At the Lodge on Little St. Simons Island,the pristine barrier island setting and the food are inseparably linked. While the setting and ambiance provide nourishment for the soul, the Kitchen Staff create mouthwatering menus designed to satisfy the appetites of the most discriminating palettes. The culinary team accomplishes their task superbly with a harmonious combination of delicious regional cuisine and southern hospitality served up on an unspoiled, 10,000-acre island paradise.

To dine at The Lodge on Little St. Simons Island is not just to experience the tastes of this low-country southern island, but to immerse oneself in the culture, history and beautiful surroundings the Island has to offer. One of the richest estuaries in the United States surrounds and meanders through Little St. Simons Island in miles of salt marshes, rivers and tidal creeks all feeding the Atlantic Ocean. These bountiful natural resources spawned what is commonly known as low-country cuisine, rich in local ingredients and drawing heavily from the surrounding waters for a variety of seafood and shellfish.

Mealtime gatherings are an event in themselves and highlight traditions that date back to the early 1900s when the Island's owner would entertain a cadre of prominent friends for weeks of hunting, sporting and glorious meals. Today, with no more than 30 overnight guests on the Island at any one time, meals remain social occasions, similar in nature to those of the 1900s. A cast-iron bell still alerts guests to gather.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served family style in the 1917 Hunting Lodge dining room where guests gather around long oak tables supported by local cedar tree trunks. Breakfast specialties such as homemade Blueberry Pancakes, Buttermilk Biscuits with Tasso Gravy, and Applewood Smoked Bacon add a regional flavor.

When not served in the dining room, lunch offers an opportunity to take in the scenery with picnics on the beach or front yard, or a pool-side gathering in the pavilion. Southern specialties of Fried Chicken, Okra Gumbo, Low-Country Boil, or BBQ Baby Back Ribs lend themselves well to the salty coastal air. Accompaniments include homemade cookies and breads, salad and seasonal vegetables. Guests who wish to continue exploring the Island during lunchtime may arrange to have a personal picnic prepared. The staff has thoughtfully set up picnic tables at some of the Island's more scenic spots for just such a sojourn.

Another time-honored tradition is the cocktail hour. Guests are often invited outdoors for a crab boil or oyster roast on the front lawn. Hundred-year-old live oaks with their ghostly gray tendrils of Spanish Moss provide a natural canopy, beneath which guests gather around picnic tables to shuck bushels of oysters beside a bonfire. 

When held indoors, the cocktail hour features scrumptious regional fare from Smoked Trout with Cucumber Salad Canapes to Grilled Quail with a Mango Chutney Dipping Sauce served fireside in the Hunting Lodge where guests may muse over Island memorabilia and photographs dating back to the early 1900s.

After a day of outdoor recreation, family style dinners satisfy even the heartiest appetite with bountiful meals. Entrees often highlight local seafood, with house specialties such as Potato Crusted Grouper with Vidalia Onion Compote, Crabcakes, or local Shrimp with with Chorizo Butter and Jalapeno Cheese Grits.  Conversation flows easily as guests discuss the day's adventures and plan outings for tomorrow. Entertain your palette with an array of southern dessert specialties such as Pecan Pie, Peach Cobbler with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream, or Key Lime Tarts.

At day's end, guests retire to spacious guestrooms to be lulled to sleep by the sounds of nature. No alarm clock is necessary - when the bell tolls for breakfast the next morning, guests rise eagerly knowing that yet another wonderful meal awaits!