Jim Myers

jtmyers@tennessean.com

Before all the condos and high-rises, before Biscuit Love and the Turnip Truck, there was Watermark, a fine dining destination in the Gulch for the last eleven years.

Next year, Watermark will pull up stakes and relocate downtown says owner Jerry Brown, who made the announcement Tuesday with his son Hughes Brown, the restaurant director of operations.

The new Watermark will re-open with roughly the same 8,000 square footage inside the Bridgestone Americas corporate headquarters that are now under construction at 210 4th Avenue S. This will be the building's only retail tenant outside of the Bridgestone Americas and the restaurant will occupy the bottom floor space on the corner of Demonbruen and Almond Streets.

Brown says he remembers looking at early renderings of the Gulch and the master plan and saying, "Yeah, right. Sure," he laughs, as it has fully come to fruition, with development now surrounding his restaurant and blocking what used to be one of the best unobstructed views of downtown.

"The city has continued to develop and redevelop with the convention center being the biggest example of change. We were looking at the morphing of the business district and were very fortunate to have an opportunity to have a conversation early on with Highwoods Properties (the buildings developer). It's just a premier location," says Brown

The Browns also introduced new executive chef Elliot Cunniff, who comes from New York City where he had turns as executive sous chef at David Burke Fabrick in the Archer Hotel, and for Daniel Boulud at Daniel, DB Bistro. Most recently he served as chef de cuisine at the SoHo Grand Hotel.

After his time in the metropolis, Cunniff said he was ready for an opportunity to take the established concept and re-imagine it from the ground up, from kitchen design to a full revamp of the menu. Well, almost full revamp. He's leaving the grits souffle. "I feel like a kid in a candy store," says Cunniff, who is also ready to return to his hobbies of camping, hunting and boating that he enjoyed growing up in Upstate New York and the Adirondacks.

When asked what dish on the current menu best defines him, he pointed to the hanger steak. "I like rustic preparations and off-cuts of meat because they have so much flavor," he says. This steak gets a leek-and thyme-ash coating before it's seared and basted in butter and finished with a gooseberry chimichurri.

He's especially excited to cook over a wood grill that will be the centerpiece of the open kitchen.

The new location will be open seven days a week and offer weekday lunch and weekend brunch service in addition to dinner. Brown says he's cautiously optimistic that he will be in the new space late 2017. "The Gulch has been great for us," says Brown, "but we're ready for Watermark's next chapter."

Reach Jim Myers at 615-259-8367 on Instagram@culinarityand on Twitter@ReadJimMyers.