Downtown Cary bottleshop owner has plans to open nearby restaurant

Tyler Watt has operated Pharmacy Bottle & Beverage, a bottle shop and bar, for just over two years on East Chatham Street.

He was one of the early adopters to open a business in downtown as part of the town’s ongoing revitalization of the central district.

And he’s been listening to his customers, who are asking for “a little bit more” foodwise in the part of downtown that’s already seen a new pizza restaurant and ice cream shop join a pub and Chinese food restaurant.

He hopes the new Postmaster restaurant and bar fits the bill. It is expected to open this fall at 164 E. Cedar St., an empty flex space that at one point has been rented out for church space. It’s a block away from Pharmacy and just down the street from Pizzeria Faulisi, the new pizza restaurant, and Bond Brothers Beer Co., a brewery that’s gained national attention.

“There’s some great food down here,” Watt said. “We saw a need for a casual plate executed very well. Locally sourced. Quality chef.”

Postmaster also will help rejuvenate another block of downtown. Watt said the restaurant, at the corner of North Walker Street, will have an outside patio. There are spots in the building, owned by Richard Ladd, that could be used for retail or other purposes, Watt said, though he doesn’t know who might become his neighbors.

“This is the missing link between us and Bond Brothers,” he said.

The plans are very preliminary, he said, in terms of design and what he can say about his culinary team.

About the chefs, he said, they’re “quality chefs that work at restaurants you would know.”

The menu is described as “modern Southern American food.” Dishes will rotate with the seasons.

“We’ll have a set menu, but we want to be creative and constantly be running specials,” he said. “Things we like to eat.”

He said the restaurant will be casual and family-friendly, which is key to the Cary market. He said diners can grab an appetizer and then head to Bond Brothers’ patio, for example.

“You can come in and get a great meal,” he said. “We want to make it approachable.”

There will be craft beer, craft cocktails and a curated wine list. He said he hopes they can excel at craft cocktails in an area that doesn’t specialize in them.

As for the name, that’s a nod to the founder of the Town of Cary, Frank Page, who established the town’s first post office and served as postmaster. He also built a hotel across the railroad tracks from the future restaurant. That hotel is now the Page-Walker Arts & History Center and can be seen from Cedar Street. The name Postmaster kept popping up in naming discussions.

“We’re playing off the history and location,” Watt said.

A long-term goal is to tie his businesses together, perhaps by delivering food to Pharmacy around the corner.

But first, there is much work to do in transforming the 2,500-square-foot space into the restaurant he envisions, with some design elements similar to that of Pharmacy, as well as a large 30-foot bar.

“We found this great building that needed a lot of work,” he said.

Info: facebook.com/Postmaster-1274292429322888/. Instagram: @postmaster_nc

This story was originally published May 8, 2017 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Downtown Cary bottleshop owner has plans to open nearby restaurant."