Phil Ferro, the acclaimed chef and restaurateur behind Chadd’s Ford Tavern and Kings Tavern, finally acquired The National Bank of Coatesville building located at 112 E. Lincoln Hwy, where he’ll open his newest concept 30 Prime Seafood and Chophouse when renovations are completed sometime next year.
According to Ferro, 30 Prime will offer a different promotion each night of the week, such as a prime rib night, a snow crab night, and a buck-a-shuck clam and shrimp cocktail night, capitalizing on a loss leader strategy to get people in the door.
Likewise, Ferro says that the basement of the 5,400-square-foot building will house an events space that can host baby showers, bridal showers, and community events, with the restaurateur telling Philly Voice in an interview published last Friday, Feb 3, that the basement will also be open daily for lunch, “as a business express buffet with chicken, fish, pasta, salad, and soup.”
While it took Ferro some three years to get the Bank Building project off the ground, it nonetheless allowed him to parlay the venture into a few other concepts and deals, including a brewpub, an exclusive agreement with the nearby Velodrome development, and even a YouTube channel, Million Dollar Chef.
“It’s been an almost three-and-a-half-year process. The original owners approached me at my Chadd’s Ford Tavern location, and wanted to try to do some kind of partnership – and renovate the building and go partners on the business,” Ferro tells What Now Philadelphia, adding that at the time they couldn’t come to an agreement.
Nevertheless, while working on the Bank Building agreement, Ferro met the owner of a building three doors down, Mark Milanese, who had envisioned putting a brewery in the space for the past 30 years. The result will be Steel City Brewing, which is set to open later this year.
Having cut his teeth on renovating the King’s Tavern space, formerly Mr. E’s, a little over a year ago, Ferro is becoming something of a seasoned pro at turning otherwise derelict buildings into thriving restaurants.
As such, in an effort to document what is sure to be a fascinating process at the National Bank of Coatesville, he recently launched a YouTube channel, Million Dollar Chef.
“The YouTube channel came about because of the buildings – because we wanted to document the revitalization of Coatesville somehow. So it was my idea to brand it the Million Dollar Chef, to show people we’ll take an abandoned building that nobody wanted and turn it into a million dollar property.”
Ferro continues, “Once we get into the construction we’ll start releasing more episodes about why we do things the way we do, how to take a bank building with 18-inch think concrete floors and vaults, and how to transform that into a restaurant.”
To follow along with the Million Dollar Chef and the saga of the National Bank of Coatesville project, amongst others, check out the YouTube channel here.
