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The husband-and-wife team behind Blue Atlas, Ben Watters and Rachel Best
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Blue Atlas is located at 1000 Carlisle Ave. in Fulton Hill.
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Blue Atlas is housed in the former Robert Fulton School.
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A view from inside the restaurant
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Inside the restaurant component of Blue Atlas
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The market will offer everything from local coffee to eggs, milk and snacks.
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The market side of Blue Atlas will serve coffee, beer and wine.
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Store shelves at Blue Atlas
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A Blue Atlas cedar tree on the property
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Outdoor seating at Blue Atlas
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The outdoor plaza garden area at Blue Atlas
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Another view on the property
Buying a home, having a child and opening a business are a series of life-altering firsts.
Ben Watters and Rachel Best, the husband-and-wife team behind the forthcoming restaurant and market Blue Atlas in Fulton Hill, have done all three in a very short period of time.
“We bought a house, had a baby and opened a restaurant in the same year,” says 34-year-old Watters with a laugh. Days away from opening the market side of operations, there is a sense of urgency and nervous excitement in the air as staff members train, paintings are hung and boxes sit askew.
The business is housed inside the former Robert Fulton School, a classical brick building built over a century ago at 1000 Carlisle Ave. in Richmond's East End that has since been converted into offices, apartments, artist residences and a ceramic studio along with the restaurant and market space.
So how did two chefs, transplants from Colorado, find themselves on the brink of opening a market and a restaurant during a pandemic?
While executive chef at Leaf, a vegan restaurant in Boulder, Henrico native Best befriended regular customer Margaret Freund, who was not only from Richmond, she was the founder and president of Fulton Hill Properties.
“She said, ‘I have a business here and a business there; if you ever move back to Richmond, give me a call,’ ” Best says.
Not long after, the 35-year-old took her up on the offer.
In 2017 Best and Watters moved to Richmond. Watters served for a time as the executive chef at the now-shuttered Aloi and also worked at Lemaire and Brenner Pass. During the initial buildout of the Artisan Hill apartments, a neighboring six-story complex owned by Freund, Rachel held stints at Secco Wine Bar, made pastries for Aloi and most recently served as Ellwood Thompson’s R&D chef.
A month after the duo signed a lease for the restaurant and market space, COVID-19 struck. While the pandemic presented delays in the opening process, they have found themselves in an auspicious situation. Blue Atlas is a dual-purpose space, with pandemic-friendly features ranging from the grab-and-go component of the market to its spacious outdoor area with a panoramic view of the city.
In 2017, the school was added to the list of National Register of Historic Places, and many of its original features have been maintained at Blue Atlas, including the floors. The counter at the cafe is made from refurbished chalkboards and paneling that came from the principal’s office.
“Even as an adult you're like, ‘Ohh, the principal’s office,” Watters says with a laugh.
While trying to land on a name that would reflect the restaurant’s focus on worldly cuisine, he says the word “atlas” came to mind.
“We told [Freund], and she said, ‘These are Blue Atlas cedar trees,’ ” Watters says, pointing to a handful of towering evergreens in the plaza garden. Outside the restaurant, an artist from the building has adorned the wall with a mural of the Blue Atlas tree.
Set to open on Oct. 13, the restaurant at Blue Atlas is heavily inspired by Linger, a nearly decade-old Denver eatery dishing out street food and small plates from around the globe.
The menu showcases the culinary yin and yang of the couple. Watters, a graduate of Rocky Mountain Chefs of Colorado, is more classically trained, while Best, a 15-year vegetarian, finds inspiration from her role as an executive chef early in her career and from her worldly travels.
“We’re complementary,” Watters says of the duo’s cooking techniques. “It’s interesting to get her perspective and combine it [with mine] to get something really unique.”
Cooking throughout college, Best joined the Peace Corps upon graduation and moved to the Republic of Cameroon for 27 months, an experience that sparked her initial restaurant vision.
“I worked with agriculture there, so [I was] still really in tune with food,” she says. “I love culture and traveling, and that was my way to get to know the women, was by cooking. It’s such an important part of community and can bring a lot of people together.”
Offering a collection of small plates, Blue Atlas encourages guests to feast and explore an assortment of globally influenced items rather than a single entree. Watters says diners can expect okonomiyaki, a savory Japanese pancake, and cha ca la vong, a Vietnamese-style fish dish with turmeric, and most plates will have vegan or vegetarian options.
“You want to try a little bit of everything, and that’s what we are able to offer,” he says. “It’ll be very approachable food to wild and exotic flavors based off of Rachel’s travels — [a] something-for-everyone kind of vibe. By no means are we doing the perfect exact recipes, we're doing our spin.”
Debuting on Sept. 25, the market will offer breakfast and lunch in a cafe setting. Sandwich staples including Reubens and Cubanos will be available, with vegetarian options, and breads from focaccia to pita and daily pastries will be made in house.
Aiding the couple in this new journey is a familiar cast of characters: Watters will be joined by Sous Chef John Hartman, with whom he previously shared a kitchen at Lemaire. Relocating to Virginia for her position as general manager, Melissa Lucas worked with Best and Watters in Boulder, while Assistant Manager Sarah Clampett is formerly of Aloi and Stella’s Grocery.
Blue Atlas will also serve as an event and wedding space and offer catering, and there is talk of movie nights or outdoor gatherings.
“I started writing this business plan three years ago. I remember sitting at that first apartment in Richmond and figuring out plans,” Rachel says. “This has been a dream of ours for a long time.”
Blue Atlas will be open Tuesday through Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. The market will be open Tuesday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
