By Mike Bowe
Huntington Prime opened in February 2010 in the West Virginia Building located in downtown Huntington. The objective in opening the restaurant was to take a fine dining approach to local West Virginia grown and raised foods. In the mid-summer months, at least half of all of our produce is grown locally, while we source winter and fall vegetables as best we can. Our rainbow trout is another West Virginia product and is farmed from Wilson Mills. We source all of our pork from Mason County farms. Huntington Prime specializes in hand-cut steaks and an array of fish and shellfish, as well as vegan and vegetarian entrees. Day-to-day kitchen operations are overseen by Chef Jared Bradley. Our artisan breads and desserts use local eggs from Mason County, and our pastry chef, Cheri Godfrey, only uses made-from-scratch ingredients in her baking.
My vision for Huntington Prime has always been to create a dining room where guests feel like they are coming home. The stone and wood décor, woodstone hearth oven located at the bar and our homemade breads and desserts help us meet this goal. Through every element of our restaurant—the décor, friendly service and unique yet cozy foods—we strive to make our customers comfortable so that they can enjoy their dining experience. We also boast a unique array of wines, offering our guests more than 105 bottles to choose from.
In January 2012 we expanded to the 15th floor of the West Virginia Building where we now operate Huntington Prime’s Penthouse & Piano Bar. We are open for dinner in the penthouse Thursday through Saturday, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. This new venue offers floor-to-ceiling windows and breathtaking views of the Ohio River, Marshall University and downtown Huntington. Our guests take a non-stop ride 15 stories up our privately operated freight elevator to the tallest dining room from the ground up in the State of West Virginia. Diners will enjoy the same menu as our main dining room while enjoying live piano music on our baby grand piano by pianist Michael Campbell.
This expansion has given us more room for the everyday diner as well as plenty of space for private events, large or small, including banquets, rehearsal dinners, wedding receptions, business meetings and presentations, family reunions and birthday parties.
