Opening on July 4, 2019, the Watershed restaurant in Mill Valley’s renovated downtown lumberyard has certainly seen its fair share of trials and tribulations. It has weathered them by adaptation. Originally opening with just beer and wine, they first sought out to only feature truly unique and interesting wines.
(Fabien Réty runs the wine program at Watershed as well as at the adjacent Eddy Bar and Bottle.) Then, the opportunity later came to purchase a full liquor license. After securing the license and implementing the necessary structural and logistical changes inherent in such a change, it came time to adapt once again.
“We acquired our full liquor license during COVID,” says owner Ged Robertson. “We had built a solid drink program, but I felt we weren’t yet fully aligned with the Watershed mission of using seasonal fresh ingredients — like squeezing fresh juices daily.” To that end, and for their five-year anniversary, Robertson has brought in the legendary “garden-to-glass” cocktail pioneer Scott Beattie to consult.
Beattie is the author of 2008’s “Artisanal Cocktails: Drinks Inspired by the Seasons from the Bar at Cyrus” and is the man behind the bar programs at Barndiva, Goose and Gander, Spoonbar, Meadowood and Hog Island Oyster Co. in San Francisco. “We knew that Scott would hold our feet to the fire and not let us compromise until we reached our goal,” Robertson says.
“He’s also fun to work with and we ended up with an authentic an.
