In Season: Pumpkin
Much like the seasons themselves, chef Joe Shaw has come full circle. After opening Watermark nine years ago, he left to pursue other projects, eventually consulting and managing other restaurants. This fall, he returned to Watermark as executive chef, putting back into place the restaurant's original seasonal and local sensibilities.
'When I came back, there had been a time lapse between executive chefs and while there wasn't anything wrong with the menu, it wasn't what came naturally to me,” he says. He's since rekindled relationships with regional seafood purveyors, returned to the farmers' markets, and brought the menu to its roots. 'Having worked for Frank [Stitt in Birmingham], that's what comes naturally to me,” he says.
To kick things off, he created a pumpkin pairings menu, which includes this stunner of a soup. He starts with local pie pumpkins, which are seeded, peeled, roasted, and pureed, and then adds chicken stock and onions that have been stewed in butter to bring out their sweetness. The soup is finished with a chorizo-spiced pork sausage and a little bit of pumpkinseed oil. 'It becomes a sweet, soft, luxurious soup with the counterpoint of spiciness,” says Shaw.
Watermark, 507 12th Ave. S., 615-254-2000; watermark-restaurant.com
More pumpkin dishes:
Etch: Rutabaga La Plancha with black mole sauce and pumpkin seed Noelle: Lamb Shanks over pumpkin puree The 404 Kitchen: Southern Pork Stroganoff with fettuccine, whiskey, collards, mushrooms and pumpkin