Photograph by Growl
Type “Madison” into your favorite search engine, and you will have to scroll past countless entries pointing you toward the fourth president of the United States and the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin. Finally, what you are looking for will appear: Madison, Georgia, in central Morgan County (not in Madison County, thanks to Georgia’s usual naming practices, in which a town is rarely in the county that shares its name). I have gone multiple times to this delightfully pretty little town with one of the largest historic districts in Georgia, home to many breathtaking old mansions. My daughter’s mother-in-law lived there for several years, and it seemed to me a perfect short excursion on the rarely crowded I-20.
During the pandemic, things began to change rapidly, and for the better. Starting in 2020 and continuing into 2023, a whole bunch of restaurants and a market joined a town square I could hardly recognize. First came The Sinclair, a coffee shop and lounge in a former gas station; then Community Roots Market, a terrific gourmet store equal to The Buttery and Floral Park Market in Atlanta; Hart and Crown Tavern, a glorious British pub decorated in the traditional English style; The Dining Room, a fine homage to Atlanta’s once incomparable restaurant of the same name in the former Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead; Patisserie on Main, a pastry shop run by Edouard Fenouil, a star French baker; and, finally, Betty Gene’s, a 70’s-style small-town breakfast-and-lunch cafe where one can have a cup of coffee and traditional Southern comfort food.
The changes have something to do with Madison’s unique location near Lake Sinclair and Lake Oconee, and the elite who hunt deer and shoot skeet in this rich bubble in the rural South. But the main driving force was an impeccably elegant (think cashmere and spit-polished shoes) Atlanta real estate investor, who worked his way up to principal in the company that developed the Ice House Lofts in Decatur and many other intown projects.
Born the son of a chaplain in Milledgeville, once the state capital, Preston Snyder had an early passion for historical properties. He put himself through school by working in restaurants and a local hotel. With a mixture of charisma, natural ability, and focus on everything architectural, he began to invest in real estate. His career started modestly, especially since he ended up being a waiter at night in the original Dining Room (then at its apogee, with chef Günter Seeger and exacting manager Peter Krehan), laying the groundwork for what would become MAD Hospitality. Fast friendship developed with people like Shaun Doty, then sous-chef under Seeger, and Michael McNeill, the youngest and most accomplished master sommelier in the South. They got to know people such as patissier extraordinaire Edouard Fenouil and met chefs from all over the United States. Snyder married Cindi Fetch who was working front of house for Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison at Floataway Cafe, where she completed her education in local and fresh ingredients.
A brush with mortality caused the couple to stay at Lake Oconee, where Snyder’s specialist had his medical practice. His Atlanta real estate partners bought him out, providing seed money for his bold experiment in Madison. “I made a detour through Madison frequently during the time I-20 was closed,” he remembers, and he soon fell in love with the place, which combined his affection for small-town culture and his passion for history. The square was in a pitiful state, despite its recent popularity as a filming location, with a gorgeous courthouse but many boarded-up buildings. The couple and their two children moved to Madison in 2018 and started doing what each knew best. Snyder at first sought out residential properties, then turned his sights to the town square, where he revived two-story buildings with restaurants, retail, and lofts. In time, locals embraced the changes.
I recently toured all MAD Hospitality’s businesses on the square and loved the look, the mission, and nibbles on display. At Community Roots Market, Cindi Fetch networks with farmers, who offer gorgeous bundles of greens, pure-white turnips, and revelatory black radishes, as she sells books, gifts, and fine wines. I ended up in The Dining Room, all velvet curtains and fancy service. The wine list is curated by Michael McNeill, now the director of education at Georgia Crown Distributing Co., and is as ambitious as any you can find in big cities’ fine-dining spots. The weekly changing prix fixe menus are impressive, too.
In 2023, our own Shaun Doty took a monthlong residency at The Dining Room when the original chef, Ryan Caldwell, left for the Jekyll Island Club and Resort. The current chef is the talented Russell Hays. As I dined in a small group, I felt that the restaurant’s story of long friendships and Atlanta ties was unique.
Snyder is the principal of Thomas Preston Real Estate, and has many residential properties. “At heart, though, I am a commercial developer,” he told me. His transformation of Madison, never before a culinary destination, has changed the town forever.
This article appears in our July 2024 issue.
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