One of us has been a Midwesterner his whole life, first growing up on the shores of Lake Erie and now living within a stone’s throw of Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes, in fact, have been a part of his life for 22 of his 26 years. The other, an east coast convert, has had only a mere 2 in this neck of the woods. Regardless, we now call this region home and love the sound of the word LOCAL. Watershed — tucked beneath the larger and more touristy Pops for Champagne in Chicago’s River North neighborhood — plays to the Great Lakes theme and obsesses over local. Food and ingredients are sourced close to home. The beer and spirts come primarily from Midwest breweries and distilleries. Hell, even most the wine didn’t have to travel more than a few hours to get there.

The small space has been discussed in hushed whispers by friends and online. Most praise it, but don’t want to do so loudly; Chicago’s foodie scene is buzz-driven and a few words in the right press will quickly change your favorite neighborhood taco shack from a quick stop to a two hour wait fiasco. Word isn’t quite out yet about Watershed. We popped in on a weeknight for a late dinner and drinks and the space was eerily quiet. This can’t last for long.

The lovely-looking bar and the comfy-looking chairs. (Source)

The lady was meeting a college friend, but we arrived early to cobble together a dinner out of small plates. Lots on the menu looked great and the prices were quite reasonable, so we picked two “bites,” three “plates,” and a desert which ultimately filled us both up for only $42. The menu may be mostly replicated from upstairs (which isn’t a bad thing), but the drinks and atmosphere most certainly are not.

Before we touch on the food, we started the evening off with a selection from WaterShed’s original cocktail menu, each $10. The lady ordered the Hit & Run made from New Holland’s curious Hopquila, Koval Rose Hip, Aperol, orange, lemon and a house-made grenadine. This was the fellow’s favorite drink of evening (even though he only got a few sips)! His first choice, though, was the Dutch Devil with Anchor Genevieve gin, Koval Jasmine, Pernod, lemon and orange bitters. Genevieve, by the way, is much closer to sweetened new make rye whiskey than it is to gin, which made this a nice, heavy base for a solid drink.

When our food arrived, we began with the frites which were served with a black garlic aioli (claimed by the lady to be the best dip ever) and this was followed by a small order of the spätzle served with braised radishes, brown butter and dill. The lady then went wild over a spring pea risotto with pine nuts and ricotta which, like the aioli, also garnered another award of “Best Yet.” (The secret, she claims, is in the consistency. Risotto has to move a little bit when you shake it.) Next was the duck and boar paté. This came stuffed with pistachios and topped by wild blueberries with a side of candied orange-grapefruit marmalade, a very nice set of watercress greens and coarse ground mustard. Our last main dish was wagyu beef tri tip with a potato pave and (a super light) herb pesto. Like the other wagyu we’ve tried (Sola!), we could eat this for every meal.

The lady pulling away a piece of wagyu beef as the spätzle looks on.

As we finished up, the lady’s friend arrived and we worked our way through several more rounds of drinks, delighted to get a true taste of Chicago spirits. Highlights from the rest of the evening included the crisp, citrusy Why Don’t You Like Me? (Farmer’s gin, Hum, Good Harbor Cherry Wine and lemon), the sweet Bebbo Cocktail (North Shore Gin No. 11, honey, lemon, orange and Angostura) and the unusual classic Chicago Fizz (New Holland Michigan Rum, tawny port, lemon, egg white and club soda).

The fellow also indulged in the Tuesday night special, an $8 whiskey flight. The three drams included Whippersnapper Oregon Whiskey (a very atypical, sweet barley whiskey that the fellow and the lady have previously worked through a bottle of), Michter’s Unblended American Whiskey (fresh) and Michter’s Single Barrel Straight Rye Whiskey (a hardy whiskey and the fellow’s favorite).

We finished the night off with the chocolate ganache that came with a cardamom wafer and ginger cream (fluffier, but reminiscent of Owen & Engine’s ginger anglaise).

We were very pleasantly surprised by WaterShed’s complete package. They delivered delicious, affordable food and tasty, original drinks in an intimate and warm space. The bar’s adherence to all things local didn’t limit the menu, but rather allowed them to spring from and showcase the really innovative and crafty products available in our backyard. On our next visit we will surely try to sample the beer menu (WaterShed is the only place we’ve found in Chicago to serve Great Lakes Brewing’s excellent Lake Erie Monster IPA) as well as dive deeper into their charcuterie and cheese menus. Hopefully this spot stays quiet. Let’s (as the title implies) just keep the secret of this hidden gem between us.