EXCLUSIVE: Staplehouse team partners with ranch owners for luxury retreat in rural Georgia

A getaway retreat 60 miles south of Atlanta is debuting this fall and it’s unlike anything the region has seen before.

Slated to open Sept. 15, Quercus is located on the grounds of a nearly 4,000-acre working ranch in Gay, Georgia.

What’s more, prominent names from the local food scene are attached to the Quercus culinary program, including Staplehouse owners Ryan Smith and Kara Hidinger.

The property features four secluded cabins that range from one to three bedrooms. Each is well-appointed with a modern interior design, stone fireplace and wraparound porch.

With quarter horses stabled on the property and the Flint River running through it, guided activities like trail riding and kayaking, as well as fishing, are part of the all-inclusive package. The cost is $1,350 per day per adult and $300 per day for children ages 14 and younger. A minimum two-night stay is required.

A key component of Quercus is an aspirational culinary program anchored by a 30-seat restaurant that will offer chef-prepared meals, including a 10-course tasting menu, with most ingredients grown on the farm.

Quercus is a venture by husband-and-wife team of Angelos Pervanas and Chiara Visconti di Modrone.

Visconti di Modrone was born and raised on the property, which was used for raising livestock and growing timber. After moving away in the mid-1990s to attend college and then live overseas, she and Pervanas moved to Atlanta in 2012. When the pandemic hit, the couple retreated with their three daughters to Quercus, where Pervana discovered a love for biodynamic farming.

Quercus is a venture by husband-and-wife team of Angelos Pervanas and Chiara Visconti di Modrone. Courtesy of Mammoth Studios

“We always felt it would be great for people — especially those that live in an urban setting — to experience the countryside in a nicely curated way,” Pervanas said.

But there was a catch. They had no experience in food service or hospitality.

“We know what good food tastes like, but we can’t cook good food consistently,” he said.

After a mutual friend introduced the couple to Smith and Hidinger, the partnership was forged.

“They had an idea of what they wanted to do. A big missing piece of the puzzle was the hospitality and culinary side,” said the James Beard Award-nominated Smith.

Staplehouse co-owner Ryan Smith is a chef-partner at Quercus. Smith calls Quercus, "a chef's dream," because of the access to food grown and raised on the property in Gay, Georgia. Courtesy of Mammoth Studios

Smith and the rest of the culinary team will have at their disposal the cattle raised on the farm, the vegetables grown in the gardens, and the biodynamic, organic wine and olive oil produced on Pervanas’ and Visconti di Modrone’s properties in Tuscany. In addition, a glass-enclosed lab at the center of the restaurant’s dining room will be used for experimentation, fermentation and other preserving projects.

Guest culinary experiences will be both formal and informal. The evening that guests arrive, they can eat a casual dinner in the restaurant’s dining room or get it delivered to the cabin. Breakfast will follow that same format. Those meals will “focus on quality ingredients and health-driven, simple preparations,” Smith said.

Quercus features four secluded cabins that range from one to three bedrooms. Each is cladded with reclaimed barnwood and new cyprus wood, with a well-appointed modern interior, stone fireplace and wraparound porch. Courtesy of Mammoth Studios

Lunch can also be taken in the dining room or dropped off at the cabins, a 10-minute walk from the restaurant. Picnic luncheons will be set up for guests engaged in half- and full-day activities.

The second night of the stay, dinner will be served in the dining room. A multi-course tasting menu will be “similar in a lot of ways to what Staplehouse used to be,” Smith said.

When Quercus debuts Sept. 15, the restaurant will be open only to overnight guests. Beginning around Oct. 1, reservations for select tasting-menu dinners will open to the public. The cost will be $225 per person, not including tax or gratuity. Quercus will also offer van shuttle service to and from Atlanta.

Smith and Hidinger will split their time between Quercus and Staplehouse, which will continue to operate as a neighborhood market and counter-service restaurant.

Other members of the culinary team will include Root Baking Co. co-founder Chris Wilkins and Staplehouse chef de cuisine Jake Pollitz. Wilkins, who has been helping at Staplehouse since returning from a stint with Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, will be at Quercus full-time. “His role is not necessarily going to be specific to bread,” Smith said. “A lot of his role will be all things fermentation and a managerial role during service.

Staplehouse co-owner Kara Hidinger will be director of hospitality at Quercus. Courtesy of Mammoth Studio

The exact role of Pollitz, a fixture at Staplehouse since Day 1, is still to be determined. “His desire is to do elevated, refined food,” Smith said.

Smith is excited by other culinary initiatives, including developing a curated kids menu for the family-friendly destination. Rates for children are not yet available, but the all-inclusive package includes three meals per day, beverages and one activity daily.

Future plans include cooking demonstrations, involving guests in harvesting and foraging, and health and wellness retreats.