Throughout the pandemic, restaurant owners have had no shortage of reasons to huddle up and plan for the ever-changing road ahead, from the consistent upheaval of mask requirements, indoor (and then outdoor) dining prohibitions, how to manage the massive spike in takeout and delivery business and much more.

And then there were less stressful yet still important decisions to be made to be made by Watershed owner Ged Robertson, chef-partner Kyle Swain and their team.

Such as: longtime Mill Valley residents Donna Brennan, Felicia Kwarta and Marie Cannon showed up to Watershed at the Mill Valley Lumber Yard with such regularity, rain or shine, in the late afternoon for nibbles and a drink that the staff didn’t want to miss them. “Honestly, when we considered adjusting our hours, especially during the winter months, we would talk about it in our meetings – what time is Donna showing up? 4pm? OK good,” Robertson says. “They are just awesome.”

The trio’s consistency and dedication was so great that Robertson was inspired to create “Perfect Attendance” plaques (see above) for each of them and have them placed on the Adirondack chairs that were their staple seating of choice.

Brennan was introduced by some friends to Watershed and MVLY by some friends in the early days of the pandemic. “I just fell in love with the place,” she says. Brennan, Kwarta and Cannon, all of whom were working at home for much of 2020, started making it a regular date. 

“By the end of the each day, I just had to get out of the house,” Brennan says. “I needed to get away from the computer and see the trees and the sky and the kids and dogs. It’s such a Zen-like feeling, just being there. And I just loved getting to know all the people – Ged, Kyle, the servers and staff, the other business owners. They all just treated me wonderfully. At times, I’d be the only one there, in the rain, and they’d get me a chair, wipe it down. They just went above and beyond.”

Watershed is located within the Mill Valley Lumber Yard at 129 Miller Avenue. MORE INFO.

Want to know what’s happening around town? Click here to subscribe to the Enjoy Mill Valley Blog by Email!