A Restaurant’s Family’s Deep Roots

Sallie Peterkin’s life has revolved around delivering a deeply personal dining experience.

The Cornucopia Restaurant has an abundant history as Cashiers’ favorite porch to gather around a table and enjoy good food.

The restaurant’s family roots are deep. As a teenager, Sallie Orr Peterkin worked there as a server. It’s where she met her husband, Brien. And over the course of several years, she and her family would be influential in not only its development but also in the creation of additional restaurants in the community. Her endeavors have shaped dining options for hungry residents and visitors to the Plateau for three decades.

be a culinary destination.”

Yet Sallie’s influence with the area’s eating establishments isn’t just limited to fine, upscale dining. In 2014, the Peterkins recognized an opportune time for a different kind of restaurant for Cashiers. They opened Slab Town Pizza in the shopping center of the same name in January of that year.

“We saw the success and popularity of fast casual restaurants in other places,” Sallie says, “Slab Town Pizza is fast casual with a Cashiers twist.”

When the Greens purchased Hildegard’s on Main Street, Mindy immediately saw its potential.

“I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit,” she says, “My dad taught me to be ‘an opportunist.’ So, I look for opportunities.”

This is a key ingredient to the success of their restaurant. She knows his strengths as a chef as well as hers as the visionary. “We complement one another well,” she observes, “He knows food and wine. I know marketing.”

Mindy is a graduate of the University of Texas with a degree in marketing and a subsequent career in sales in Dallas before moving with Wolfgang to Highlands. She employed her skills and experience to position their restaurant as a fine dining establishment.

“In the earliest days of the restaurant I introduced myself to other businesses and individuals, hotels and retailers in the community,” she recalls as a tool to spread the word. She conceptualized the outdoor pavilion, covered deck and bistro additions to the restaurant. She seized upon the niche venue demand for special occasion parties. She created menus. She formed collaborative relationships with other chefs and restaurants to bring acclaimed wines and wineries to the area.

Mindy views this as the catalyst toward contributing to Highlands growing into a food destination. “Today there are six Wine Spectator restaurants,” she says. She recognizes that this is because of local restaurants working together to enhance the dining experience with premium wine. “Silver Oak was a big influence,” she says, “The Silver Oak wine dinners were very popular and led to other wine dinners

All of the thousands of hours of planning and strategizing, coupled with that restless energy, gave Mindy a unique position in the development of Highlands and its extraordinary restaurant community.

“Mindy, along with Wolfgang, is one of the shakers and movers that helped establish the great reputation of the food and wine scene in Highlands as we know it today,” says John Woods, the General Manager of Skyline Lodge and Oak RestaurantHighlands and the past chairman of the Highlands Chamber of Commerce. “In the beginning, Mindy would answer the phones, perform all the marketing including community outreach while Chef Wolfgang brought new food concepts to the Highlands area. You must keep in mind that all this started while she was raising a family and before the purchase of alcohol was legal in Macon County. Where would we be today, without her hard work and dedication to the culinary scene in Highlands?”

The food and restaurant landscape has evolved the past three decades. Mindy calls Highlands a “foodie resort” town, less seasonal and more year around. She also appreciates how this opens new opportunities to continue to elevate the dining experience to appeal to diners’ ever-changing tastes.

Change may be inevitable, but Mindy’s continued contribution to food on the Plateau is enduring. No doubt she is already dreaming about the next ways to cater to people who love to eat.

Sallie expanded The Purple Onion, a cheese and gourmet food shop found inside The Cornucopia Restaurant.

…she raised the bar for the local culinary scene. Many restaurants that are here today have followed on the path that she paved.

“That was the most enjoyable venture,” she says. “I really like the process of opening a restaurant. Developing the concept is the fun, creative part.” She explains that after months of designing the space, making the menu, ordering equipment, and meeting new staff, the moment it all comes together is so rewarding.

Sallie observes that Canyon Kitchen went from a planned sports activity barn for Lonesome Valley families to a fine dining restaurant with an award-winning chef, John Fleer, in just one year. The original idea of serving simple, seasonal locally sourced food in a beautiful, rustic setting with spectacular views continues to make this a coveted reservation.

Though Sallie’s too modest to trumpet her outsized influence on the Plateau’s culinary scene, her friends aren’t.

“Sallie raised the bar for the local culinary scene,” says Sarah Jennings, who by virtue of her service on the boards of Jackson County Tourism Development Authority, Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce, Boys & Girls Club of the Plateau, Cashiers Valley Preschool and the Summit Charter School Foundation, is well aware of her friend’s impact on the Plateau. “Many restaurants that are here today have followed on the path that she paved. Sallie’s efforts have helped elevate Cashiers to

She adds that they wanted to serve delicious food that appeals to everyone but use real plates, not paper, as well as offer high quality wine and beer.

Sallie’s son, Brien Peterkin Jr., grew up working at The Cornucopia Restaurant. He went on to graduate from culinary school in Colorado. Since then, he has been integral to the family’s restaurant enterprises.

“Young Brien recruited his friends to come to Cashiers,” she sees adding, “One of the reasons I’m still working in the restaurants is that I like being around young people. The young people keep me young.”

Sallie divides her time between Slab Town Pizza and the family’s most recent restaurant, Cashiers Valley Smokehouse on Highway 64 West. Much like before, the family created a restaurant with a fresh spin on the traditional concept of a Southern smokehouse.

Sallie has seen a lot of growth and change in Cashiers during her years in the restaurant business. However, the one constant she finds the most gratifying is the people who visit. “You meet a lot of interesting people,” she remarks, “It is a joy to provide hospitality to the customers.”

by Ann Self

by Ann Self