After Last Year’s Devastating Fire, Owners Andrew Nathan and Jennifer Gibson Welcome Diners Back to Their Beloved Watch Hill Restaurant
When summer rolls around, we South Countyites indulge more frequently in Sunday brunches, picnic lunches at the beach or even grab-and-go suppers. For 20 years, we did that at The Cooked Goose, until a restaurant-totaling fire happened in January 2025 and owners Jennifer Gibson and Andrew Nathan had to spend over a year rebuilding.
After his gratitude at finding 55 firefighters at the site that fateful night, “working to save stuff,” Nathan remembers his panic the next morning, thinking of 28 people (and their families) who relied on him. Within a couple days, however, the insurance that he and Gibson had so wisely invested in from the beginning proved its worth. It paid their employees while they were closed, as well as the necessary restoration of “The Goose.”
“Aside from tremendous customer loyalty,” Gibson reflects, “the real takeaway from this experience has been the vested interest of long-term employees—how valued they are and how integral to our business. It’s been a humbling reopening with both staff and customers.”
The return of long-term employees, including 14-year veteran pastry chef Samantha Clark—now with a separate pastry kitchen for her solo inspirations—has meant important direction and input from all the staff, in all aspects of the restart.
Nathan has been in restaurants since he was 13. At 17, he had an apprenticeship at the Four Seasons; after a stint at the Culinary Institute of America, he cooked in Paris, Alba (Italy), Barcelona and back to New York, to work for the iconic restaurateur Joe Baum. It was 9/11 that brought him to Rhode Island (he’d spent childhood summers on Block Island) and to Westerly’s former Up River Cafe, where he met Gibson.
He can’t say enough about her contribution to the success of The Cooked Goose: “She’s a great cook; she does a lot of the to-go food. But she spends 75% of her time in the front of the house, talking to customers, creating relationships. Her focus is hospitality, and that’s what made The Cooked Goose such a vital part of the community. That’s always been the biggest focus of our restaurant.”
The space in The Goose was rebuilt (according to legal specifications) almost the same as before the fire: white wainscoting, retro restrooms with black-and-white floor tiles, corner fireplace and six-stool dining bar. The breakfast menu highlights customer favorites—lobster Benedict, truffled eggs, biscuits with house-made sausage gravy, corned beef hash (also house-made—they prepare corned beef in large batches nearly every day), house-made granola, a “bagel platter deluxe,” plus riffs on French toast and pancakes.
The sandwiches, salads and soups on the lunch menu are equally enticing: “The Goose” with Italian tuna; or “The Captain Kirk” with cashew chicken salad; the corned beef Reuben; or the Cooked Goose Cubano with house-made porchetta. Something new for The Goose is online ordering, a good way to avoid lunch lines. And don’t miss the expansive selection of take-home-for-dinner items.
The friendly service, the inventive menu, the comfortable atmosphere—all will pull you in for a first visit and make you plan for many more.
Johnette Rodriguez is a food, travel and arts writer published in Yankee, Saveur, The Boston Globe, SO Rhode Island and The Westerly Sun.
The Cooked Goose
92 Watch Hill Rd., Westerly
401.348.9888; TheCookedGoose.com
