The 404 Kitchen to Take Over Watermark Space in the Gulch

A big move is in the works for a high profile Gulch restaurant, as The 404 Kitchen will ditch its current digs later this year and reopen in the Watermark restaurant space across the street.

With the change, The 404 Kitchen will go from being one of the smallest restaurants in the city (with a 196-square-foot kitchen) to occupying over 7,000 square feet and having a fully realized kitchen. Executive chef Matt Bolus says that the current limited space in the front and back of the house made the impending move necessary: “What we can do in that kitchen and dining room is far greater than what we can do here. I have the space to do all these menu items I’ve been dying to do for the past three years.”

Bolus tells Eater that the menu will grow but not by a wide margin, with new potential dishes including family-style entrees, larger cuts of meat including standing rib roasts, bone-in rib eyes and fried chicken, along with the addition of more seasonal seafood. The additional space will also allow them to make certain menu items that currently have to rotate off, such as pâtés and crudos, permanent fixtures.

Plans for the renovated space will include developing an upper section of the dining room, several private event spaces and utilization of the current outdoor patio. And the beverage program, widely considered one of the best in the city, will be getting its own spotlight as well with the addition of a downstairs whiskey bar. Bolus says that he would “love to see the bar become kind of its own entity,” with a separate kitchen menu of dishes that pair well with whiskey, along with later hours than the restaurant both being strong possibilities.

As of right now there is not a firm timeline for Watermark’s impending move to its new SoBro home, but Bolus says that he hopes to start the renovations by this summer, with The 404 Kitchen remaining open right up until the transition.

Plans for the current restaurant space have not yet been revealed, but do check back for updates.