When Marc responded in the affirmative, the employee led him to a chef’s table with a red, white and blue table runner and a small plaque that read: “This table is more than claps and handshakes. We reserve this table for those that afforded us the opportunities and freedoms we get to experience each day.”

After Marc settled in, the 79-year-old was asked what he wanted to eat and drink. When it was time to pay, Marc was shocked at the response: It was free.

On that day, Marc was at Prime Barbecue with his counselor for a therapy session; he’s been working on issues related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and going to lunch had become their weekly routine. Now, the chef’s table is reserved for Marc and his therapist every Thursday.

“This table is more than claps and handshakes. We reserve this table for those that afforded us the opportunities and freedoms we get to experience each day.”

“It’s helped me with my PTSD,” says Marc, a Clayton resident. “I go up there and I talk to other people. They know I have [PTSD] so they talk to me as a friend. They’re like a support team for me. I am not out there alone, and I have people out there that I can rely on and count on if I need them.”

Since 2020, when Prime Barbecue opened, a picnic-style table has been set up in the kitchen and reserved for veterans and their families. Although the restaurant’s owner and pitmaster Chef Christopher Prieto always had an affinity for the military, the idea for the chef’s table came to him after his involvement with the Wounded Warrior Project and an introduction to a New York City chef’s table influenced his decision to serve veterans in this way.

“I thought, ‘Man, wouldn’t it be great to have a table like this that just showcases and values the unappreciated and undervalued,” Christopher says. “It’s my duty to honor them.”

Justin Raupp, Prime Barbecue’s general manager and an Army veteran, pulls veterans off the line and brings them to the chef’s table. Sometimes a family member reserves the table, or a veteran sets up the experience for another veteran. The table is sponsored by customers who donate money so meals may be free at the chef’s table.

“Traditionally, chef’s tables are for celebrities, professional athletes or those that can afford to sit at the back of a private chef’s kitchen,” Justin explains. “Our chef’s table is anything but that … It’s a way for us to extend our gratitude toward veterans and their sacrifices.”