Season Exclusive Interview- TMB Members Only!

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Spotlight on Nick Jennings, Owner and Head Chef of Season

Interview conducted by Erica Zendell for The Marietta Brew

“In a chef’s kitchen, anything can happen.” 

–Season’s website

In a brunch landscape filled with over-the-top settings and made-for-social-media dishes, Season stands out for its humility. No frills. Fewer than thirty seats. A breakfast and lunch menu focused on "nuanced classics" with more than a few creative riffs: on the menu (for now), you'll find buttermilk pancakes alongside chorizo chilaquiles, chicken and waffles alongside a duck leg biscuit sandwich.

Born and raised in Ellijay, Chef Nick Jennings honed his craft in kitchens throughout the South, working alongside some of the region's best chefs and operators of the last decade, from Athens to Charleston to Atlanta. Since opening on September 20, 2024, Season has quickly become a beloved fixture in the Marietta community while setting the bar high for hospitality and quality. 

From Season's cozy corner just a ten-minute walk from Marietta Square, Jennings champions a simple and soulful approach to breakfast and lunch, but it's more than just food being served—it's connection.

In this month's spotlight, The Marietta Brew sits down with Season's chef-owner Nick Jennings to discuss his culinary journey and philosophy of food as community.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Nick’s Background: From Pizza Cutter to Passionate Cook

Erica Zendell (EZ): Hey Nick! To get us started, tell us about your background. How did you get started in the culinary world?

Nick Jennings (NJ): I'm originally from Ellijay, Georgia. I was born there and lived my life there. I moved out when I was 17—great relationship with my parents, but I was always sort of independent. I started working at a young age, when I was 15.

EZ: Was your first job in culinary work?

NJ: Yes, my first job ever. It's kind of funny—I never wanted to get into this business, but I was in the back seat of my parents' car, and we were going to pick up a pizza. I was 15, which is when you could get a worker's permit. My dad asked, "Are you guys hiring?" The guy said, "Yeah." He said, "Can I get an application for my son?" I never expected to even get hired.

The job itself was fun. I was the pizza cutter, so I would stand at the end of the conveyor belt and catch the pizzas when they came out, cut them, put them in the box, put a sticker on them and send them on their way. There's no greater pain than dragging your knuckle through piping hot pizza when you're cutting it—that's something that sticks with you. But even at that time, I thought it was a really fun job, but I never thought I'd fall in love with it like I have.

EZ: What got you out of cutting pizzas and deeper into cooking?

NJ: I was living on my own, and my family is amazing cooks—just typical Southern heartfelt, soulful food. My nanny (which is what we called my grandmother) was the master of Southern cuisine. My mom is just awesome too. I really started to crave that because I wasn't around my family every day. I was eating out a lot, and it just wasn't the same.

So I started calling my nanny on the phone: "What do I need to buy to make this dish?" Like fried okra or whatever. She'd say, "Get this, this and this." I'd go to the store, get it, call her back, and she'd be on the phone with me walking me through. Of course, it was a flaming disaster for so long—burning myself, being frustrated. But eventually I had some success with cooking, and I really enjoyed that.

I cooked all around, and really fell into it. I worked in the best places in Ellijay. Then I moved to Blairsville and Hiawassee and Athens–that was the first place I could really test my skills. I worked for some well-known chefs there for a couple of years. Then I moved to Charleston before coming back to Georgia.

Nick’s Culinary Journey: Making it into Kitchen and into Marietta

EZ: Wow. You’ve really been all over. How did your restaurant experiences shape your philosophy for when you finally opened Season?

NJ: It probably started when I moved to Charleston. I worked for this restaurant called Husk. At that time, it was the highest-rated restaurant in America by Bon Appétit Magazine and Food & Wine. We were on the season finale of Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain—it got insane press.

Husk is where I went from being a recipe follower to knowing how to create. My chef there was very passionate about ingredients, and used to say, “It's important to start a conversation.” If you tell me, "I want to put chicken and dumplings on the menu," we're probably not going to do that exactly, but we're going to start a conversation that leads us somewhere that is very soulful, because it excites that spark of our past that connects to this dish. In the kitchen, it’s our job to create soulfully.

EZ: Were there other food or career experiences that shaped you ahead of opening Season?

NJ: When I was 26, I moved back from Charleston to North Georgia, up in a town called Young Harris, and I opened a restaurant named after my grandmother, Restaurant Lorene.

