With ESSE Gone, Where Does the Landing Eat This Fall?
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
On the night of Oct. 11, as firefighters worked at the Landing clubhouse, a Reynolds Lake Oconee member family brought them trays of food and a cooler of drinks left over from a celebration at their home. Reynolds shared the story, and Lake Oconee News reported it four days later.
The food that night came from a home kitchen, because the Landing's own kitchen had just burned. The fire destroyed the 20,000-square-foot clubhouse and ESSE, the restaurant that had become the Landing's main gathering place. Now the Landing has no dinner table of its own. Until the clubhouse is rebuilt, a Landing evening out means a drive to another village at Reynolds or to the Ritz-Carlton. Knowing which room is open on which night matters more this fall than it has in years.
Lake Oconee News reported that Greene County Fire and Rescue Engine 9 arrived about five minutes after the call came in, around 6:30 p.m. The crew found the building almost fully engulfed. The paper said high winds from the remnants of Hurricane Isaias drove the fire. Engine 10 laid a supply line, Engine 12 connected to the building's fire department connection, and Oconee County Fire and Rescue covered Station 12 and sent firefighters to relieve the Greene County crews. Firefighters stayed through the weekend to put out hot spots. Nobody was injured.
The clubhouse was more than a restaurant. It also held five overnight guest rooms, a fitness area and the golf shop, and all of them were damaged. Reynolds told members its teams were rescheduling the tee times, ESSE reservations, fitness classes, events, meeting-room bookings and overnight stays the fire affected.
The building had history. The Landing course opened in 1986 as Port Armor Golf Club, the first golf course built at Lake Oconee, and Reynolds bought it in 2005. About two years before the fire, the restaurant was renovated and renamed ESSE, a Latin word meaning "to be." In its 2025 Golden Fork awards, Golf Inc. gave ESSĒ at The Landing second place in the Remodeled F&B Facility, Private category. The entry credits The Johnson Studio for the interiors and DreamBuilt as contractor.
Brian Gaydica, Reynolds Lake Oconee's director of marketing, told the paper that the renovated restaurant became a new hub for the Landing community and a very popular spot with members. That is why the loss is felt so widely. ESSE was the closest dinner table for a large part of the property.
The first concrete change came from Reynolds itself. The National Tavern will open on Monday nights for dinner to give diners one more option while ESSE is out of service.
Monday is the night that matters, because it was the gap ESSE filled. On the Reynolds culinary page, The National Tavern is an urban-style tavern serving lunch and dinner built on local, seasonal ingredients. Reynolds' own opening announcement places it in The National Golf Village. For a Landing household, the new Monday service is the quickest way to get back to a regular weeknight dinner out.
Away from Monday, the choice depends on two things: which village you're willing to drive to, and which rooms your membership opens. The Reynolds culinary page lists these club and community venues:
Richland Pointe has a story of its own. In a June 2024 video update on the Richland Pointe Village restaurant, Reynolds described it as casual-elegant and open-air, built around a 52-foot wraparound bar covering 860 square feet with seating indoors and out. It now appears on the culinary page as an operating venue with its own menu.
Put together, the list shows what ESSE did. Most of the venues above serve one village, a few nights a week, or one membership tier. Of the posted schedules, only The Overlook's Thursday-to-Saturday dinner and the Tavern's new Monday night are firm. For the other club rooms, it is worth calling ahead before driving across the property.
Reynolds also lists Ritz-Carlton restaurants as member options. Amore del Lago, Linger Longer Steakhouse, Gaby's by the Lake, the Lobby Lounge and The Coffee Shop all appear on its culinary page. On the Reynolds interactive map, Linger Longer sits in The Oconee clubhouse at the hotel.
Unlike most of the club rooms, the hotel posts daily hours. Here they are as listed on the Ritz-Carlton's dining page:
| Venue | What it serves | Posted hours |
|---|---|---|
| Linger Longer Steakhouse | Steakhouse | Every day, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. |
| Gaby's by the Lake | Poolside and lakeside dining | Every day, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. |
| Amore del Lago | Italian | Hours vary by day |
| Lobby Lounge | Asian-inspired bites and cocktails | Mon to Thu, 4 p.m. to midnight; Fri to Sun, noon to midnight |
| Oconee Cove | Spirits and small plates | Mon and Wed to Sat, 6 p.m. to midnight; closed Tue and Sun |
| The Coffee Shop | Coffee and grab-and-go | Every day, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
Two places on that table serve dinner every night of the week: Linger Longer and Gaby's. Before the fire, a Landing household could stay close to home for dinner. On a Sunday or Tuesday this fall, the hotel is the most reliable option.
The holiday season will be the first stretch since the fire when large parts of the community gather in one place, and it starts at the hotel. The Ritz-Carlton holidays page lists the opening week:
The hotel also advertises Thanksgiving brunch and Christmas dinner at Linger Longer Steakhouse, Amore del Lago and Gaby's by the Lake. It hasn't posted dates or prices for those meals yet, so a call to the resort is the way to hold a table for the holidays.
Reynolds has said it will replace the clubhouse. Gaydica told Lake Oconee News it is too early to discuss what rebuilding will look like. The message to members was that Reynolds will spend "the coming days, weeks, and months" deciding "the next generation of The Landing clubhouse" and will share plans when they are ready. Until then, the Tavern's Monday dinner, the club venues and the hotel's dining rooms take the place of the room the Landing lost.
If you live at the Landing and want to talk through how the rebuild might affect your corner of Reynolds, or you just want to compare notes on where your neighbors are booking dinner, I'm glad to listen and share what I'm hearing locally. Reach out to Lacie Groeninger anytime. Let's Connect.
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