Inspiring Conversations with Jason Matheson of Primrose Table

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Matheson

Hi Jason, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I believe I have always had a deep appreciation for good food, even when I was a little kid. We had a mother that was in the home when we were children. I have memories of her always being in the kitchen cooking and baking. She was English so Sunday dinners were always a big deal. The English Sunday Roast is a full spread. Usually a roasted bird or pork shoulder; mashed rutabegah, brussel sprouts, potatoes, mushy peas and Yorkshire puddings.

I kind of fell into cooking. Summer jobs when I was a teenager which led to being a young man working in kitchens to where I am now decades later. My first real kitchen job was at 101st Airborne in Nashville in the early 90’s. That’s were they wore chef jackets and checkered kitchen pants. It was a uniform, something different. Not just jeans and a t-shirt. I was all in. The one thing that drew me in was the characters, the people that worked there, They were rough, cursed like sailors but all had the same appreciation for good food. I could respect that.

Now after year of working in corporate restaurants, country clubs, fine dining restaurants and a brief time of owning a food truck has brought me here to owning Primrose Table with my wife Nevada.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Restaurant life is hard. Late nights, weekends and holidays. Restaurant employees work when the rest of the world is done for the day.

In hard times one of the first thing that people cut in their budget is going out to eat. We opened Primrose Table just a few months before the COVID-19 disaster so nothing has been easy for us. The supply chain still struggles. Things that I thought were expensive before are absolutely ridiculous now.

We have had some luck. Compared to many restaurants I have worked for Primrose Table has a very low employee turn over. Most people that chose to work for us end up staying for years. My wife and I attribute that to the positive work environment we try to foster and being understanding and respectful of our employees.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Primrose Table?
My wife and I own Primrose Table. We opened our doors in November of 2019. We are celebrating our five years of being open to the public this month.

We try to offer a high quality menu. We start with a very nice product and just try to stay out of its way. I would say we have the best steaks in Murfreesboro. The food is not fine dining. I don’t want it to be. It’s elevated/upscale dining. We want Primrose Table to be sophisticated enough for a romantic evening or casual enough to bring the kids in for dinner. We have a private dining room that seats up to 32 persons. The private dining room is great for small rehearsal weddings, birthday parties or business events.

I don’t know how I would describe my food. Contemporary American? I have been trying to add more southern style dishes to the menu lately. I wasn’t raised in a southern home. Even though I grew up in Nashville, our dad was from New York and our mother was English. Southern foods were not on the dinner table. I was in my thirties before I ever attempted to make a buttermilk biscuit.

We get fresh fish brought in daily from the Gulf. We bring in beautiful red shrimp from Argentina. Chicken from northern Georgia. Our steak are a Hereford and Black Angus breed of cattle from Omaha, Nebraska. Again, start with a premium product, treat it with respect and try to stay out of its way. A very much chef driven restaurant. The focus is on the food.

We try to offer plenty of gluten free and dairy free options to diners. We have dedicated fryers to cook foods without fear of contamination from gluten. It’s almost impossible to get a bite of fried food that is completely gluten free from most restaurants.

I would like for people to know that we are completely 100% locally owned, all the responsibilities start and end with my wife and I. We always are trying to improve and evolve, to make our services better. The two things we have to offer is great food and service. If we miss on either of those two things with any person we look at that as a failure. We do admit when we are wrong and do everything we can to resolve any issue that is brought to our immediate attention.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
pass, might come back to this.

Pricing:

• Starters $9-$15
• Entrees $19-$40

Contact Info:

• Website: https://primrosetable.com
• Other: [email protected]