Watershed in Atlanta: tops in southern food

[Gifted Gourmet]

I have never been to, but have long heard great comments, on Watershed, a Scott Peacock establishment:

a Southern food expert whose vision of Southern cuisine emphasizes fresh, seasonal, regionally grown ingredients of the highest integrity, prepared with the barest of embellishments.

Classically southern and highly appealing from the menu to the ambiance ...

The fried chicken is legendary:

Special note: Watershed's fried chicken once graced the cover of Food & Wine. It's prepared the old-fashioned way, soaked first in salted water, then in buttermilk and fried slowly one piece at a time. It's only available on Tuesday at dinner and rarely is there any left after 8PM.

-- from AOL Cityguide Atlanta

Have you been there? What do you recommend?

[therese]

We go frequently. The ambience is not even remotely what most people would consider "classically southern" (whatever that's supposed to be) but the food's quite good. I rarely get the fried chicken even if we're there on Tuesday, but instead get either the salmon croquettes or vegetable plate.

Great wines (about half the space is devoted to retail wine sales), particularly dessert wines. Desserts themselves are way too heavy, such that I rarely bother.

[TheFoodTutor]

I've only eaten there once, for brunch, and I thought it was very pleasant. The atmosphere is unusual, with the metal chairs seeming somewhat clunky, but the space is brightly colored and cheerful. I very much enjoyed the french toast with candied bacon.

If you're looking for this sort of thing, it is worth marking your calendar for the Tuesday fried chicken. There aren't many places where you can get chicken fried in small batches in a cast iron pan, rather than in a deep fryer, the difference being the mahogany color on the coating.

Definitely worth visiting.

[gwilson]

I have been to Watershed a few times most recently for a Good Eats fan gathering. (See that website's thread if you're interested - pictures included.)

I love the food there - it is very Southern. Though not always 'classic' Southern. Chef Peacock also wrote a wonderful cookbook, The Gift of Southern Cooking with the equally wonderful Edna Lewis. (Although don't use that link to buy the book - I think EGullet still has some deal with amazon, but I never learned how to set up that special link. You can also buy the book at the restaurant.) I really really like this cookbook - it's always at the top of my cookbook recommendations.

The most memorable dish I had there was a roasted flounder fillet that I had years ago. The flounder was so fresh and flaky (it's one of my favorite fish). And the sauteed vegetables that accompanied it were equally delicious. It was so good, I bought an order to go to take home to my dad. (Who also loves flounder.)

Watershed is always at the top of my list of recommended Atlanta restaurants, especially if someone is wanting to experience Southern cuisine.

-Greg

[chefdavidrusso]

I'm going to be in town for 4 nights next week on business, staying in Buckhead. Is this place anyway near to where I'm going to be?

-David

[Gifted Gourmet]

I'm going to be in town for 4 nights next week on business, staying in Buckhead.  Is this place anyway near to where I'm going to be?

-David

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Actually, it isn't particularly close ... but there is a ton of great food in Buckhead ... your local transportation?

[chefdavidrusso]

I'm going to be in town for 4 nights next week on business, staying in Buckhead.  Is this place anyway near to where I'm going to be?

-David

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Actually, it isn't particularly close ... but there is a ton of great food in Buckhead ... your local transportation?

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I have no pre-planned transportation.....pretty much cabs and/or public.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I have no pre-planned transportation.....pretty much cabs and/or public.

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This is worth it because of the quality of Chef Scott Peacock .. cast your fate to the wind and give this to your cab driver:

From Buckhead

Take Piedmont Road to East Rock Springs Road. Turn Left on East Rock Springs and Follow for Several Miles. This Road eventually turns in to North Decatur Road. Turn Right on Clairmont Road. Clairmont  Road will end in downtown Decatur. Turn right on West Ponce De Leon Ave. Watershed is about a quarter of a mile on the left next to a Century 21 office.

It is quite a meal .. check out their menu .. southern but very au courant ..

[therese]

I'm going to be in town for 4 nights next week on business, staying in Buckhead.  Is this place anyway near to where I'm going to be?

-David

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You can actually get to Watershed using public transportation if you'd like. Catch MARTA at the nearest station (I'm guessing Lenox if you're in Buckhead, but that depends on where you are in Buckhead) heading south to Five Points (the only transfer station), transferring to an eastbound train to Decatur. You'll be right on the town square in Decatur, and will need to walk back west on Ponce de Leon (the main drag) several blocks.

Buckhead is actually not the best part of town for food, though there are some exceptions. Lots of restaurants, but they're generally more about glam than about food. Atlanta's absolute upper end food-wise is Seeger's, located in a bungalow in Buckhead. Dress up (jackets required I think, or at least very strongly encouraged) and bring money. The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton is also worth the money.

[jongchen]

I'm going to be in town for 4 nights next week on business, staying in Buckhead.  Is this place anyway near to where I'm going to be?

-David

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Hey I was in Atlanta last week. Stayed in Buckhead too. I went to Nava which was in Buckhead. Great southwestern food. Kinda pricy though. I also went to Bacchanalia, new american. Very good food. They do a 4 course tasting menu. Go for the optional cheese course. Very nice. The wine paring is a nice option. I didn't care for the port or the dessert wine so it was a little wasted on me. It's a little strange in that you have to walk through an upscale market to get to the resturant in back. Took me a few minutes to figure out how to get in there.

