Watershed on Peachtree opened at the end of May. Why did I wait so long to review it? I wanted to give the restaurant time to properly settle. We ran a re-review of Watershed in Decatur in February 2011, when the menu transition between new executive chef Joe Truex and his predecessor, Scott Peacock, still felt schizophrenic. And a lunch after Watershed on Peacthree first opened in Buckhead didn’t wow (messy, jumbled vegetable plate; crabby shrimp burger with the squidgy texture of overcooked egg whites). I decided to give it some time, and I’m glad I did. Now that the kitchen has found its rhythms, Truex’s unorthodox but smart approach to Southern cooking has synchronized—the food bounces between tradition and modernism but the quality is consistent.
Also: I didn’t make it to brunch during my review visits, but I went a couple weeks ago. If you remember the country-style ham or the shrimp over rice from the Decatur days, put them behind you and order the seafood mélange, a gentle, warming stew spiked with egg and also two small strips of bacon perfect for crumbling. And a coulotte cut of steak came with precisely poached eggs whose yolks ran into cubed potatoes underneath. Ideal Sunday afternoon fare, I’ve had too many poached eggs with congealed yolks in this town. Another bloody Mary, please.
