Women Who Shape The Plateau: The Magic of Wolfgang’s Mindy Green

Written By: Ann Self | Issue: November - 2022 | Photograph By: Susan Renfro

Mindy Green and Sallie Peterkin

Julia Child famously said, “People who love to eat are the best people.” 

Mindy Green would agree.  When she and her husband opened Wolfgang’s Restaurant and Wine Bistro, their primary objective was to serve people superb food and excellent wine. Over the course of nearly 30 years, she has built upon this foundation to influence and shape the food scene in Highlands. 

When the Greens purchased Hildegard’s on Main Street, Mindy immediately saw its potential.  

“I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit,” she says, “My dad taught me to be ‘an opportunist.’ So, I look for opportunities.” 

This is a key ingredient to the success of their restaurant. She knows his strengths as a chef as well as hers as the visionary.  “We complement one another well,” she observes, “He knows food and wine. I know marketing.”  

Mindy is a graduate of the University of Texas with a degree in marketing and a subsequent career in sales in Dallas before moving with Wolfgang to Highlands. She employed her skills and experience to position their restaurant as a fine dining establishment.  

“In the earliest days of the restaurant I introduced myself to other businesses and individuals, hotels and retailers in the community,” she recalls as a tool to spread the word.  She conceptualized the outdoor pavilion, covered deck and bistro additions to the restaurant.  She seized upon the niche venue demand for special occasion parties. She created menus. She formed collaborative relationships with other chefs and restaurants to bring acclaimed wines and wineries to the area. 

Mindy views this as the catalyst toward contributing to Highlands growing into a food destination. “Today there are six Wine Spectator restaurants,” she says. She recognizes that this is because of local restaurants working together to enhance the dining experience with premium wine. “Silver Oak was a big influence,” she says, “The Silver Oak wine dinners were very popular and led to other wine dinners [throughout Highlands].”

Mindy believes this sense of community is what makes the area so unique.  The Green’s daughter Katie was born on Halloween, so her birthday is always in combination with the town’s grand celebration of the holiday.  “All of the small-town holiday traditions are special,” she muses, “Community support is important here. I’ve always enjoyed being an active part of this community.”  She remembers one event for Valentine’s Day when high school families and area chefs created a special evening for the students at the restaurant. “We served a three-course dinner to the kids for $5. Parents served and washed dishes.  It was a lot of fun.”  

All of the thousands of hours of planning and strategizing, coupled with that restless energy, gave Mindy a unique position in the development of Highlands and its extraordinary restaurant community.

“Mindy, along with Wolfgang, is one of the shakers and movers that helped establish the great reputation of the food and wine scene in Highlands as we know it today,” says John Woods, the General Manager of Skyline Lodge and Oak Restaurant-Highlands and the past chairman of the Highlands Chamber of Commerce. “In the beginning, Mindy would answer the phones, perform all the marketing including community outreach while Chef Wolfgang brought new food concepts to the Highlands area. You must keep in mind that all this started while she was raising a family and before the purchase of alcohol was legal in Macon County. Where would we be today, without her hard work and dedication to the culinary scene in Highlands?”

The food and restaurant landscape has evolved the past three decades. Mindy calls Highlands a “foodie resort” town, less seasonal and more year around. She also appreciates how this opens new opportunities to continue to elevate the dining experience to appeal to diners’ ever-changing tastes.  

Change may be inevitable, but Mindy’s continued contribution to food on the Plateau is enduring.  No doubt she is already dreaming about the next ways to cater to people who love to eat.