Jong

[Guest MNewman]

I enjoy Watershed and would put it, Restaurant Eugene and Greenwoods at the top of my list of "upper scale southern dining" in Atlanta. Watershed's fried chicken is very popular but not among the best in my book. The times I've had it, it was not crispy at all. Fried chicken is a southern staple but cooked many different ways (my favorite is crispy, then dipped in honey)...and I'm clearly in the minority on my opinion of Watershed's. I do however, love their fig and pork sandwich and chocolate cake. They have a great wine bar and overall, it's a good choice. Definately not a southern atmosphere.

Restaurant Eugene is currently serving up some of the best "upper end" southern fare in town. For instance, their pimento cheese is superior to Watershed's IMO and they're currently using grits and turnips as side items. It's not as "southern" as Greenwood's in food (i.e. a bowl of corn bread muffins brought to your table to get things started) or atmosphere (old house) but they clearly use a Southern theme in some of their menu selections.

So...if you want to blow it out with a bit of Southern flavor in a upscale ambiance, go to RE...if you're way up in the burbs and want casual, go to Greenwoods and if you want a more casual intown spot, go with Watershed. You won't go wrong with any of them.

Edited May 11, 2005 by MNewman (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

Dinner at Watershed last night among fellow local food enthusiasts: marvelous!

Tuesday is the night when Scott Peacock, the chef, brings out his classic southern fried chicken .. and many decided upon that as their entree ... to a person, everyone was quite pleased!

I had the rare duck breast with greens, french fries made of salsify(?), figs poached in port ... excellent! My husband had salmon croquettes, creamy grits, tomato basil soup and was quite pleased. Dessert was a buttery pecan tart with a crisp shortbread crust: still dreaming of the flavors ..

Very complete, full wine list rounded out the pleasures Watershed offers its clientele. I have to say that I will most definitely be returning!

[gwilson]

I too was at dinner, and I believe fun was had by all. (I at least enjoyed myself.) I have been to Watershed a few times, but this was my first Tuesday night. And so, my first fried chicken experience. And it did live up to the hype - the best fried chicken I've had in a restaurant. The sides and appetizers were all good also. Come to think of it, I've never had a bad dish there. And the company was quite good also.

Hopefully this will be just the first ...

-Greg

[Milt]

As part of the above mentioned group, my wife and I ordered the fried chicken and the fried grouper (fish of the day). We then split the two orders, so that we each had chicken, grouper and small servings of four vegetables and biscuits. All were excellent. My wife said she felt this was the best restaurant fried chicken she has had in our 22+ years in Georgia. This was our first visit - 35 miles is a long way for fried chicken - but we will be doing it again. It was worth the drive.

[Lan4Dawg]

As the last of the renegades to weigh in on the subject (sorry but I have had ISP problems all w/e and finally have things resolved)....

We thoroughly enjoyed the evening. The food was excellent and the company quite enjoyable.

I do have to pat my self on the back as Fuss said the shrimp and grits she had were very good but mine are better. ":^)

We should consider having a dinner once every three/four months or so just to try different places in/around Atlanta.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Atlanta Creative Loafing article on Scott Peacock, the chef

Here I was, on the way to becoming a fancy French chef, and a woman named Sue Weeks brought my mother a lemon chess pie. Feeling very smug because it wasn't chocolate mousse, I took a bite. It's hard to describe the effect on me. It was completely humbling. It did not immediately inspire me to become a Southern cook, but I did realize that this pie could hold its own with anything anywhere. I also knew the pie was closer to my own experience than the food I was cooking.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Watershed, Scott Peacock, Edna Lewis in the NY Times!

This is quite exciting for we eGulleteers who live in the Atlanta area! The story of Scott Peacock and his aging mentor, Miss Edna Lewis, with whom he wrote a cookbook, is legendary in this town.

Watershed's fried chicken. The recipe is an amalgam of styles. Mr. Peacock hails from a slice of Alabama where chicken gets a long bath in either salt or buttermilk. And it's peanut country, so the chicken he grew up on was often fried in peanut oil.    Miss Lewis, on the other hand, comes from Virginia, the land of ham and butter. Together, the pair developed a recipe that uses both a brine and a buttermilk soak and "a rumor of flour," as Mr. Peacock says. The chicken is then fried in country ham-flavored mix of clarified lard and butter.

A wonderful article on a true and lasting friendship!

[micropundit]

Thanks Melissa for sharing the article,it is heartwarming tribute to food and family in the South.

[NYC Mike]

Finally made it here for lunch. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I was happily surprised that it was so relaxed and layed back. I think this place could tolerate my 3 yr old just fine now that i've seen it so we will be making a dinner stop, prolly on fried chicken night sometime soon.

Lunch was a bring me back to my childhood memory. Grilled ham and cheese sammich with a bowl of tomato soup. As good a soup and sammich combo as I've ever had. Washed down with a very good glass of Iced Tea.

-Mike

[onrushpam]

I've been wanting to visit Watershed for a long time... finally made it there for lunch today. We completely enjoyed it! DH and I shared the shrimp grits and then I had the veggie plate. Every bite was wonderful. DH had the pork sammich, but I didn't taste it. He had some sort of decadent parfait for dessert... I know it had pecans and caramel. I had a bite and it was wonderful.

Now that we know how easy it is to get to Decatur from our friends' farm in Newnan, we will definitely be back!

Oh, and our server was charming and helpful! Good food plus good sevice... what more can we ask for???