Around Town

How Hilde Friese conjured ‘real’ bread in metro Atlanta’s food wasteland

AROUND TOWN

Joe Earle is Editor-at-Large for Springs Publishing. He has more than 45 years of experience with newspapers, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and was Managing Editor of Reporter Newspapers.

Metro Atlanta was a different kind of place when Hilde Friese settled here in the 1970s. There were only a couple of interesting places to eat then, she said, and, at least when it came to bread, “it was a wasteland.”

She couldn’t find a decent loaf anywhere. Every store stocked some variant on Wonder Bread: bleached white slices without any bite to them. “I couldn’t deal with that cottony stuff,” she said.

So, she decided to do something about it. She started baking.

Friese, who’s 80 now, spent her childhood in a small town in southern Germany and grew up eating hearty bread. Her little town supported two bakeries and she learned to cook as a child. “I was raised in a family where your mother cooked and you helped.”

She later trained as a nurse and dietician, then followed the man she would marry to the U.S. His job in a real estate investment firm brought them to Atlanta during the boom in the 1970s, and they settled in Stone Mountain.

To avoid feeding her kids grocerystore bread, Friese started making her own sourdough loaves. It wasn’t easy. “You couldn’t get whole wheat flour,” she said. She had to go to a health food store at Little Five Points to buy grain by the 50-pound bag.

She discovered that the park at Stone Mountain had an old grist mill set up to show tourists what farm life was like. She asked the man who ran the mill if he could grind wheat as well as corn. He said sure, the wheel didn’t care what it ground, and he started turning out flour for her. Soon, the mill was selling her bread to tourists and Friese found herself in the wholesale baked-goods business.

At one point, she said, she was cranking out 100 loaves a day from her home kitchen. That led to a commercial kitchen, which led to a shop. Eventually, the shop led to

Hilde Friese

a restaurant now called the Village Corner German Restaurant Bakery & Tavern. Her son now runs it. Hilde stops by regularly to keep her hand in. She still does some of the baking and tinkers with recipes.

“After 48 years,” she said, “I can’t just sit here and talk. … That’s just not the way I am. That’s not me.” I’m State Rep. Betsy Holland, and it’s been my honor to serve Georgia’s 54th House District since my election in 2018. I’m proud to bring my 25+ years of corporate experience along with my proven voting record in the Georgia legislature to work for Georgia’s families. Georgians deserve leadership that supports and protects everyone.

■ Defending women’s access to healthcare and reproductive freedom ■ Supporting high quality, fully funded education for our children ■ Reducing gun violence and improving public safety in our communities ■ Building a strong economy, creating jobs and developing a workforce pipeline for our highest demand industries

Early voting begins October 17 Election Day is November 8 Learn more

Now Offering Tours

Now Offering Now Offering Tours Tours

FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED

“BEST VALUE SENIOR LIVING & MEMORY CARE”

IN THE HEART OF SANDY SPRINGS ALL – INCLUSIVE RATES

Community Is Almost Finished with New Updates, Call Now for your Discounted Renovation Special