story was part of a longer West Chester newsletter featuring all the news and events of the week. Curious what else is going on? Subscribe now to get the full story. New issues come out on Fridays!