By Denise K. James

The town where Jon Altizer-Bieger grew up in Southwestern Virginia may have been too rural to boast a restaurant scene, but fortunately, Jon learned to appreciate food at home. Describing the women in his family as “exceptional cooks,” he looks back with fondness on long afternoons of hanging out in the kitchen and watching Food Network. The family prepared Southern Appalachian meals such as biscuits and fried chicken, and grew corn, tomatoes, and potatoes. Every summer, Jon’s mother and aunt would gather at his grandmother’s table at lunchtime to eat a full meal, complete with “something sweet.”

Yet Jon didn’t pursue culinary arts as his career. While he still loved food and cooked frequently for friends and roommates, he opted for an education in the health sciences, ending up at Emory for a master’s in public health, then working for the CDC. When he met Geoff, who also worked in public health, the two noticed a shared throughline of food and hospitality. “Whenever we traveled, we knew where we were eating before we knew the rest of the itinerary,” Jon laughs. “And at home, we’d host multiple dinner parties.”

“I had a passion for food as well, but in a different way,” Geoff adds. “My dad was a retired professor; we traveled; I got exposed to other cuisines. And my mom’s side of the family is from Alabama and Florida — there’s a picture of me snapping green beans on the porch in Pensacola with my Papa.”

After living in Chicago, the couple decided to move South during the pandemic. Atlanta felt crowded, but Lake Oconee was just right. As they settled into lakeside life, they realized something: The community needed more restaurants. Residents were swiftly moving to the area, but businesses weren’t multiplying as fast. Could the two of them open an eatery? “The learning curve was steep,” Jon confesses. “I consumed a lot of books, read a lot online, got a business plan together, and convinced the bank. We’re still learning every day.”

As of this summer, Table at the Lake is celebrating three years at Lake Oconee. The menu is helmed by Executive Chef Casey Burchfield, who is also co-owner. A native of upstate New York, Chef Casey attended Johnson & Wales, worked in Los Angeles, cooked with Wolfgang Puck, and eventually ended up on Lake Oconee to run the kitchen at Ritz-Carlton’s Linger Longer Steakhouse.

According to Jon and Geoff, Casey is an important part of the restaurant’s success. “It was kismet that we met,” Geoff says. “Table at the Lake was just an idea on paper, and we said, if you’re ever interested, let’s talk.”

The current dinner menu “represents the restaurant’s maturity,” in the words of Jon, as it moves into the third year. Table at the Lake is homing in on producers from Georgia, as well as the region, ranging from local farmers delivering fresh eggs each week to oysters from Southeastern purveyors for “Oyster and Martini Mondays.” Occasionally, Jon and Geoff will bring back ideas from their travels — California in particular, which they visit every year — but the focus is becoming hyper-regional, according to Jon. “There’s so much abundance here for us to focus on.”

“Since we procure so much now from local farmers and purveyors, including much of our meat and vegetables, it allows us to build really trusted relationships with other small businesses,” Chef Casey adds. “We’ve had delicious food from the beginning, but we are really homing in on our brand as seasonally inspired with global influences.”

Wine and cocktails receive the same focus, and the restaurant has received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for three years. A lover of wine, Jon admits the most difficult thing about building a great wine list is ensuring it’s more than his own favorites. The list now is different from three years ago, he says, and has “mass appeal.” Meanwhile, cocktails contain all house-made ingredients, from fresh juices to cordials. “My philosophy is to manipulate ingredients and make the best expression of that ingredient,” Jon says.

Since opening Table at the Lake, new ventures have appeared on the horizon for Jon, Geoff and Chef Casey, namely The Burch x Boathouse — a grab-and-go cafe inspired by the Burch Food Truck, offering sandwiches, salads, cocktails, and more — as well as Rolling Clover Collective, a wine bar, cafe and gathering space co-owned with lifestyle curator Joanna Garcia Swisher.

But despite the ongoing success, Jon and Geoff insist the work they put into the business pays off most of all whenever locals choose to dine with them. And it happens often; Lake Oconee is growing but remains close-knit.

“Opening this kind of restaurant in a smaller community means we’re a staple,” Geoff muses. “We have amazing food as a foundation, and the chefs are talented. But we focus most on how our customers feel. The people who have known us for decades say, ‘I feel like I’m eating in a restaurant version of your home.’ There’s an intangible culture about it.”

Visit tableatl.com for updated menus and event listings, or to make a reservation.