The Waverly Local: A delicious reason to visit one of Alabama’s most charming small towns
Chef Watson is creating culinary waves at The Waverly Local. (Susan Swagler / Alabama News Center)
Adjectives abound for The Waverly Local. “Seasonally inspired, simple Southern fare” served in a “beautifully repurposed garage” amid “mid-century modern décor.” Add to that delicious, imaginative dishes; inventive craft cocktails; a genuinely friendly staff; and the occasional thrilling sports-celebrity sighting.
Chef-partner Christian Watson, whose approach to food at The Local is “less is more,” said, “It’s simple Southern in a unique environment that will be memorable.”
The Waverly Local also is a big draw for a really tiny town.
Waverly, about three square miles and charming, is home to around 250 people, and it’s the kind of place that gets better every time you look. The artsy town boasts the singular event-and-art-and-music space that is Standard Deluxe; a cozy home store called Fig & Wasp with its carefully curated treasures from France, England and Alabama; and the newest fresh, delicious attraction: Wild Flour Bakery, located at Standard Deluxe.
RELATED: Standard Deluxe grows organically by design in small town Waverly, Alabama
RELATED: Wild Flour Bakery is the latest secret ingredient adding to the mix of this small Alabama town
All are reasons to visit, and you’ll want to make a reservation at The Waverly Local when you do.
The Waverly Local is destination dining just off Alabama’s Highway 280 from Alabama News Center on Vimeo.
Watson’s culinary background ranges from formative years on a family farm, to classical culinary school training, to stints as a chef on private yachts.
He’s an Auburn native who learned to love and appreciate food while working at his family’s farm in South Carolina. That’s where, he said, while pulling vegetables out of the ground to cook for that day’s dinner, “the light bulb went off” and he decided he wanted to learn how to really cook.
His time on the farm changed his life.
“I think it was … ultimately, gratification in several different layers that I hadn’t really experienced before,” Watson said. “To be able to, confidently, say that you can ‘live off the land’ is something that is very gratifying. … Learning how to plow and plant and nurture and produce” was another layer of that foundation.
“Then, to start cooking for people … to cook those things you’ve grown … and to see people eat your food and make them smile. I’d never experienced that level of gratification. … That’s where I truly fell in love.”
He graduated from culinary school at Johnson & Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina, and worked in local fine-dining restaurants before leaving to work as a chef on private yachts on the East and West coasts. He moved to Birmingham in 2009 and worked behind the bar at Bottega Café and in the kitchen of Hot and Hot Fish Club. He worked at a private hunting preserve in North Carolina; opened a restaurant in Charleston; and then, in 2015, returned to Auburn as the executive chef at The Hound.
In 2018, he and lifelong friend and Waverly resident Andy Anderson teamed up to open The Waverly Local. It’s in what was once the first Ford dealership in the state – a tractor dealership, Anderson says, pointing out what were showroom doors. The space used to house the Yellow Hammer Restaurant and when that closed, Anderson said, “We missed having a restaurant here. I didn’t necessarily plan to be in the restaurant business, but we wanted to see one back here in Waverly. … It’s nice being somewhere where you know all the people. We love it here. … It’s a small town with a lot of character.”
The dishes at The Waverly Local reflect Watson’s respect for local growers and makers including the Dadeville-based Wickles Pickles, where Anderson works as a vice president.
In fact, one of the most popular menu items is the bacon-wrapped Wickles Wicked sweet-and-hot pickled okra served with buttermilk ranch. Do order this. You’ll also see Wickles Dirty Dill spears served with the popular double-stack burger.
Gulf blue crab cakes with a satsuma-Dijon sauce at The Waverly Local. (Susan Swagler / Alabama News Center)
Ralf du Toit supplies lettuces, tomatoes and cucumbers from his Extreme Green Farms hydroponic operation in Auburn. “He’s an incredible local farmer,” Watson said.
“Nourish Farm is a local indoor mushroom farmer,” Watson said. “They do lion’s mane, blue oysters, chestnuts. And they’ve got a great story. Their daughter … she’s 12 or 13 maybe, they created this mushroom farm because she got interested in them (and) to pay for her college. And she’s doing the legwork. …. They are some of the most beautiful mushrooms I’ve ever seen in my life. And they’re right down the road.”
Look for these mushrooms paired with a daily fresh fish or in dishes like caramelized mushroom pasta with bacon, wilted greens, tomatoes, peas and goat cheese.
