Changes at Watts Grocery

Watts Grocery, the Broad Street haven for Durham foodies, has a few changes coming up. First there are the usual seasonal menu changes which include:

• Braised lamb shanks with Sea Island pea ragout
• Southern Fish and Chips (at lunch only) with catfish fingers and house cut fries
• Caramel Cake with cranberry compote
• Oyster, Shrimp, and Andouille Jambalaya with short grain rice
• Warm apples with Mas de Lavail ice cream and crisp walnut cookies
• Roast poulet rouge de Piedmont with Lee Brothers' pimento cheese potato gratin and pecan pan sauce

Mmmmm, pimento cheese anything sounds good to me, so I'm looking forward to the gratin. I wonder if it's offered as a side, though, since I doubt I'll order the chicken. And I love the Southern Fish and Chips idea -- hope there's the requisite Southern fried seafood condiments of cocktail sauce and tartar sauce too.

One other big change for WG is the axing of the late-night hours. I asked chef/owner Amy Tornquist about this by e-mail and she replied that it wasn't working as well as they would have hoped and that "it always seemed a little bit of a painful shift for the front of the house" because of the small WG staff. Amy's willing to reconsider in the future but only if there's a way to do it without taxing everyone. It'll surely be a loss for Durham's late-night offerings but will still remain a superb option for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch.

Amy was also kind enough to share the full new menus (which haven't been posted on the WG site as of yet) so here they are: Lunch/Dinner and Brunch/Dessert. Enjoy!

(photo via http://blog.indienc.com/2009/03/watts-grocery-durham/)