For at least six months before it opened, the managers of Island Prime Metro Steaks & Seafood fielded a steady stream of phone calls from anxious diners asking when the bayside establishment would fling open its doors. After sinking $3 million into revamping what was a sadly outdated Reuben’s Steakhouse, a new star was born in the Cohn Restaurant Group, with famed chef Deborah Scott serving as its natural mother.

The Cohn-Scott trademark at Island Prime is unmistakable – a full-guns approach in establishing artsy designs, polished wait staffs and homespun fare stamped with modern twists. Although compared to Scott’s transcendental dishes at Kemo Sabe and Indigo Grill, this menu renders just enough familiarity to tote along your 80-year-old grandmother visiting from Boise, Idaho.

The waterfront property is as “prime” a location as the grade of steaks served here in mondo-sized cuts. Aside from an expanded outdoor patio with a lava rock fireplace, customers are afforded glistening views of the bay and downtown skyline no matter where they sit. And while the structure’s original bones are kept largely intact, the renovation ushers in dark, earthy textures, Mission-style lighting and a very cool bar surfaced in jade-colored Avonite.

Blended into the scheme is the C Level Lounge, an area designated for more casual drinking and eating without completely blowing out the wallet. A second kitchen supplies the lounge fare, which includes burgers, oysters, clams and the like.

But my dining companion and I came for the gold, which in addition to some beautiful steaks are plenty of seafood choices to qualify Island Prime as a fish house, too. For instance, an appetizer of Fennel Crusted Diver Scallops was a knockout. They were served atop creamy risotto embellished with elephant garlic, pancetta and basil oil.

Also on the starter list is A Study in Lobster – the seafood contained in petite portions of grilled cheese, a lobster corn dog and bisque. Intriguing on paper, we passed it up suspecting that the delicate flavor of lobster would be repressed in such applications. So as a second prelude we chose the Gruyere Parmesan-Truffle Soufflé swathed in warm puff pastry. A few sherried figs on the side imparted a sweet boost to the soufflé’s delectable tangy innards.

While my companion munched on a spunky Baby Beet Salad with goat cheese, I applied the knife and fork to a halved head of chilled iceberg lettuce, called the BLT. A rich Maytag bleu cheese dressing filled the center crevices in the lettuce chunk, and a slice of high-powered bacon on the side was presented on a finger-shaped baguette surrounded by cherry tomatoes. It’s one of the most luscious non-tossed salads on the dining circuit, and made with iceberg lettuce, of all things!

If you choose an a la carte entrée, there are additional decisions to be made beyond your side dishes. Both meat and seafood selections offer a choice of sauces, house-made “rubs” and compound butters. Hell bent on beef, we opted for two different steaks. My companion chose the cardamom-jerk rub for his 18-ounce rib eye – a bone-in cut that incited moans of ecstasy. I went with the commodious Prime New York dressed lightly with peppercorn-pancetta demi sauce. If there is a cow heaven, this is it.

Crafty side dishes round out the meals. And they’re far more metropolitan than your usual baked potatoes and steamed broccoli. The Lobster and Aged Cheddar Baked Potato is made for two. It’s very good, although the lobster serves merely as a fancy footnote against the cheese. An order of grilled Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus was delectable, as was a dish of fresh-shaved corn creamed with black truffles and herbs.

Since the restaurant opened just six weeks ago, it fills to capacity on most nights. “On our slowest day, we served 500 dinners,” says General Manager Jeff Pittrof.

The well-developed wine list is also cause for commotion. It features numerous esoteric labels, including a section celebrating “the ’97s,” and offers double and triple magnums of Opus One, the latter costing $2,500. Fruity martinis and creatively blended cocktails add to the merriment.

If you make it to dessert, start thinking in threes. Each selection features a trio of creations involving chocolate, brulees, sorbets or ice cream sandwiches. Presentations are impressive, and in our chocolate and brulee lineups the flavors spanned from classic to whimsical, sensational to lackluster.

Island Prime isn’t cheap. At the high end, a prime-grade porterhouse or lobster pot pie will set you back $48. But when it comes to eating good steak and seafood in a contemporary setting with ringside views of the bay, this new venture is quickly snatching the market.