After ice storm and flood, Kentucky River restaurant is back to challenge Hall’s
When Deb Garrison and John Tucker took over Waterfront Grille & Gathering from Jeff Walson in December 2020, it was a dream come true. Then Mother Nature came calling, turning it into their worst nightmare.
After sinking tens of thousands of dollars into renovations, the restaurant on the Kentucky River was hit with an ice storm in February that decimated its roof. Record flooding followed in early March, destroying just about everything else.
Water engulfed nearly the entire building before they had a chance to remove most items inside, scattering debris and mud everywhere, ruining almost everything of value.
“What really got me was stepping inside for the first time after the waters receded,” said Garrison. “Everything was knocked over and piled up. And mud, there was mud everywhere. I’ve never cried so much in my life.”
Garrison and Tucker have rallied in the months since to repair what was damaged. The cleanup and recovery has been bolstered by volunteer support from the local community including Jerome Adams, a neighbor of the restaurant who now works as a cook. Despite all the devastating loss, Waterfront Grille and Gathering opened at in the middle of June as a riverfront restaurant with a limited menu and hours.
But this week, on July 21, expanded hours and a full menu with homemade items such as beer cheese will welcome summer patrons.
Waterfront Grille menu
The Waterfront Grille is the only restaurant in the Kentucky cooking its meats on a salt block. The method helps to impart a subtle salt flavor evenly throughout the entire meat according to Tucker, a former owner of a granite business who first heard about the wonders of salt blocks from a TV news segment.
“I remember watching CBS Sunday Morning and Charles Osgood was doing a segment on salts in cooking and how the cruise ship industry was beginning to prepare food using the method,” said Tucker. “Seeing the mostly untapped market, I reached out to my granite connections in Pakistan and was able to acquire a large amount of salt blocks and bring the idea to retail.”
Menu items cooked on the salt blocks include salmon, cod and flat iron and ribeye steaks. The Waterfront Grille also serves up chicken and pork loin marinated in a homemade jerk sauce along with hamburgers using beef from nearby Gilkison Farm that are made from the entire cow ground up, premium meats and all.
Other house-made delicacies on the menu include a smoked salmon dip, stuffed mushrooms and jalapenos; fries, potato salad and beer cheese.
Still rebuilding
While the building has been fixed up enough since the floods, there’s still work to be done.
Occupying the back of the building is a massive dining and concert hall that has been used as a staging area for other completed renovations: A bar, deck and bathrooms, the last of which features walls made of the same salt blocks used in the kitchen and are backlit with colored lights for a therapeutic, otherworldly feel.
Once complete Garrison says the restaurant will have a combined indoor/outdoor seating capacity of over 300 with seats spread between the hall, a more intimate dining room at the front and an extensive, two-level deck overlooking the Kentucky River out back.
Between the river and building is a small grassy field that’ll soon be covered in sand with fire pits scattered throughout. Garrison said that they’re also planning on building a dock and stairs up from the water for easier river access in addition to offering canoe and kayak rentals on site. They’re looking for that to be finished by the end of summer. The concept is similar to that of longtime riverfront hangout Halls On The River, which is located just one mile down the road.
“Right now they’re more iconic than we are, but we’re hoping to change that,” said Garrison.
Halls on the River, a Kentucky staple on the river since 1781, is closed, busy renovating from the March flooding. They hope to be open sometime in August.
Waterfront Grille & Gathering
Where: 220 Athens Boonesboro Rd. in Winchester on the Kentucky River
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wed.-Sun.
Online: KentuckyWaterfrontGrill.com
This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 6:00 AM.