I think it was ahead of its time, but the truth is, it was hard for me. I was a great chef and good cook, but there’s much more that goes into running a restaurant. Eventually, that stress rained down on me, so we ended up selling the restaurant and I moved to Atlanta, where I was executive chef for a while at Wrecking Bar Brewpub.

After that, I worked for the barbecue concept, Rodney Scott's Barbecue, which was really great for me because I learned how to run businesses. They already had their recipes and weren't interested in changing them. What I did for them was taking charge of the operations: putting together a team, hiring them, training them. In the background, I had these really smart people teaching me how to finance a restaurant, what your numbers should look like, what your labor should look like, how to get money, how to get access to capital, and what to do when things get tough.

It taught me that people are the most important part of this business. They would always preach that to me: people first.

Now I have this small place, and I'm putting all of those things that I've learned over the years together to help me express who I really am through Season.

Season’s Warm Welcome into the Marietta Community

EZ: How would you say that Season has been received in Marietta? What has the Marietta community been like?

NJ: Downtown Marietta is literally just a neighborhood community. It's very tight-knit, and to see Season actually be embraced is pretty special, because you don't know how people are going to accept it. We see the same people here five, six days a week. There's a lady that painted these pictures–she and her husband live down the street. We've gotten so close with them that we tell each other that we love each other.

The food is just the bridge to create relationships. It's the bait almost, because the food is really, really good, and the service is even better. That's our focus. When you come here, we really try to over-deliver on it so you feel like this is a space for you. We want you to love the food, love the space, and have you want to be here. 

We're getting busier and uncovering things as we go along. The community has been extremely supportive. I wouldn't have guessed that would be the case. I thought that part would be harder, but it was the easiest part.

EZ: How did you choose the name Season?

NJ: My original name for the restaurant was going to be Lemon Street Larder. Larder is an old word for pantry or preserves, which is another passion of mine, but I realized we'd have to explain what it means a million times. With "Season," people just think they know what it means—we don't have to explain it.

I just like change and embrace it. Everyone has their own meaning of "Season," but for me, it just means change. We will always, forever change—it's embedded in me. Change the menu, change the space, change the look, change what we do. It's the inevitability that change is imminent. You could resist it or you could embrace it.

Also, believe it or not, "Season" is unique—there's not anywhere named just "Season." It's always "Season 52" or "Seasons Something," but not simply "Season." I thought that was pretty cool.

What’s Cooking at Season: the Menu Today and in the Future

EZ: As someone who embraces change, so much so that it’s in the name of the restaurant, how do you pick what stays on Season’s menu–at least for now?

NJ: We want creative energy and liberty, but where it starts is with the basics. We all know what a burger is, what biscuits and gravy are. My job is to say, "I might not be able to cook your grandmother's pancakes, but we're going to try to do the most simple, soulful, technically best version."

All the menu items are familiar. You've had a burger, you've had biscuits and gravy. You kind of know what to expect. Then you get it, and it looks right, but when you actually start to experience the dish, it's different. It's better than you thought gravy or biscuits or a burger could be. 

Theresa, my business partner and beverage director, calls them "nuanced classics.” It's basically things you're familiar with presented in ways that are unexpected. I'd rather stand by dishes that have stood the test of time. That's the only way you're going to have regulars in a breakfast restaurant and create a community.

EZ: Is there anything guests can look forward to in the coming months at Season?

NJ: We have a plan to get more refrigeration and to start up dinner service. Dinner will be seafood-driven—something I have a passion for.

When we do that, one thing I'd like to do more with the breakfast program is take advantage of having dinner products. It's not so much about cross-utilizing to sell more, but when we have these products available, we can use them in breakfast dishes too.

People seem to like exotic meats. We probably won't do kangaroo sausage, but I'll have alligator on the dinner menu. I love alligator—it's fun and pretty good if you know how to treat it. It would be cool to have some sort of alligator biscuit or something, tied into a classic dish. That's starting a conversation!

EZ: True that! Thanks so much for the time, Nick. 

Season is located at 301 Lemon Street Marietta, GA 30060 and currently operates Wednesday through Sunday from 7AM-2PM. Planning on stopping into Season? You can use these links to make a reservation or hop on a virtual waitlist (a great idea, especially on the weekends).

Thanks!

Thanks for being an amazing reader of the Marietta Brew! Shoutout to Erica for her hard work in making these articles happen!

Have a wonderful week!