Hello - from the soon to be former owner and chef of Waterstone:
We will, sadly, likely be closing our doors very soon. We did something never before seen our way - authentic bistro cuisine, using authentic ingredients and techniques. We
were local when we could be, and worked closely with those farmers, such as Seeds and Spores of Marquette, who would work with us by providing materials on any kind of dependable basis; most did not understand the idea and balked.
We were expensive because what we did cost us dearly - we brought in materials via overnight air, to ensure that only the best showed up and was given out - muscovy duck, raised by a known French farmer; fish and shellfish from Maine and Boston; berkshire pork raised in the midwest.
Consequently, we ran from 45-52% food costs, and drew little to no salary over the last several months - because, whether you believe it or not, we deeply cared to do something right. We stood alone in making stocks and sauces from days of careful work, from basic, classic materials (and were the only restaurant, for example, in this entire region that did so - others who claimed to make demi-glace - and you needn't look far - buy some chemical assembly from a tub and "finish" their "cumin demi-glace," by tossing this tub-product with some cumin powder); this, when they weren't trying to ape our menu by believing that writing the same menu items means the same experience. "Frites" is spelled "frites," dear Landmark, not "frits;" and "beurre blanc" is not "burre blanc."
Nevertheless, we offered several entrees at $19 - a
few dollars more than the local brewpub - still done with care and exacting, classic technique - braised pork shank, with a gastrique-jus, riesling-braised red cabbage, and poached quinces; golden mountain trout with sauce grenobloise; steak frites - the steak being described by many as the best steak they ever had, and it should be - because we butchered everything in house (and, again, are lone in doing this in this region), I pulled off the ribeye cap and cut this as a flank-style for frites; this cap is the same cut demanded by the Japanese for haute treatments of tataki and so forth. It is unctuous, loaded with flavor - and it was nineteen bucks, served with a mustard, shallot and thyme sauce (with a combination of demi-glace and dark guinea hen stock, and a little sauvignon); chicken frites, actually, poussin frites,
grand-mere: poussin brined in lemon, thyme, garlic, the same assembly under the skin, roasted whole, served with a further lemon-thyme-garlic sauce...in other words, the room was redolent of these aromas, and smelled every bit like grandma's roast chicken, if your grandma was provencale.
We could never convince enough people that they could spend here what they would likely spend for "mushy whitefish" elsewhere. And people were afraid of us, though everything we were about was that coming to Waterstone was like coming to your living room, among friends. We had a front of house and kitchen crew roundly praised as the most gracious, professional people any who came to us ever met - all knew in their bones the food and wine, and could tell you, from their own senses and palates, why they would go with a certain dish with a certain wine. We ate together as a family, daily, from dinners prepared by my sous, whose job it was to use the same principles of flavor and textural marriages that I had taught him, and apply it to the scrap and trim daily reserved by our butchery and prep operations, to make a nutritious, superlative experience - for the staff we loved.
The testimonials from those who did come will stay with my wife and I for a lifetime. As former Chicagoans, we were glad to bring some of where we came from up here to the North. We were glad that at least one Chicagoan - Michael Sneed, enjoyed what we did, and wrote about it in her column.
Yes, I am bitter. We witnessed the head of our downtown development authority never once coming in to say hello, much less have a glass of wine; the same can be said for most members of the city commission, except for those recently tossed out in recall; among these latter, honorable people, we count good friends and customers. This, when we are in the heart of downtown, and gave better jobs to 15 or so people than they have ever seen. And my family is financially ruined. I am sad that folks seemingly didn't just give it a try, preferring to spend as much elsewhere, for whatever kind of experience they got. I am proud of and love every one of the people who worked hard to do something never before seen in this area, and will miss them perhaps more than anything else.
I write here because I have had to sit on my voice while some of the perceptions in the above posts were widely bandied about - mostly, by folks who never gave us a try. And it's just a damn shame - I say so not for us, but for the people who worked for us, for the folks who have waited a decade or more for
something of Waterstone ilk's to arrive, who are now our extended family; and for the folks now who will miss out on a truly memorable experience. If I could be so bold, I don't know that what we did will be seen again.
Here's our site:
http://www.waterstonerestaurant.com
Thank you for listening.
Paul Smith
Waterstone
Last edited by
RoamRhone on November 11th, 2005, 2:21 pm, edited 3 times in total.