About Us
Our Story
Terry Greenhill & Ferdi Pacelli, founders of Prime Steak & Grill have been business partners and friends for over 25 years. Their very first venture was to bring freshly cooked Italian food to their stomping ground of the home counties. This concept, Zaza, has grown organically to eight successful restaurants with the commitment to a ‘cooked from scratch’ approach as strong today as when the doors opened to their first restaurant.
The philosophy of organic growth is at the heart of their partnership and after several visits “across the pond“ they realised there was an opportunity to use their newfound love for the classic New York Steakhouse to open the first Prime Steak and Grill in 2014.
The success of the business lies not only in their obvious commitment to quality but also hugely down to “being happy” – just one of the many reasons they remain such good friends after 25 years.
“If we focus on making sure the priority of the business is ensuring happiness, whether team member or guest – the rest is so much easier to deliver.”
With three successful Primes already in operation and more in the pipeline, these philosophies will continue to be at the heart of what we do.
Our Team
Tracey Matthews
Chief Operating Officer
Tracey joined Prime in 2018 after 18 years with Gaucho restaurants by firstly leading the people team as Human Resources Director. It was in this role that Tracey created the “first of its kind” training academy that demonstrated a world class commitment to the training and development of its teams. After eight years Tracey was promoted to Managing Director positioning Gaucho as an internationally respected Premium Steakhouse. After 30 years in the industry Tracey’s passion for people continues unabated and she is excited to be spear heading Prime’s development and future growth.
Jamie Robertson
Group Executive Chef
With an international career of over 20 years Jamie joined the team in 2020 after working closely alongside Genarro Contaldo creating menu dishes for Jamie Oliver’s International restaurants, as well as many years working for Gordon Ramsay as Group executive chef.
Jamie’s career includes time spent in Dubai, Hong Kong and London working as Chef Director for a top London Steakhouse. Jamie's passion is to work with exceptional quality produce to create memorable dishes that guests return for time and time again.
Sebastian Caldarea
General Manager of Chandlers Cross
Seb joined the Prime team 6 years ago as a host bringing with him 9 years of international hospitality experience. His passion for excellence and his desire to create exceptional dining experiences for his guests saw him rise through the Prime management development programme. Seb was promoted to General Manager taking over St Albans in 2023 before moving to lead the team in Chandlers Cross in July 2024
Diana Sofron
Senior General Manager of Beaconsfield
With over 10 years of hospitality experience both in Europe and in the UK, Diana joined the Prime family in 2016 as a host. Diana’s natural flair for service saw her quickly join the management development programme. Her natural ability combined with fantastic leadership and her enthusiasm to learn new things saw her become a General Manager in 2019 in St Albans, and since then she’s been our red headed superstar and in March 2024 Diana moved to lead the team in Prime Beaconsfield
Arminas Balukonis
General Manager of St Albans
Arminas joined the team as one of the chef brigade in 2018 before moving to front of house as a host. He shone in all roles and was chosen to move into the management development programme and became deputy manager in 2023. Arminas has extensive experience with 10 years of hospitality experience both in the UK and Europe and is excited to lead St Albans as it celebrates 10 years in 2024
Raluca Udrescu
General Manager of Berkhamsted
After working as Deputy General Manager in Chandlers Cross Raluca moved to open our latest restaurant in Berkhamsted in September 2023. Raluca's passion for creating an outstanding guest experience comes from 17 years of hospitality experience across restaurants and hotels both in the UK and Europe.
Our Philosophy
Our Prime Philosophies begin with the commitment to offer the quality of a London restaurant, but without the train journey.
Our talented and enthusiastic chef brigade are given the freedom to use the highest quality produce to prepare a seasonally changing menu. Our menus are centred around offering ‘New York steak house flair with a British twist’. At the heart of the menu is highest quality ethically reared beef from the highlands of Scotland, grilled to perfection.
Our bartenders are actively involved in cocktail development to ensure we offer an exciting list offering not only the classics but outstanding specialities created by our talented teams. Our cocktail list sits alongside a passionately curated wine and spirits list that ensures every guest will find something to love.
Our hosts and managers are regularly encouraged to live by the mantra “As long as the request is legal, then the answer is yes, now what was the question?”. Our key staff training programme develops our managers to not simply be key holders, but to be invested creative restaurateurs. Our trusted managers are then given given the freedom to make their own decisions within their restaurant to guarantee
outstanding, warm and passionate service is delivered every time.
A strong philosophy of training, development reward and recognition means we offer not just employment to our teams, but a career with progression! This is always focused on being happy and feeling valued as we believe a happy team will ensure we always have happy guests!
