Faces of Hall County: Chef Nicholas St. Clair

Antebellum Chef Nicholas St. Clair says he tries to “chase passion first and money second.” Which has worked out quite nicely for his restaurant Antebellum in Flowery Branch.
In fact, Antebellum will celebrate its five year anniversary on June 12.
Nicholas graduated with high honors from the California Culinary Institute in Pasadena, Calif. Wife, Alison earned her master’s degree in special education from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. and moved to Hall County seven years ago. The couple has two toddlers and another baby on the way.

St. Clair said the minute he walked into the building that is now Antebellum, he was in love.
“I knew it was the one. I just felt so comfortable and at peace and at home; it was really strange,” he said. “There were times I wasn’t quite sure about what we were doing–we ran out of money the third day.”

Since opening Antebellum, St. Clair has opened Maverick’s Cantina in John’s Creek and Peyton’s Pie Co in Suwanee.
“If you have real Mexican food it’s not the heavy stuff that makes you feel sick. It’s light and healthy and really good stuff. I just felt like people weren’t treating it like they should,” St. Clair said.

“Peyton’s Pie Co. in Suwanee, same thing…I just love pizza, so I thought I’d start making pizza at home and see what I could do with it. About six to eight months in I started getting some great results, read a lot books, studied and built a wood fire brick oven in the backyard. Once I built the wood fire brick oven I started getting some amazing pizza out of that. It’s basically a build your own pizza place, we have about five to six specialty pizzas that we do.”
Antebellum has won Open Table top 100 Best Restaurants in the country two out of the last three years, “but this year was probably our best year because we got it with only one other restaurant in the state and we also placed in two other top 100 categories,” he said. “Open Table is the best reservation system and pretty much every restaurant worth it’s salt, especially high end restaurants, use Open Table. Being voted top 100 is really an honor and on top of that we placed in two other categories this year, the only restaurant in the state. We were named Top 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in the Country and named Top 100 Restaurant in the Country for Foodies.”
We are grateful that Nicholas took some time recently to tell us more about his life and love of Hall County.
Question: What led you to your current career?
Answer: “My mom got me a dishwasher job when I was 13 and football was my first love, so I was trying to play football and I didn’t want to do dishes anymore, so I started cooking…I didn’t really love cooking at the time but you could find a job anywhere you went, so I started actually getting into some restaurants that were doing really cool things. I didn’t grow up around good food or food done right, it was all kind of boxed up. So, once I started to learn that there was more out there then things got a little more fun.”
Q: Do you change the menu with the seasons at Antebellum?
A: “We change the menu seasonally and we try to use as many local people as possible. Having the farmer’s market there (downtown Flowery Branch) in the summer is great…and we try to bring that into the restaurant. The produce company we use they buy all local. I tell people all the time that it’s difficult to do strictly farm-to-table…that being said, we do the best we can. We try to support local vendors as much as possible. The thing that’s cool about it is you aren’t just supporting a local vendor you are getting the best quality.”
Q: What are some of the new menu items at Antebellum this summer?
A: “Let me give Lee Hemmer a shout out real quick. Lee Hemmer from White Sulphur Farms…supplies us with pork belly and he’s also got some cows and all. It’s really cool to work with local farmers and he’s such an awesome guy; it’s great to have his product on the menu.”
Q: What is your favorite dish and cocktail at Antebellum?
A: “I like everything but I do have a favorite cocktail; the Lavender Lady. It’s kind of a play on Aviation and it’s really good. I like fresh juices in my cocktails…it’s lemon, lavender, gin and we have some lavender planted in the front of the restaurant and that’s the garnish that goes with it; it makes a really nice cocktail.”
Q: What is it that you love about Hall County?
A: “We are excited to be part of the change. When we came to Flowery Branch five years ago, it was pretty quiet and now the little town is bustling and we are excited to be a part of that. It’s really cool to see the vendors that have come in and join us on Main St.
“Liberty Candy is across the street and I can’t say enough about Karen (Ching, owner of Liberty Candy Co.) and the way that she has invested in Flowery Branch. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think Flowery Branch would be where it is right now. She’s kind of the force behind everything and I don’t think a lot of people know that.”
(Ching recently opened Lakeside Market where they carry local good and carry Antebellum. She also bought a corner lot in downtown Flowery Branch that will eventually house an Italian bistro owned by St. Clair and a growler store next door.)
Q: Where do you see yourself in the next five to 10 years?

A: “I just want to keep building good quality restaurants, I think I’ll settle down a little bit though but then still opening one or two more. We are hoping to expand Antebellum…we’d like to open up for lunch one day if the city would support it.”

Q: What are three words that mean “HOME” to you?

A: “Warm, Cozy, Energy.”