A Reynolds member told Atlanta News First about a kind of evening at ESSĒ that rarely gets photographed. A family sat at a table with their kids, who had textbooks open and were doing homework. The member said that "was not uncommon to see at all." He called ESSĒ the "it" place, with an upscale feel, and recalled birthday lunches and company meetings there.

On Saturday night, October 10, fire tore through that restaurant and The Landing clubhouse around it. WSB-TV was reporting by 10:58 p.m., and Greene County Fire Rescue asked the public to stay away from the scene while crews worked to get the fire under control. Officials said no one was injured, and Reynolds staff made sure everyone got out.

ESSĒ was the dining room inside a working clubhouse. Reynolds spread its member dining across several neighborhoods, and that design now carries The Landing's evenings. For the coming months, The Landing's dinner options sit in other neighborhoods' rooms.

The Night Itself

Greene County Fire Rescue said high winds made the fire hard to fight. Crews worked with few breaks to keep the blaze confined to the building. Oconee County Fire Rescue covered Greene's Station 12 and sent more firefighters to relieve the crews on scene. In a Facebook post quoted by Atlanta News First, the department thanked "every department and responder involved" and the community for its support.

The cause is still unknown.

The Clubhouse Held More Than a Restaurant

Reynolds' account of the clubhouse's last renovation shows how much sat under one roof. The year-long project reworked several things at once.

• ESSĒ itself: expanded into more open, connected rooms with more seating. It had an octagonal central bar topped in Blue Roma Quartzite with rust veining, vaulted ceilings crossed by dark wood arches, and an overhead fixture of blown-glass spheres.
• Outdoor dining: a veranda reached from the dining room or a new outdoor staircase, plus two lounge areas at the front with views of The Landing course as it runs through woods and water.
• Six guestrooms: all refurbished, with a separate entrance added for Inn guests.
• Locker rooms and restrooms: both the men's and women's locker rooms were refurbished in the same project.

Reynolds also said the clubhouse was open to Reynolds Lake Oconee members and to resort guests. So the building was a dining room, a place to stay overnight and the locker space next to the first tee, all in one. According to Atlanta News First, the restaurant had been renovated within the past five years.

That investment drew attention outside the gates. In Golf Inc.'s 2025 Golden Fork awards, published April 7, 2025, ESSĒ placed second among remodeled private food-and-beverage facilities. The writeup pointed to its seasonal menu, octagonal bar and veranda. The kitchen was run by Chef Zouhair Bellout, the community's Executive Chef and Director of Culinary. He built an international menu, and Wagyu beef sliders, Szechuan sautéed shrimp, grilled North Carolina swordfish and roasted prime rib became early favorites. Bellout described the approach as "ingredient-driven" and said the menu would "evolve and continually change with the seasons."

What Has Not Been Confirmed

As of October 12, 2026, none of the public reporting answers the questions that matter most for daily life at The Landing:

• Whether The Landing golf course is open, and how the pro shop and locker room functions are being handled
• Whether the fitness center and pools near the clubhouse are operating
• What happens to the six Inn guestrooms and any guests who had reservations
• Whether Reynolds plans interim dining at The Landing, and when or how it will rebuild

Two days after a fire, these gaps are normal. Reynolds' member communications will be the reliable source as decisions are made. We are not guessing at any of them here.

A Dining System Built Across Neighborhoods

What can be said with confidence is that Reynolds never relied on a single clubhouse. Its own culinary listing spreads dining rooms across the community. Several are open to members broadly, some are limited to Platinum members, and the Ritz-Carlton adds another group. One design detail ties the system back to ESSĒ. The Johnson Studio, which designed the interiors for the ESSĒ renovation, had already worked on The National Tavern and the Creek Club clubhouse renovation.

Here is how the remaining rooms sort out, based on Reynolds' published descriptions:

Eighty8 comes closest to filling ESSĒ's everyday role. Reynolds describes it as the "historical epicenter of the Reynolds social scene for decades." Its schedule of breakfast, Sunday brunch and dinner covers much of the day that ESSĒ covered. The National Tavern is the nearest match for the polished bar scene ESSĒ built around its octagonal bar. Reynolds calls it a "quintessential urban tavern," with seating in the bar and lounge, the dining room or on either veranda. The Overlook serves the kind of special-occasion dinner ESSĒ also hosted. It is open only three nights a week, so it fits a planned evening better than a spontaneous one.

These hours and access notes come from Reynolds' published pages, which are tied to its Summer 2026 menus. Schedules may shift as the fall season continues, and they may shift again if Reynolds redistributes staff and capacity after the fire.

The Ritz-Carlton Fills a Different Gap

ESSĒ had a range that few single rooms can match, from homework at the table to anniversary prime rib. Reynolds points members to the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee for "casual and fine dining with all-day options." Those options are Amore del Lago, Linger Longer Steakhouse, Gaby's by the Lake, the Lobby Lounge and The Coffee Shop. According to the hotel's dining page, they cover Italian, steakhouse, lakeside, lounge and coffee-shop formats. Put together, those five rooms cover much of the spread ESSĒ handled in one building.

The resort's fall calendar is already set. Fall s'mores run nightly at The Backyard from October 16 through 31, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Lighting at the Lake is Wednesday, November 25, at 6 p.m., with John Driskell Hopkins and his band. The Mistletoe Market runs that day from 4 to 8 p.m., and the 5,000-square-foot Winter Forest ice rink opens at 4 p.m.

Beyond the Gates, a Few Newer Options

The lake has also gained a few places since summer. Italian Chophouse on Lake Oconee and its Lakefront Pavilion have opened in Eatonton at the former Bone Island Grillhouse site. The Chophouse serves Italian and steakhouse dinners, and the Pavilion offers casual food and drinks reachable by boat or car. On the Highway 44 corridor, Tee Time 44 celebrated its opening with an Eatonton-Putnam Chamber ribbon-cutting on September 10. It pairs indoor golf simulators, lessons and club fitting with food and a bar across five bays, according to Lake Oconee News.

Closer to Greensboro, Café 44 at 1051 Village Park Drive and Santoro's Italian Kitchen at 1061 Village Park Drive both appear in Lake Oconee Life's dining guide.

Reynolds' own announcement of the ESSĒ name described it as a place reflecting the essence of Reynolds and its community spirit. Until The Landing has that room again, members can find the same kitchens, the same chef's team and the same club membership at the National Tavern on Richland's 18th, at Eighty8 and across the lake at The Overlook.

At Charity Joiner + Company, we're grateful to the Greene County and Oconee County firefighters who kept Saturday's fire contained to one building, and we're thinking of the ESSĒ staff and the Landing neighbors who called it their table. We'll keep sharing confirmed updates from Reynolds as they come. Any time a neighbor wants a conversation, a Red-Carpet Consultation is open, with no timetable attached.