One of the most popular treats at The Waverly Local: bacon-wrapped Wickles hot and sweet pickled okra. (Susan Swagler / Alabama News Center)
Josh and Beth Hornsby, owners of Hornsby Farms in Auburn, are “just fantastic people,” Watson said. (He and Josh Hornsby went to high school together.) Hornsby Farms is known for artisanal, seasonal jams and jellies, including a pepper jelly used in the braising jus served with The Local’s roasted heirloom pork. This signature dish often comes with tomato pudding and (if the season is right) butterbean dumplings.
The story behind these butterbean dumplings reveals a chef who cooks from the heart.
When he was planning his first restaurant and looking for inspiration, Watson considered the building that would house it, which, “as best as we can peg, was constructed between 1890 and 1910,” he said. He scoured old cookbooks from that period in the local library and in others throughout the Southeast and even beyond.
“I found this old plantation cookbook … with butterbean dumplings in it,” he said. “I started reading the recipe and I said, ‘Well, OK. That is like a gnocchi. It’s prepared kinda like a gnocchi.’ So, I started playing with it. … It’s not unheard of because they were doing it in 1890, but that was a signature dish when we started The Local. We do it seasonally. When it’s fall and winter, we have butterbean dumplings on the pork dish.”
The ribeye with bourbon jus and horseradish cream is consistently one of the bestselling items on the menu. Other popular choices: Gulf-fresh blue crab cakes with a creamy and bright satsuma-Dijon sauce and LA’s half chicken smoked and served with an Alabama white barbecue sauce.
Even the drinks menu features local ingredients. You’ll find Hornsby Farms’ strawberry champagne jam mixed with Tito’s vodka and sparkling wines in a Strawberry Showdown cocktail; Hornsby’s bramble jam flavors a gin-based drink called Bramble. The Elder Collins features St-Germain and John Emerald gin (from nearby Opelika).
Thoughtful food and drinks, a rotating menu of regional craft beers and a solid list of old-world and new-world wines by the glass and bottle are just part of what makes The Waverly Local a destination.
Prefer your cocktails al fresco? Check out the cool outdoor courtyard and bar. (Susan Swagler / Alabama News Center)
Watson said, “What we’re really known for is our execution of hospitality — from the time you walk in the door to the time you leave. We’re known for our hospitality consistency.”
Josh Nagel, operating partner and director of operations, concurred, saying they take the very “definition of Southern hospitality and live within that and create this feeling that’s special. We just provide the guests the best experience that we possibly can with delicious food, great service and that feeling of hospitality when they get here. We want our guests to feel like they’re a part of our family.”
These guests include lots of people from Auburn and Opelika (including broadcast and football greats visiting nearby Auburn University); faithful locals; and, in the summer, a lot of the lake crowd.
“We want to provide folks with a great place to come and make memories. We get a lot of guests who want to … celebrate something special – birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, Auburn football victories. … Those memories … when you come to The Local will last a lifetime and hopefully bring you back,” Nagel said.
A few years ago, they expanded the space to include a lovely courtyard with a busy, covered bar. You’ll find live music there, too. It’s another way The Waverly Local fits in with the comfortable, casual, creative vibe of this small town.
Save room for dessert at The Waverly Local. (Michael Tomberlin / Alabama News Center)
Being part of this culture, helping create this culture is the biggest thing, Watson said.
“It’s really what motivates me,” he said. “The truth of the matter is, I love to cook good food, and I love to provide good service. I love that we provide good drinks. But my main motivating factor is having an opportunity – a rare opportunity – to have a positive impact on our team members’ lives, you know. To be a building block. A lot of my team members … maybe they didn’t open the door for the little, old lady walking into the gas station before, but they do now.
“That is my motivation … to have a positive impact on people’s lives while they’re here and teach them life lessons that are not just … ‘what we want you to do while you’re here.’
“I think if you can back that up and share some life lessons, teach them … how to be a good person – or a better person – then the rest of it just falls into place,” he said. “The food will be better because I have people that care about it. The drink will be better because they care about curating that perfect cocktail. The service will be better because they’re genuine.
“When you walk in the front door here, you feel it. It’s the highest achievement I could ever strive for, and we’re successful with that.”
The Waverly Local
1465 Patrick St.
Waverly, Alabama 36879
334-539-6077
https://www.instagram.com/thewaverlylocal/
Hours
Tuesday to Saturday: Bar opens at 4 p.m. Dining room service from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday brunch: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Susan Swagler has written about food and restaurants for more than three decades, much of that time as a trusted restaurant critic. She shares food, books, travel and more at www.savor.blog. Susan is a founding member and past president of the Birmingham chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International, a philanthropic organization of women leaders in food, wine and hospitality whose members are among Birmingham’s top women in food.
