Farm-to-Table Dining

The mountains around Helen have a short list of foods that really come from the neighborhood, and it's more fun to seek those out than to chase a label. The table lists the ones you can verify on menus today.

Harvest Habersham on Highway 17 in Sautee Nacoochee runs dinner Wednesday to Saturday with seatings from 5 to 8 PM, and its site notes that reservations are required, that it doesn't take parties over six, and that it isn't suitable for children under 6. It lists indoor, outdoor and kitchen seating; call 706-754-0056. It is closed October 7 to 14 and reopens October 15.

In Helen, Campfire is open daily noon to 9 PM and describes itself as making everything from scratch, down to the cornbread croutons. In Clarkesville (about 25 minutes from Helen), Glen-Ella Springs serves dinner from 5:30 PM Tuesday to Saturday (Wednesday to Saturday January to March), with pecan crusted trout and herb-crusted rack of lamb on its menu.

Start at the Nora Mill general store (open weekdays 9 to 5 and weekends 10 to 5), lunch at the Old Sautee Store Market, then see Hardman Farm on the same highway. On a Thursday in October, finish at the Sautee Nacoochee Farmers Market, which runs 4 to 7 PM. The farm-to-table dining guide lists every market date.

The easiest way to eat local around Helen is to follow Highway 17 out of town. Sautee Nacoochee is about ten minutes from downtown Helen (roughly four miles by road), and the valley packs the stops into one short loop. The table is ordered the way a day tends to go: grits and shopping at the mill, a sandwich lunch at the Sautee store, a market on Thursday afternoon, dinner by reservation.

Hours are from Nora Mill and the Old Sautee Store; Harvest Habersham's details are as posted on its own site.

Nora Mill calls itself an operational gristmill on the Chattahoochee River, established in 1876, and it still grinds with the original 1,500-pound French Burr stones turned by river power. That's an ingredient story you can see for yourself rather than take on faith, and the mill kitchen cooks and serves samples of its own mixes and store products. Buy a bag of grits first, then look for the same grits on breakfast plates around town.

The Old Sautee Store, a few minutes up the highway, describes itself as Georgia's longest operating store, in business for over 150 years. Read the farm-to-table dining guide and the Old Sautee Store page for more on both.

October dinners are easiest midweek, and the Thursday market only runs through October 29, so build a Thursday if you want both the market and a table. Helen's Oktoberfest keeps the town busy through November 1, but the valley stops are usually calmer than the Festhalle crowd. For the leaves along the same road, the fall color guide has the timing, and the Hardman Farm page covers the historic farm on the same highway.