If you asked me where what I would like for my last meal I would say stick me at the corner of the bar at Decatur’s Kimball House restaurant, feed me a few dozen their ridiculous raw oysters, toss in a few of their small plates and let me wash it all down with their masterpiece cocktails until I had to be carried off to my final resting place.
Well now the guys behind the Kimball House have launched a sequel called Watchman’s Seafood and Spirits and they have done it again. This time the setting is Krog Street Market just off the Beltline in the space formerly inhabited by The Luminary. The space is simple and clean with both a drinking bar and an oyster bar. No fishing nets nor stuffed marlins on the walls, no Jimmy Buffet soundtrack; this is a just a cool design with an alt-rock soundtrack where, as the name suggests, seafood and spirits are the focus. But the same obsessive focus that they put into the Kimball House elevates Watchman’s above the seafood fray. It’s the sort of place where you automatically accrue hipster points just by being there.
Daniel Chance is executive chef, a guy with a pedigree that includes working with just about every iconic chef on the Atlanta scene, most recently Annie Quatrano at her Ponce City Market spot, W.H. Stiles Fish Camp. Chance has constructed a simple menu that focuses on sustainably farmed seafood and oysters—the name was inspired by oyster farmers who watch over their beds. Gorgeous oysters set upon perfect pellets of ice from Alabama to North Carolina to are among the most flavorful and beautifully shucked in the city. Stand out dishes include a magnificent shrimp roll sandwich, steamed clams, ceviche Verde and a fisherman’s stew made with grouper, shrimp, crabs and oysters.
For the spirits part of the operation, you have legendary mixologist, Miles Macquarrie designing the menu, a compact list of nautically inspired libations that are geographically inspired by flavors from Havana to Key West and anywhere along the Gulf of Mexico with a focus on rum. These drinks are complex yet balanced and were designed to complement the menu.
Add Watchman’s to my “final meals” list. It’s vibrant, quirky, original and the food and cocktails are next-level. Plus it’s steps from the Beltline so you can walk off the calories when you are done.
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